Johnson, the sophomore helmsman, compiled 330 yards, including 190 on the ground and 140 through the air and scored two rushing touchdowns and added another through the air to pace the Quakers. Salem outgained Struthers 424-362.

“We jumped on them early and didn’t have to play from behind,” said Johnson.

“This is playoff football and you have to be ready.”

“Jackson (Johnson) ran the ball hard but the offensive line was just coming off the ball mashing people and that’s what you want,” Salem head coach Ron Johnson said. “We have a really exceptional offensive line and we ran it for (274) and that’s all good.”

Morning Journal Brady Clyde of Struthers carries the ball against Salem as teammates John Horton (59) and Dom Carcelli block for him.

Struthers coach John Bayuk said his team hurt itself with mistakes.

“It’s hard when you shoot yourselves in the foot,” Bayuk. “We had bad snaps (the Wildcats had five fumbles, losing one) and stupid penalties and we’ve got to fix those things.”

Struthers was led offensively by standout Aiden Hall who rushed for 161 yards on eight carries and scored one of the Wildcats’ three touchdowns.

The win improved the Quakers’ record to 4-3 and they advance to meet second-seeded Poland in a second round D4 playoff game next Saturday night at Poland at 7 p.m.

With the loss, Struthers is now 2-5 on the season.

“Just mental errors,” said Bayuk. “You can’t come down to Salem and have mental errors and think you’re going to win the game. It was just sloppy stuff we have to fix up.”

Salem set the tone early as the Quakers jumped out to a 20-6 lead after the first quarter on touchdown runs of one and 44 yards by Johnson and a three-yard scoring pass from Johnson to Blaize Exline.

“We did what we had to do to win,” Johnson said. “We didn’t want to get silly and put the ball at risk. We kept the chains moving.”

The first-quarter score by Struthers occurred on a 68-yard run by speedster Hall down the left sideline.

Salem extended its lead in the second quarter on a three-yard scoring run by running back Jason Austin and a 30-yard scoring strike from Johnson to a leaping Exline in the end zone which made it 34-13 with just 18 seconds left before halftime. Salem kicker Hayden Tomidajewicz booted four of the Quakers’ five PAT kicks.

“Jason Austin played really well tonight,” Johnson said of his junior back who had 50 yards rushing.

Struthers scored its second-quarter touchdown just minutes earlier when the Wildcats found the end zone on a five-yard run by running back Tyler Sanchez. Tyler Ferreri added the PAT boot.

The second half turned in to a defensive battle.

“We got very conservative in the second half,” coach Johnson said. “We knew they had the speed and they could go yard at any time so the whole idea was just to keep the ball away from them, so we just ran it, even though there were some things there in the passing game.”

Struthers scored the only touchdown of the second half on a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Dylan Greenwood with 5:40 left in the game. Ferreri added the PAT to close the scoring out in the game.

“I’m very proud of my kids, they fought hard and all year we’ve been taking three steps forward and five steps back with injuries and every kid has stepped up and did what they needed to do and I couldn’t be more proud of them,” Bayuk said.