SALEM Many people were calling last Friday's football game against Lakeview one of the biggest in Salem history. Well, winning that game made this upcoming game with East Liverpool even bigger. Salem is on the doorstep of making its first ever playoff appearance, but still needs to take care of business against the Potters before they can begin looking towards week 11.

Salem currently sits at sixth in Division III Region 11, comfortably in playoff position, but they can't afford a slip up playing at an East Liverpool team that comes in 4-5, but is hungry to play the spoiler roll.

Coming off an emotional victory like the one the Quakers earned last week, a let down might seem possible but coach Mike Kopachy is confident his team will stay focused on the task at hand.

"You always are guarded against a kind of let down," Kopachy said. "But with as much as there is at stake, I'm positive the kids will come in focused and get the job done."

East Liverpool will be having its senior night festivities during the game and will be hungry to send them out on a winning note. They also boast an offense that cause some concern to Kopachy.

"Their offense is really dangerous," Kopachy said. "They have a very dangerous young quarterback thats really comparable to Michael Vick. He's athletic, a runner, and has a strong arm as well."

Even though on paper Salem looks to have the edge, Kopachy isn't discounting the amount of weapons the Potters have to offer.

"Their running back is as explosive as we've seen and their top wide receiver is a playmaker as well," Kopachy said. "They also have a lot of size on both sides of the ball and their a team that has a lot to play for. It's their senior night so they'll be fired up and I'm sure they'd love to be the spoilers."

When Salem turned the corner this year, it's no coincidence that it happened when the defensive unit kicked it up a notch. After giving up 42 points in a shutout loss to Hubbard, the Quaker defense has held opponents to just over 11 points per game, while the offense has been scoring over 30. Once again the defense will be called on to keep up with its strong play.

"Defense wins championships," Kopachy said. "They've been making critical stops and need to do it again. We need to contain their quarterback and if we do that then it should be a good night for us."

A good night for the Quakers should put them into a place where no Salem football team has ever been - The playoffs. Kickoff between Salem, East Liverpool is tonight at 7:30 p.m.