Salem looked dominating from the start as they scored in 4 plays capped off by a 33 yard TD from 6'5" QB Matt Hill to K.J. Helm to take the lead 7-0 . Hill , A Junior , looked extremely good as he was 11-14 for 175 yards and 3 TDs and had a couple of drops .He was held out for several games with a slight concussion but really looked sharp .His passing along with running game , throwing to several receivers is making the Salem offense hard to stop .Also the return of Chad Fisher ,who was sidelined with a ankle injury, is making the special teams and defense look better although I am still concerned with allowing teams to run outside some . Fisher also, a junior will be back next year . The offensive line is the best in years and being very young are just starting to jell . They include senior Brandon Spangler 6'1" 240 , along with Junior center Spencer Blankenship at 6-0 255 , Sophomore Zack Hill at 6-2 200 ,Sophomore Thomas Mitchem at 6-1 300 and Sophomore Alex Light at 6-5 260 .This game was 35-7 early in the third as Salem called off the dogs but the Cougars never quit . 2 other touchdowns were called back, one on a kickoff return by Sophomore Chandler Hunt and a touchdown by Freshman Isaiah Harris , running back with great speed . Salem will play Pulaski again next week in the first round of playoffs and must stay strong .Salem had no turnovers and 3 penalties and if they play disciplined will be a hard out .If they win next week The Spartans must travel to Ridgeway to face the undefeated Warriors of magna Vista ! Also Streaker on field during halftme tryed to interrupt the Pride of Salem halftime show .
This game was back and forth - Salem driving for winning score fumbled after Salem had intercepted .Big plays by Christiansburg Salem unable to stop ,Power running game Christiansburg unable to stop .Salem had 495 yards total offense 310 rushing and 185 yards passing .Marty Bishop Salem had 34 carries for 243 yards and 4 touchdowns .Key plays were Zack snell running back kickoff for TD just before halftime to tie it at half 21-21 and Salem fumble with a little over 3 minutes to play deep in Blue Demon territory .Motley was hurt by Salem physicality twice , both as safety on defense .Marty Bishop completely ran over him and looked like possible concussion .Great high school game .
Hidden Valley 4-2 1-0 beat Blacksburg 41-7 huge improvement over last year almost beat Northside .
Pulaski County 0-6 0-1 lost to Chrsitiansburg 28-7 Not sure what to think of this team .There opponents have been 4-2 Radford ,6-0 Northside , 5-1 Patrick Henry , 6-0 Richlands ,6-0 Magna Vista , 6-0 Christiansburg .The way the playoffs are they could win one or 2 and make the playoffs and I think they could win 3 or more .
Salem 4-2 1-0 beat Cave Spring 29-26 2 losses were by 1 and in Ot This is a team that plays like a Gate City power football offensive line is really starting to jell 2 running backs average 94 and 113 yards per game .If they do not turn the ball over can play with anybody except for possibly Christiansburg .
Christiansburg 6-0 1-0 beat Pulaski 28-7 Christiansburg has speed , a great QB who makes great decisions , a great defense ,and depth .They will be hard to deal with .Their roster includes Brendan Motley ,who is going to VT as an athlete ,Zack Snell son of former VT player Sidney Snell ,who already is being looked out ,only a junior .
Other teams out there are Magna Vista 6-0 in Region 4 and in Region 3 Broadway and Harrisonburg .On a state level Briar Woods won the state last year . They are from Northern Virginia .
Some of the questions in my mind have not been answered yet and also I have had a few surprises to start this season .In single A Galax survived Glenvar in overtime , and later thrashed Radford 43-0. I actually had Radford winning in a close game .The question is how good is this Galax team and also Glenvar must be pretty good .
Another slight surprise is Richlands because they are setting themselves up for another great season . Also, what is the deal with Pulaski ? They could be tougher in district or they could falter with lack of confidence .
In the Roanoke area Franklin County lost their first last week after beating Salem by one at home , lost to Magna Vista by 2 .Patrick Henry is undefeated and scoring at will against lesser opponents but will face a stern test tonight as Battlefield , the reigning division 6 champion , visits Roanoke tonight .Northside is still undefeated after surviving Hidden Valley last week .The Vikings have an experienced accurate QB and some big time receivers , including VT bound Dakota Jackson at 6'4" 245 .
The last 3 games between Northside and Salem have been close with Salem winning 14-12 , 26-22 on a great comeback in 4th quarter and last year 17-13 when Northside could not score after having ist and goal from 5 .Salem will have hard time tonight with 6'1" sophomore Tyler Gladden gets the call because of the injuries talked about .
Matt Hill , Salem starting 6'5" QB suffered a concussion in the game against William Byrd last week and back up QB and starting CB Chad Fisher suffered high ankle sprain after having it rolled against William Byrd .
Blacksburg lost 10-0 to Giles and 40-3 to Liberty - starting to look like a tough year .
Hidden Valley lost to Patrick Henry 42-14 and beat William Byrd 20-6 for their first win in a while. Titans are better as expected .
Salem beat Lord Botetourt 29-13 in a game of penalties and turnovers for the Spartans as they amassed 100 yards of penalties and 4 turnovers that led to 2 early scores for the Cavaliers. Salem will have to play much better this week as they travel to Division 6 Franklin County who is 2-0 after beating Woodbridge 21-14 .
Pulaski lost to Radford 13-12 and Northside on Saturday 17-9 in a very hot afternoon game .Pulaski might be trouble after getting to River Ridge schedule as they continue to improve .
Cave Spring beat William Byrd 28-14 and Martinsville 50-29 as Sam Wright had 247 yards rushing . He had 145 in opener .
Christiansburg beat Floyd 49-0 and Giles 20-10 on Saturday . My guess is you can throw Saturday scores out the window , as the players were out of rhythm /
in Offensive lineman Sean Biddle at 6-4 315. I understand He is being looked at by both Virginia and VT but no offers yet .I understand he has benched 400 pounds squatted 550 and cleaned over 300 .He also ran a 5.35 40 , which is not bad for his size .
They will have some guys going both ways but they will not play full time . During the scrimmages I saw at least 9 running backs and all of them looked good . The Spartans had massive turnovers , 6 in a loss to Christiansburg 28-14 , and 4 in a loss to Magna Vista , plus they were forced to play younger players because of suspensions and injuries .The Blue Demons just had a great team and when you get to the playoffs you just do not know . Who would have guessed Richlands would have dropped a bomb on Brookville like they did , only to lose to Poquoson .
Defense will be better! Overall , Salem has been picked for 3rd or fourth in the district but I believe they will be much better. Last year started 5-0 with victories over Northside , William Fleming and Franklin County but then injuries and discipline problems plagued the Spartans down the road .
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Cave Spring at Richlands
in SWVA Football
Posted · Edited by salemfootball
rushing per game
145 William Byrd
247 Martinville
206 Northside
180 Lord Botetourt
184 Allegheny
214 Salem
287 Pulaski County
158 Blacksburg
208 Christiansburg
189 Hidden Valley
297 Martinsville
total 2315