If you haven’t noticed, Salem High football is officially back. After a ho-hum 5-5 season in 2025, the Spartans have the home fans buzzing again after last Friday’s 38-14 win over Dinwiddie High.
“That was just an outstanding win,” said Salem coach Don Holter. “They’re all great, but when you beat a team like Dinwiddie, a well coached team that is always formidable, it’s a big win.”
Salem is now 4-0 and the 2025 season is far in the rear view mirror. The Spartans started out 0-4 last year but they’ve avenged all four losses and are now trying to go undefeated at the midway point of the regular season with a trip to Blacksburg this week.
Although this season started out well for Salem, last week’s game was a big test. It got off to a good start for the home team when the Salem defense held the Generals on the first possession of the game. Dinwiddie tried to fool Salem with a fourth down “quick kick” but it wasn’t quick enough to stop a charging Jake James from blocking the kick and giving Salem great field position on the Dinwiddie 48. Then, on first down, Jordan McCadden busted off the right side of the line for a 48-yard touchdown to put the Spartans up 7-0 just over three minutes into the game.
Dinwiddie answered on the next series, hitting a screen pass for big yardage to tie the game at 7-7. The race was on with 7:05 still remaining in the first period.
Salem kept the ball for the rest of the period, but went for it on fourth and one on the first play of the second quarter and the Dinwiddie defense stuffed the attempt. Salem held but a fumbled punt set up the Generals in good position again. The Spartan defense held and with 8:18 until halftime Dinwiddie missed a 22-yard field goal attempt.
Salem regained the lead on an 81-yard run by McCadden with 6:56 on the clock. Dinwiddie then answered with a 74-yard TD run 15 seconds of clock time later and it was all tied up again at 14-14.
The Spartans finished the first half strong, and that was a big factor in the win. Nick Baxley returned the ensuing kickoff to the Dinwiddie 35, breaking several tackles along the way. Then freshman quarterback Pearce Oliver, who started the game with senior Tanner Overstreet nursing an injured knee, hit Jaidyn Rudisell down the seam and “Rudi” carried a defender into the end zone for a Salem score with 6:17 still remaining in the half.
The Spartans were able to tack on one more TD before intermission. After the defense held Dinwiddie again Oliver hooked up with Ji’Ziaha Johnson in front of the Salem bench and the sophomore receiver took it 47 yards for another score and a 28-14 lead as Liam Munoz converted his fourth extra point.
Salem’s defense has been extra good in the second half this year and Friday night was no exception, as the Spartans shutout Dinwiddie the rest of the way. McCadden scored his third TD of the night on a 36-yard run early in the third period and Munoz kicked a 30-yard field goal for some icing on the cake with 4:58 to go in the game.
McCadden finished with 270 yards rushing on 26 carries and he now has 1,135 yards on the ground in just four games. Gabe Johnson rushed for 54 yards on 14 carries.
Oliver filled in admirably for Overstreet behind center. When he wasn’t handing off to McCadden he completed three of six passes for 87 yards and two TDs, and had another pass dropped that would have been a score.
Oliver didn’t know he was going to start until the middle of last week. Overstreet banged up his knee in the second half of the William Fleming game a week prior and it was decided to sit him out against Dinwiddie.
“We were preparing Pearce for the possibility and on Wednesday we elevated him to starter,” said Holter.
In the days before the game Overstreet helped prepare Oliver for his first varsity start. Even though he knew he wasn’t going to play, Tanner dressed out in his maroon and silver uniform on Friday night.
“He didn’t want to stand on the sideline in street clothes, he’s a true Spartan,” said Holter. “Tanner wanted to play but we’re always going to do what’s best for the athlete physically.”
Holter was pleased with what he saw from Oliver, who earned the backup quarterback position during preseason practice.
“He welcomed Tanner’s input,” said Holter. “Pearce has maturity beyond his years and the offensive line rallied around him. He has some ability, he threw some good balls and stood in there and took some shots.”
Defensively McCadden led Salem with nine total tackles, including eight solos. Joe Henderson also had eight solos, Jamalachi Law had six solos and two assists, Michael Crawley had six solos and an assist and Baxley and Rudisell had six solos each. Crawley had a caused fumble that Grayson MacBrien recovered and five different Spartans recorded a sack.
This week the Spartans are back on the road with a trip to Blacksburg. Many years ago this was a great rivalry but Salem has won the last five meetings and 28 of the last 31.
The Bruins have a new coach in Phillip Reese, who was on Zack Leonard’s staff last year and took over when Zack took the William Fleming job in the off-season. Blacksburg is 2-2 with wins over Giles and James River and losses to Floyd County and Altavista. Salem won’t be taking the Bruins lightly after pulling out last year’s game late, 18-16.
“Their offense is very similar to last year,” said Holter. “They have some good players and some good size, and Blacksburg is always a tough place to play.”
The Salem jayvees were off last week. The jayvees will host Blacksburg at Salem Stadium at 6 p.m. Thursday night.
