SALEM – The first song out of the PA system at halftime of Saturday’s football game between Salem and Nashua High School North was Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train,” and that couldn’t be more appropriate. The score was already Salem 54-28, in a game that would end with the Blue Devils on top 67-54.

Crazy, because scoring a school-record 54 points should be good enough to blow most teams out, not to lose.

Crazy, because most teams that have 459 yards of total offense split neatly between rushing (217) and passing (242) usually dominate, not lose the yardage battle by over 120 yards.

Crazy, because a running back that has a line of 20 rushes for 170 yards and a touchdown like North’s Andre Williams would usually be the game MVP, not the third best back in the game.

But Williams was, thanks to the four-touchdown performances of Salem running backs Max Jacques (240 yards rushing) and Jerikson Fedrick (166).

“It seems like we really want to make them look like All-State kids,” said Titans coach Jason Robie of the duo’s Titan-killing propensities. “They’re great football players.”

In keeping with the crazy theme, neither Williams’ touchdown or any of Jacques’ four were their best touchdowns of the day. Jacques’ most electrifying play was a 73-yard punt return for a touchdown that put Salem up 34-0 just over a minute into the second quarter. Williams brought the Titans back from oblivion a few minutes later with a school record 100-yard interception return for a touchdown. It was a huge play to simply prevent the Blue Devils from going up by 40 – they were on North’s 4-yard line at the time – but more importantly it got the Titans on the scoreboard.

A second disastrous North special teams play followed, as they allowed Abner Rodriguez to return a short kickoff 73 yards for a touchdown after the ball had already bounced, and with Rodriguez fielding the ball facing his own end zone.

“Special teams was attrocious today,” Robie said. “We lost by 13 and they scored 14 points on special teams.”

Showing a ton of heart, the Titans didn’t collapse, however, and rolled off five of the game’s next seven touchdowns, extending through the third quarter. The teams swapped touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

The Titans’ comeback was carried out on the legs of Williams and the arm and legs of quarterback Brandon Karkhanis (242 yards passing), who shook off a slow start to throw for four touchdowns and run for two more. Karkhanis and wideout Anton Marinchik hooked up on similar-looking touchdowns of 20 and 27 yards in the second quarter, with Karkhanis perfectly putting the ball up over the defender and Marinchik leaping to get it while landing on his back.

In the third quarter, Karkhanis hit Eric Muite for a touchdown after an awful special teams gaffe on Salem’s part gave Nashua the ball at their 24-yard line, and in the fourth quarter, Jamar Gathright caught a 47-yard touchdown from the senior quarterback.

All of those offensive fireworks, however, were rendered useless by the nightmare of a first quarter that had taken place. In the span of seven minutes, Salem scored 28 points while the Titans were mired in a rut of penalties and offensive ineffectiveness. Remarkably, only the fourth touchdown was the result of a turnover – a fumbled kickoff that Salem recovered at the Nashua 29-yard line.

Mostly, the Blue Devil’s dominance was a result of great field position – their drives in the first quarter started at their own 42, then North’s 40-, 43- and 29-yard lines.