Keaton Frye played tight end last year and entered 2025 with two varsity passes on his resume. But Salisbury coach Kevin DiZenzo has put a lot on the junior.
Then the responsibilities grew when Frye had a fifth-string running back beside him to start Saturday afternoon’s game at Wilson because of mounting injuries.
Frye responded with 138 passing yards and two touchdowns and 130 rushing as the Falcons held off the Warriors 16-8 at Smith Field.
“I don’t want to throw it all on [Frye],” DiZenzo said. “It’s his third start and he got knocked out of his second start. But he’s just a dog. He responded. He put the team on his back.”
Warriors defenders chased Frye all afternoon, flushing him from the pocket early and often. But he was sacked just once.
Frye hit A.J. Moren with a 12-yard on fourth down at the 5:18 mark of the first quarter. After Wilson tied it up in the second quarter and a series of miscues by both teams, the 6-foot-1, 185-pounder hit Moren again for a 10-yard scoring pass with 7:14 left in the third quarter for what turned out to be the game-winner.
Wilson did everything but win. Coach Jim Brady’s club had first-and-goal from the 3 on its first series of the game, but the first of several bad snaps led to a 19-yard loss and eventually no points.
The Warriors had first-and-goal from the 9 on their second series, but another bad snap led to an 18-yard loss. A penalty and a sack followed, which led to a punt.
Wilson also drove deep into Salisbury territory three times in the second half, but came away with no points. Two failed fourth downs on the first two drives was followed by a sack by first-year senior Christian Olesak to seal the Warriors’ fate.
“I know they want to win,” Brady said. “It’s matter of, ‘Are they ready to?’ We just keep self inflicting ourselves when we get close. Maybe we have to practice goal-line situations all the time, so we don’t get too over excited about scoring.
“I thought we executed well on many plays. It’s just about finishing drives and finishing a game. We weren’t able to do that today.”
Salisbury played without, among others, starting running back/linebacker Jordan Tocci-Wachter and fullback/linebacker Jacob Watson.
That put the onus on many others, including Moren who didn’t have a career reception before Saturday, when he caught three, including two for touchdowns.
Both came on delayed releases out of the backfield. The first was a 12-yarder when Moren sat between the two safeties and hit the ground to snare the throw to give the Falcons the lead midway through the second quarter.
Then in a tie game in the third quarter, Frye hit Jamanni Cruz with a 41-yard pass to set up his second TD pass to Moren, a 10-yarder.
“I always love to play in these games over blowouts,” Moren said. “They are more fun. A lot of younger guys step up.”
Moren showed a penchant for having sure hands. He had a school-record eight interceptions last season. The junior picked off his second pass of 2025 late in the third quarter and returned it inside the 10-yard line. The 58-yard return was brought back because of a penalty, but it was another momentum changer.
The teams combined for 14 penalties and five turnovers.
Wilson stopped Salisbury’s ensuing drive when Marvin Cordon recovered a fumble. The Warriors then drove to the Falcons’ 15 before being stopped on downs when freshman Joshia Cubera brought down quarterback Jaxson Tadayesky on fourth down.
Cubera also had a sack and tackle for loss.
Wilson forced a three-and-out on the next Salisbury series before picking up a couple more first downs and reached the Falcons’ 34. But two running plays netted minus-3 yards and incompletion was followed by Olesak’s sack to end the threat and secure Wilson’s 34th consecutive loss.
Up next
Wilson (0-3) visits Pen Argyl (2-1) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Salisbury (2-1) hosts Catasauqua (2-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.
SALISBURY, WILSON
Salisbury: 0; 8; 8; 0 — 16
Wilson: 0; 8; 0; 0 — 8
ORDER OF SCORING
Second quarter
S: Keaton Frye 12 pass to A.J. Moren (Frye pass to Jamanni Cruz), 518
W: J’son Johnson 14 run (Ryan Bonham run), 0:57
Third quarter
S: Frye 10 pass to A.J. Moren (Frye pass to Jadan Claudio), 7:12
TEAM STATISTICSSal; WilFirst downs; 11; 14Rushes-yards; 21-148; 35-7Passing yards; 150; 161Comp-Att-INTs; 7-12-2; 13-23-2Punts-avg.; 1-39.0; 1-30.0Fumbles-lost; 1-1; 5-0Penalties-yards; 9-85; 6-30
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRushing: (Salisbury) Keaton Frye 11-130; Nehemiah Gibbs 1-3; Jamanni Cruz 3-3; Dominic Natosi 2-10; Elijah Rodas 1-4; A.J. Moren 1-0; team 2-(-2); (Wilson) J’son Johnson 11-36, TD; Ryan Bonham 9-44; Jaxson Tadayesky 5-(-23); Connor Patterson 6-22; team 4-(-72).
Passing: (Salisbury) Frye 6-11-2, 138 yards, 2 TDs; Jadiel Gonzalez 1-1-0, 12 yards; (Wilson) Tadayesky 13-23-2, 161 yards.
Receiving: (Salisbury) Cruz 2-80; Gonzalez 1-8; Frye 1-12; Moren 3-50, 2 TDs; (Wilson) Jayden Rapoli 3-32; Christian Samayoa 2-25; Bonham 2-19; Johnson 1-25; Pedro Hernandez 3-26; Wes Slingland 1-30; Nickenson Louis Jeune 1-4.
Senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/06/banged-up-salisbury-football-holds-off-wilson/
