ALLIANCE — In a game which turned into an offensive shootout, Alliance scored on seven of its nine possessions and held off determined Salem 49-34 in the Eastern Buckeye Conference opener for both teams Friday night at Mount Union’s Larry Kehres Stadium.

“It was a track meet tonight and we were throwing the shot and they were running the 100,” said Salem head coach Ron Johnson.

“Tonight we lined up and pretty much were able to do what we wanted, so we’re happy about that,” said Alliance head coach Tim Goodman.

The loss dropped the Quakers’ record to 3-3 overall and 0-1 in the EBC, while Alliance improved to 5-1 and 1-0 in league play.

Alliance, led by its talented dual threat senior quarterback JR Jackson, piled up 562 yards of offense on the night, with Jackson providing 435 of those yards, including 272 passing and 163 yards rushing. He threw for two touchdowns and ran for two others.

“He’s a heck of a player and we trust him with a lot of stuff back there,” said Goodman. “Sometimes our protection is a little shaky and he makes it right. He’s a heck of a ballplayer and we’re glad to have him on our side.”

“He (Jackson) is a good player,” said Johnson.

Alliance running back Ravhan Hawkins added 120 yards on the ground, including two rushing scores.

Salem, which also had a productive offensive evening, finished with 380 yards of offense, led by talented senior quarterback Cletis Monroy who rushed for 131 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw for 157 yards and two aerial scores.

“We had our opportunities and did not take full advantage of them,” said Johnson. “We have to respond and rebound and hopefully things continue to go well, we just have to keep playing well and see how things go.”

Salem gave Alliance extra possessions in the second half, which was costly. The Quakers fumbled the ball away at the Alliance 31 and were stopped on downs another time at the Aviators’ 27.

“We had too many self-inflicted wounds,” said Johnson. “How many times can we jump offsides? We have to learn to be a much more disciplined football team. That’s inexcusable and it gave them extra possessions. We gave them first downs and we put the ball on the ground which is inexcusable.”

Salem took a 7-0 to open the game as the Quakers impressively drove 63 yards in 12 plays and used 7:34 of the first quarter clock to score when Monroy bolted two yards up the middle to score. Kicker Gerson Samayoa added the PAT boot and the Quakers led 7-0 at the 4:26 mark of the first quarter.

But quick-strike Alliance, led by Jackson, who had 300 yards offense himself (running and passing) in the first half, scored on its next three possessions on a 10-yard run by Ravhan Hawkins and long scoring passes of 59 yards from Jackson to Jarin Blair and 55 yards to Cashe Brisker, giving Alliance a 21-7 advantage at the 9:42 mark of the second quarter.

“We have a dangerous offense, we have a really good offensive line that doesn’t get a lot of credit,” said Goodman. “And we have a lot of good receivers who can make plays.”

Salem answered with two late second-quarter scores when Monroy broke loose on a 26-yard scoring run and receiver Owen Davidson hauled in a 41-yard scoring aerial from Monroy. The second score offset an eight-yard scoring run by Alliance’s Hawkins, as Salem trailed 27-21.

But Alliance, which scored on all five first-half possessions, drove 84 yards and made it a two-score lead at halftime when kicker DiAngelo Fisk booted a 25-yard field goal with one second left before intermission as Alliance took a 30-21 advantage at the break.

Alliance led 369-234 in total offense at halftime. Jackson had 101 yards rushing and 199 yards passing and two touchdown passes at the break.

Salem’s running back Brandon Kana had 54 yards rushing at halftime and Monroy had 51 yards rushing and 129 yards passing, including a touchdown at intermission.

The two teams traded third-quarter scores with Alliance scoring on a five-yard run by Hawkins and Salem countering with a 33-yard scoring scamper by Monroy.

Trailing 36-28 entering the fourth quarter, Salem gave Alliance two extra possessions, losing a fumble at the Aviators’ 31 and being stopped at the Alliance 27.

“We had our opportunities and we knew it was going to take a clean game, a good game and we didn’t come through tonight,” said Johnson. “We played hard, I don’t question that, we played hard and had some guys make some plays.”

Alliance capitalized, scoring two fourth-quarter scores to go up 49-28 on a pair of Jackson scoring runs of 37 and 12 yards.

Salem closed the scoring with 1:15 left on a 12-yard scoring strike from Monroy to Bairon Exline, cutting the final margin to 49-34.

Game notes

¯ Alliance and Salem have played 60 times in their history and the Aviators lead the series, 40-14-6, including wins in eight of the past 10 meetings and five straight. The first-ever meeting between Salem and Alliance occurred in 1902 when the teams battled to a scoreless 0-0 tie in a game played in Salem.

Alliance won last year’s meeting with the Quakers, 20-16.

¯ Salem returns to EBC action next Friday when they travel to Dr. Robert Hines Stadium to play the Minerva Lions (4-2).

“In seven days well tee it up and play again,” said Johnson. “We’ll play it one week at a time and be better next week.”

S: 7-14-7-6–34

A: 7-23-6-13–49

SCORING

S–Cletis Monroy, 2 run, 4:26 1st (Gerson Samayoa kick)

A–Ravhan Hawkins, 10 run, 2:40 1st (DiAngelo Fisk kick)

A– Jarin Blair, 59 pass from JR Jackson, 11:51 2nd (DiAngelo Fisk kick)

A– Cashe Brisker, 55 pass from JR Jackson, 9:42 2nd (DiAngelo Fisk kick)

S–Cletis Monroy, 26 run, 6:38 2nd (Gerson Samayoa kick)

S–Owen Davidson, 41 pass from JR Jackson, 3:20 2nd (Gerson Samayoa kick)

A–DiAngelo Fisk, 25 field goal, :01 2nd

A–Ravhan Hawkins, 5 run, 6:23 3rd (kick failed)

S–Cletis Monroy, 33 run, 5:18 3rd (Gerson Samayoa kick)

A–JR Jackson, 37 run, 10:14 4th (kick failed)

A–JR Jackson, 12 run, 2:41 4th (DiAngelo Fisk kick)

S– Bairon Exline, 12 pass from Cletis Monroy, 1:15 4th (kick failed)

——

S A

First downs 18 27

Total yards 380 562

Rushes-yards 33-223 45-292

Passing 157 272

Comp-Att-Int 12-18-0 17-23-0

Penalties-Yards 1-80 10-120

Fumbles-lost -1 1-0

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INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING — Salem, Cletis Monroy, 15-131, Brandon Kana, 15-55, Bairon Exline, 1-37; Alliance, JR Jackson, 18-163, Ravhan Hawkins, 22-120.

PASSING — Salem, Cletis Monroy, 12-18-157-2-0; Alliance, JR Jackson, 18-25-272-2-0.

RECEIVING — Salem, Brandon Kana, 2-10, Owen Davidson, 2-51, Bairon Exline, 7-60, Ellis, 1-16; Alliance, Taiga Nicholson, 3-30 Jarin Blair, 2-68, Kam Burton, 4-33, Cashe Brisker, 2-70, Ravhan Hawkins, 3-32, Fast, 1-18 .