The Salem High football team is back in the state final, and they’ll be at home this Saturday for a 2 pm start at Salem Stadium. It will be a battle of Spartans as Salem will host the Broad Run Spartans after defeating George Washington of Danville in the Region 4D final last week, 48-14.
Broad Run is located in Ashburn, VA, in Loudoun County, and the Broad Run Spartans were the top seed and champions of Region 4C. They won the region by beating Tuscarora last weekend, 35-0, to improve to 12-1 on the season. Salem beat Tuscarora in the state semifinal in their spring run to the championship, 21-14, a week after Tuscarora beat Broad Run, 21-13, on April 16.
It’s been a strange season for Broad Run. In 11 wins they’ve outscored the opposition 412 to 65, with five shutouts and three other games giving up a touchdown or less. However in their only loss, to undefeated Region 5 semifinalist Stone Bridge, they got hammered 64-7.
“I know they’re a darned good football team,” said Salem coach Don Holter. “They have great size and a real good senior quarterback. There’s only four teams left so everyone is good.”
Brett Griffis is a dual threat quarterback for Broad Run, and he’s committed to Wake Forest. Brett is the son of Broad Run coach Matt Griffis and the younger brother of Mitch Griffis, who is currently a freshman quarterback at Wake Forest.
Broad Run has made the playoffs in each of the past nine years and 14 of the past 15. They won state championships in 2008 and ’09.
Meanwhile, Salem is two wins away from an 11th state championship in the past 26 years. The Spartans won their 16th regional championship at Salem Stadium last Friday with a 48-14 win over George Washington of Danville.
Salem got off to a good start in this one when junior quarterback DaRon Wilson sprinted 81 yards for a touchdown early in the first quarter. Wilson, who’s grown up running track for his dad on the Roanoke Tigers AAU team, found some room up the middle and wasn’t going to be caught from behind.
The Spartans made it 13-0 when Jayveon Jones scored on a three yard run after Jake Massey made a spectacular diving catch at the GW three yard line. The Eagles countered when they downed a punt on the Salem one and a fumbled snap resulted in a Danville touchdown on the recovery in the end zone, cutting the lead to 13-7 early in the second quarter.
Salem struck again when Jeffrey Phillips returned the kickoff 50 yards, and another nice catch by Massey set up a one yard run by Cam Leftwich. The Spartans held on the ensuing series and got the ball back, but a GW interception and return set up the Eagles on the one yard line with about a minute to go until halftime.
Two cracks from the one got the ball to the one inch line, where Salem held again on third down. On fourth down the Eagles were called for a five yard penalty on a false start, then they fumbled as the Salem defense completed a deflating goal line stand.
“That was huge,” said Holter. “Give credit to our young men who play defense. They take pride in their job and that just reaffirmed who they are.”
Salem opened the second half with another TD, capped by a four yard run by Leftwich, to make it 27-7. The Eagles answered with a 70 yard TD run, but after that it was all Salem. Leftwich scored two more TDs, on a three yard run and a 10 yard pass, sandwiched around a Wilson to Chauncey Logan, Jr. 47 yard strike early in the fourth quarter.
Leftwich had 72 yards rushing on the night on 15 carries while Jones had 71 on 13. Wilson had 79 yards on five carries and passed for 125 yards and two scores.
On defense, Nathaniel McClure led the Spartans with 10 tackles, including six solos. Cameron Martindale had nine while Noah Collins, Stacy Williams and Carson Williams had eight each. Salem had five sacks as a team, including two by Martindale.
Now the 12-1 Spartans reach the portion of the season where they play in the afternoon.
“Day games in December are special,” said Holter.
Saturday’s game at Salem Stadium is scheduled for 2 pm, and tickets will not be sold at the box office. All tickets for the state semifinal must be purchased on-line through the site GoFan, which can be accessed through the VHSL website.
Saturday’s winner will meet the winner of the other semifinal game between Varina and King’s Fork, who are both 11-1. The championship game will be at noon on December 11 at Liberty University.
GHS FOOTBALL
For the fifth year in a row a good Glenvar season came to a disappointing end at the hands of Appomattox High School. The visiting Raiders defeated Glenvar, 27-21, in the Region 3D final last Friday to advance to the state semifinal and end the Highlanders’ season at 11-2.
“It’s frustrating,” said Glenvar coach Kevin Clifford. “I feel like we could have won the game. A couple big plays really hurt us, but they have kids we don’t have.”
Appomattox has a lot of speed, and two big plays were killers for the Highlanders. After Glenvar took a 7-0 lead on a three yard dive over the pile by Kyle Hanks the Raiders ran the kickoff back 59 yards to set up a nine yard run by Jonathan Pennix, who scored all three Appomattox touchdowns. The Raiders’ Tye Robertson kicked a 46 yard field goal with the wind at his back late in the half and Appomattox led 10-7 at intermission.
The second big play came early in the second half. The Raiders got the ball first and Pennix ripped off a 64 yard touchdown run for a 17-7 Appomattox lead. That was the only scoring in the third quarter and Glenvar was still right in the game when Robertson’s second field goal, a 29 yarder, put the Raiders up 20-7 with 3:45 to on the clock.
On the ensuing possession Pennix struck again, picking off an Aiden Wolk pass and returning it 61 yards for a killer “pick six.” At that point, with a 20 point lead and just over three minutes remaining, Glenvar appeared to be dead in the water.
But the Highlanders didn’t surrender. Glenvar drove the field and scored on a nine yard pass from Wolk to Dagan Williams, then Jackson Swanson recovered an onsides kick by Carl Muse. Wolk passed to Williams again for a 25 yard TD and all of a sudden it was a six point game with about 30 seconds to go. However, the Highlanders couldn’t complete the miracle as this time Appomattox recoverd the onsides kick attempt and ran out the clock, happy to get out of Roanoke County with a hard-fought win.
“We had them on their heels when we went up tempo,” said Clifford. “I’m proud of our kids, they didn’t quit. I’ve never had a team that’s laid down and quit.”
Wolk finished 26 for 40 passing on a windy day with nine completions to Swanson for 69 yards, eight to Williams for 102 and five to Gabe Ford for 65 yards. Hanks ran 10 times for 30 yards.
On defense Mason Anderson had 16 tackles to lead the team and fellow linebackers Nick Williams and Shane Gibson had 15 each. Nate Johnson had nine tackles and a sack and Aiden Custer had eight tackles.
“It’s been a fun run, but it’s frustrating to lose to the same team year after year,” said Clifford. “I’ve been down this road before (with Giles), and we’ll get past it.”
The game marked Glenvar’s fifth trip to the region final in the past eight years, and the Highlanders have only lost four Three Rivers District games during that span.
“I’m proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish,” said Clifford. “It’s a credit to our staff. I like the team we have coming back and they (Appomattox) lose some people. I feel like we’re right there.”