The Salisbury High School football team dropped below .500 for the first time this season with a 33-7 loss to Saucon Valley Friday night.

The Falcons had trouble slowing down running back Jared Rohn, who ran for 172 yards on 17 carries and scored three touchdowns for Saucon Valley (6-1).

Salisbury (3-4) moved the ball at times, but some negative plays and a stingy Panther defense kept the Falcons from finishing drives.

On the game’s first possession, Salisbury picked up a couple first downs and moved the ball from the 20-yard line to midfield before Saucon Valley forced the first of six Falcon punts in the game.

Saucon Valley took over and went 46 yards in seven plays with Jack Robertson scoring from 8-yards out for a 7-0 lead with 4:37 left in the first quarter.

The Falcons picked up a couple first downs on their second possession before punting. But they got the ball back on the next play when safety AJ Moren picked off a Braden Rohn pass for his fourth interception of the season.

Salisbury went three and out on its next two possessions, with a one-play Saucon Valley scoring drive sandwiched in between as Jared Rohn got free for a 28-yard score early in the third quarter.

Salisbury’s defense got its first stop of the game by halting the Panthers on downs near midfield with 6:40 left in the first half.

The Falcon offense then mounted its own one-play drive when Jason St. Leger threw a running back pass to Caleb Gonzalez for a 49-yard score, cutting the lead to 14-7.

The Panthers responded with a six-play drive that went 69 yards to pay dirt, ending with a 21-yard Jared Rohn touchdown run for a 20-7 lead they would take into halftime.

Saucon Valley added touchdowns on its first and last drives of the second half.

The Panthers opened the third quarter with a 12-play possession that took 6:48 off the clock, spanned 83 yards and ended with a 14-yard Jared Rohn touchdown run. They capped the scoring with Andrew Gilbert’s 17-yard touchdown run with 1:10 left in the game.

Salisbury gained just one first down on three second-half possessions, while also losing a fumble.

Saucon Valley put up 358 rushing yards to just 38 for Salisbury, let by St. Leger’s 29 yards. He also completed two passes for 87 yards, both to Gonzalez. Andrew Lucas threw for 34 yards on 6-for-11 passing with one interception.

After a 3-0 start to the season, Salisbury has now lost three of its last four games against some of the top teams in District 11. The Falcons’ four losses this season have come to teams with a combined record of 21-7. Three of them were against teams that are all 6-1 through seven games.

Salisbury travels to Palmerton next week to take on a Blue Bomber team that won its last two games after an 0-5 start. The Bombers beat Palisades (44-21) last week and Wilson (35-28) the week before after opening the season with losses to Jim Thorpe, Pen Argyl, Saucon Valley, Lehighton and Northern Lehigh.

After traveling to Carbon County Friday night, Salisbury heads to Northern Lehigh on Oct. 18 and hosts Palisades Oct. 25 to finish the regular season.