The Salem and Glenvar High School football teams will have “benefit games” this Friday with the start of the regular season a week and a day away. Salem will host Amherst at Salem Stadium and Glenvar will be at Blacksburg High School.
The Salem jayvee team will scrimmage Amherst on Thursday at home at 6 p.m., and on Friday the varsity Spartans will host the Lancers in a game-like situation. Admission will be charged.
“The number ones will see a lot of time but we still want to evaluate some people,” said Salem coach Don Holter. “We’ll start subbing at the end of the third quarter.”
The Spartans’ first scrimmage was last Friday morning against Maury High School at Fork Union Military Academy. The Commodores, based in Norfolk, have won the Class 5 state championship for the past three years and last Friday they showed the Spartans how they did it.
“They’re a very good team and they’ll expose your deficiencies real quick,” said Holter. “You’re always better off scrimmaging a good team. If you go against a lesser team you tend to have a false sense of where you are.”
Holter would have liked to see the Spartans be a little more physical and he hopes that changes this week against Amherst.
“Our standard is our standard and we weren’t as physical as we need to be,” he said. “We’ll get there.”
Glenvar will have a benefit game Friday in Blacksburg at 7 p.m. against the Bruins. The Highlanders took on William Byrd last Friday in a controlled scrimmage at Highlander Stadium following a scrimmage between Byrd and Jefferson Forest.
“It was the first time our players have hit this summer,” said Glenvar coach Kevin Clifford. “We don’t hit during our drills because we’re trying to minimize injuries. I was happy with how it went, the kids competed. We ran a very generic offense.”
The first VHSL regular season games for Salem and Glenvar will be on Friday, August 28, and both are on the road. In fact, both teams will be in Lynchburg as Salem will play E.C. Glass and Glenvar will take on Liberty Christian Academy.
Look for a preview of the Salem and Glenvar teams in TOUCHDOWN L, a special section in next week’s Salem Times-Register. Also, don’t miss the start of the ST-R football contest featuring a $50 gift certificate to Mac & Bob’s for the weekly winner.
