That one was a barn burner. Louisa County came in at 14-0 while Salem was 12-2 with losses to Dinwiddie and Blacksburg early in the season. The Spartans were looking for their third straight Class 4 championship and pulled off a thriller. Salem led by just six points in the third quarter when the Spartans stopped a Lions’ drive in the red zone, then scored a killer TD on a 79 yard run by De’Angelo Ramsey to seal the deal.
It’s four years later and all the names have changed, including the head coaches. Salem has gone from Stephen Magenbauer to Don Holter while Louisa has moved from Mark Fischer to Will Patrick. If you remember, Fischer was being treated for cancer at the time and the Lions were trying to win it for him. Mark has since passed on, dying in February of 2019 at the age of 54.
Fischer coached Louisa for a dozen years and built a strong program in Mineral, VA, and the Lions continue to be among the top teams in Class 4. Since losing that championship game to Salem they’re 36-5 overall, including undefeated regular seasons in 2018, ’19 and the abbreviated spring season after COVID struck in 2020. They’re 8-2 this year and coming off a 35-14 win over fourth seeded E.C. Glass at Lynchburg’s City Stadium last Thursday.
“They’re a good football team,” said Holter. “They’re big, physical, they run well and they’re well coached.”
Salem and the Lions have no common opponents. This is the first year Louisa is in Region 4D, having been moved into Salem’s region with Orange County and Western Albemarle just this fall. All three made the eight team playoffs with Western Albemarle third, Louisa fifth and Orange County seventh. Western Albemarle beat Halifax last weekend while second seeded GW-Danville beat Orange County. GW will host Western Albemarle in the other semifinal this week, and if the Spartans win they’ll host that winner over Thanksgiving weekend.
The Spartans won their 10th game in a row last Friday, counting a forfeit win over Blacksburg, when they opened the playoffs with a 35-0 win over visiting Amherst County. Salem held the Lancers to 150 total yards while piling up 366, including 222 yards rushing.
After a scoreless first quarter the Spartans started to grease the wheels in the second period. DaRon Wilson got Salem on the board with a 13 yard run, followed by a six yard TD run by Cameron Leftwich. Then, just before the half, Wilson hit Chauncey Logan, Jr. with a 28 yard touchdown to give Salem a 21-0 lead at the half.
The third quarter was scoreless again, but Salem’s defense had everything under control. A Leftwich two yard run and a four yard TD run by Isaiah Barlow set the clock running continuously and the Spartans closed out the shutout.
Leftwich finished with 104 yards rushing on 20 carries to lead Salem while Wilson scrambled for 66 yards on nine runs. DaRon was nine for 13 passing for 144 yards with five going to Logan for 86 yards and a touchdown.
On defense Noah Collins had 17 tackles, including nine solos. Jaelyn Allen had 10 tackles, Logan had seven and Chris Cole, Cameron Martindale and Carson Williams had six each. Josiah Moyer had a fourth quarter interception to seal the shutout.
“I’m proud of our kids,” said Holter. “We’re playing fast and physical. We had six possessions and scored five touchdowns and our offensive line keeps getting better every week. We’re playing Salem football.”
The Salem Spartans will host Louisa County in a Region 4D semifinal football game this Friday at 7 pm at Salem Stadium. It will be a rematch of the 2017 state championship game, which Salem won 43-22 at William & Mary’s Zable Stadium in Williamsburg.
That one was a barn burner. Louisa County came in at 14-0 while Salem was 12-2 with losses to Dinwiddie and Blacksburg early in the season. The Spartans were looking for their third straight Class 4 championship and pulled off a thriller. Salem led by just six points in the third quarter when the Spartans stopped a Lions’ drive in the red zone, then scored a killer TD on a 79 yard run by De’Angelo Ramsey to seal the deal.
It’s four years later and all the names have changed, including the head coaches. Salem has gone from Stephen Magenbauer to Don Holter while Louisa has moved from Mark Fischer to Will Patrick. If you remember, Fischer was being treated for cancer at the time and the Lions were trying to win it for him. Mark has since passed on, dying in February of 2019 at the age of 54.
Fischer coached Louisa for a dozen years and built a strong program in Mineral, VA, and the Lions continue to be among the top teams in Class 4. Since losing that championship game to Salem they’re 36-5 overall, including undefeated regular seasons in 2018, ’19 and the abbreviated spring season after COVID struck in 2020. They’re 8-2 this year and coming off a 35-14 win over fourth seeded E.C. Glass at Lynchburg’s City Stadium last Thursday.
“They’re a good football team,” said Holter. “They’re big, physical, they run well and they’re well coached.”
Salem and the Lions have no common opponents. This is the first year Louisa is in Region 4D, having been moved into Salem’s region with Orange County and Western Albemarle just this fall. All three made the eight team playoffs with Western Albemarle third, Louisa fifth and Orange County seventh. Western Albemarle beat Halifax last weekend while second seeded GW-Danville beat Orange County. GW will host Western Albemarle in the other semifinal this week, and if the Spartans win they’ll host that winner over Thanksgiving weekend.
The Spartans won their 10th game in a row last Friday, counting a forfeit win over Blacksburg, when they opened the playoffs with a 35-0 win over visiting Amherst County. Salem held the Lancers to 150 total yards while piling up 366, including 222 yards rushing.
After a scoreless first quarter the Spartans started to grease the wheels in the second period. DaRon Wilson got Salem on the board with a 13 yard run, followed by a six yard TD run by Cameron Leftwich. Then, just before the half, Wilson hit Chauncey Logan, Jr. with a 28 yard touchdown to give Salem a 21-0 lead at the half.
The third quarter was scoreless again, but Salem’s defense had everything under control. A Leftwich two yard run and a four yard TD run by Isaiah Barlow set the clock running continuously and the Spartans closed out the shutout.
Leftwich finished with 104 yards rushing on 20 carries to lead Salem while Wilson scrambled for 66 yards on nine runs. DaRon was nine for 13 passing for 144 yards with five going to Logan for 86 yards and a touchdown.
On defense Noah Collins had 17 tackles, including nine solos. Jaelyn Allen had 10 tackles, Logan had seven and Chris Cole, Cameron Martindale and Carson Williams had six each. Josiah Moyer had a fourth quarter interception to seal the shutout.
“I’m proud of our kids,” said Holter. “We’re playing fast and physical. We had six possessions and scored five touchdowns and our offensive line keeps getting better every week. We’re playing Salem football.”