Sure was. But there were reasons that Salem lost those close games. Reasons that I identified during Salem's scrimmages. Some of these things Salem has corrected or diminished. Other short comings are not fixable. Salem's ability to run between the tackles is their strength. It allows them to be a ball control team. This also helps their defense. But their lack of game breakers on the perimeter is a huge weakness. There have been glimpses occasionally of perimeter play, but nothing that you can count on. Salem just doesn't have a speed receiver that can scare defenses, stretch the field, or take short passes to the house. This and their youth in the secondary cost Salem three games. This is not something Mags can flip a switch and fix. However, Salem can kick your butt in the trenches and both backs 42 &20 run really hard. They can wear teams down and use ball control to keep that young secondary off the field. Their margin for error is the smallest it's been in five years. Still, a good football team, just limited.