The Salem Spartans will be back at Bogle Field in Roanoke County this Friday for their second game in a row against a “south county” foe. Last week it was Cave Spring, and this Friday it will be Hidden Valley.
If things go the same as they did last week it will be a long night for the host Titans. Salem rocked Cave Spring, 63-7, rolling up 405 yards of offense while holding the Knights to 64, including just 27 rushing yards on 26 attempts.
“It’s hard not to be happy with a game like that,” said Salem coach Don Holter. “We got better, we executed in all phases of the game and we scored 63 points. And on defense we were flying to the football.”
This game was over early as Salem scored 28 points in the first quarter. Four different Spartans scored with Jayden McDonald opening the scoring on the Spartans’ first drive with a nine yard TD pass from DaRon Wilson, the first varsity touchdown pass for the sophomore quarterback.
Cam Leftwich went over from the one for Salem’s second TD, then Zavione Wood turned on the burners for a 51 yard TD run. The quarter ended with Wilson tossing a 20 yard TD pass to Chase Greer.
In the second quarter Wood scored all three touchdowns on runs of 57, 16 and 34 yards. Wood wove through a forest of Knights, who gave about as much effort to tackle him as a bunch of trees.
PHOTOS BY BRIAN HOFFMAN
Things didn’t get any better for the Knights in the second half. They kicked off to open the third quarter and Salem’s Shawn Collins returned the kickoff 89 yards for a TD. Wilson threw his third touchdown pass, a 39 yard strike to Chauncy Logan, Jr., for Salem’s final score. Ironically, Logan had been the quarterback for the first three games but he got a little banged up in practice so Holter moved him to receiver while keeping him on the defensive side of the line.
“We’ll evaluate that situation from week to week,” said Holter about who would start behind center. “We’re very comfortable with either Chauncey or DeRon.”
PHOTOS BY BRIAN HOFFMAN
Wilson completed five of eight passes for 79 yards and three scores. Greer and Logan caught two each and Jayden McDonald had the other.
Wood rushed for 205 yards and four touchdowns on just seven carries. Javionne Jones had six carries for 45 yards, Jalen Allen had 28 yards on eight carries, Leftwich had 24 on six attempts and Carson Williams rushed twice for 22 yards. Wesley Cross was perfect on nine extra point kicks and the freshman hasn’t missed on 25 PATs this season.
Defensively Noah Collins led the Spartans with nine total tackles, followed by Wood with six and Addison Wolfe with five. Jorden McDonald had an interception and Stacy Williams had two tackles for losses, three hurries and a pass deflection from his tackle position.
With the win Salem improved to 4-0 and the Spartans have outscored the opposition 183 to 37. The Spartans remain atop the VHSL Region 4D rankings with a rating of 25.5. Pulaski County, also 4-0, is second at 23.5 as the two continue on a collison course for an April 2nd meeting at Salem Stadium.
The Salem jayvees remained unbeaten with a 40-14 win over the Knights at Salem Stadium last week. They’ll host Hidden Valley tonight.
