A Few Random Thoughts...

[RKE Fan]

First and foremost, Mike Salem, they got it done! It was great to see you again, but words can't describe how happy I am that you got to see your Spartans pull it off! Second, it was great to see Dinwiddie Proud again and meet his brother, Bleeding Navy, OneMan, and VAPreps own Matt Hattfield. What a great group of guys! Third, what a great atmosphere today for both games! Great facility, great fan support for all teams, and of course, a classic game to be talked about for a long time.

As far as the game goes, I'll let some of the more knowledgeable posters break down the X's and O's. I will make a few general statements though. As has been said, both defenses brought it and then some. I expected a tight game, but not at such a low score. LT's DB's were as advertised and I enjoyed watching them play at such a high level. As impressed as I was with Salem's D in the JF game, they simply played lights out tonight as a unit. They shut down LT's ground game, had excellent coverage on deep passes, and refused to give up huge YAC on the short routes. Although I was rooting for Salem, we had to sit on LT's side because I was with my elderly father with bad knees. The LT fans near me were very impressed with Salem's D and said LT hadn't seen a defense that good all year. By the way, I enjoyed getting to talk to them. They were very nice and had a lot of good things to say about Salem's players and coaches. I was impressed with Hughey for LT. Although he didn't connect on any deep routes, he completed A LOT of passes. Others have mentioned Beckley's performance and I agree he was stellar. His stats won't look amazing, but he managed the game to perfection and showed his mobility at crucial times. Hats off to Salem's O and D lines as well. Upfront LT was big and fast, but Salem's Mules performed well. I thought Nick Hood and Howell had especially good nights on the D line. Many others contributed to Salem's victory, but I'll let their fans breakdown those performances. I think Bleedy Navy said that if Salem could keep it close and give special teams a chance, good things could happen for them. He also mentioned Craft and his leg. Well...that, along with everything mentioned above and fantastic coaching, put the state championship trophy in Salem's hands tonight. Congrats Salem!

 

[DinwiddieProud]

It was a great day to see old friends. I was blessed to see the ones you mentioned above, and several more. I thank all of you that were able to help Mike out. You were able to make it possible for Mike to see his beloved Spartans win the Championship, in person. I know how grateful he is for that opportunity. If he gets through partying in the streets of Salem tonight, I'm sure he will express his gratitude himself. Congratulations Mike!

 

[BleedingNavy]

It was a great day to see old friends. I was blessed to see the ones you mentioned above, and several more. I thank all of you that were able to help Mike out. You were able to make it possible for Mike to see his beloved Spartans win the Championship, in person. I know how grateful he is for that opportunity. If he gets through partying in the streets of Salem tonight, I'm sure he will express his gratitude himself. Congratulations Mike!

Ditto DP. Its nice to meet others with a common interest and passion for high school football. Thanks for the compliments RKE Fan. I did get LT's score wrong. Hit Salems right on the head. Lol. Will give you a few thoughts in the morning. Congrats to Salem on a good win. Maybe now we can put this east and west stuff to bed and have positive football discussions. Proud of Nate Craft. Stroked it like he had kicked winning field goals for years. His grandad is smiling in heaven tonight.

 

[mike salem]

Thanks for the nice comments Rke Fan, DinwiddieProud, & BleedingNavy. It was great to meet you BN, oneman, & Matt Hatfield. It was good to see you again DP & Rke Fan. Thanks to everyone who helped get me to the game. I must have stayed an hour after the game meeting people, seeing old friends, and talking people's ears off. Came home went up to Main Street and celebrated with more friends. I just got home about an hour ago! Check out my new signature, I've updated it. It looks pretty, thought I'd take it out for a spin.

 

[Raven skins]

Thanks for the nice comments Rke Fan, DinwiddieProud, & BleedingNavy. It was great to meet you BN, oneman, & Matt Hatfield. Thanks to everyone who helped get me to the game. I must have stayed an hour after the game meeting people, seeing old friends, and talking people's ears off. Came home went up to Main Street and celebrated with more friends. I just got home about an hour ago! Check out my new signature, I've updated it. It looks pretty, thought I'd take it out for a spin.

 

[BleedingNavy]

First, let me start by saying thanks to a well played game and a deserved Salem victory i have eaten my crow (score prediction) and it didnt taste too bad.

I will only talk about the positives today so here we go:

1. Salem's defensive game plan was spot on. The Ramsey brothers played run first with the eldest rushing from the weak side. Not sure if anyone noticed, but intentional or not LT only tried to run outside once in the first half and the play was for a loss. The interior d-line kept the LT o-line from getting to their second blocks which limited the big runs up the middle. Salem rushed the passer from the edge and forced some quick innaccurate passes. Most importantly Salem defended the screens and tackled very well. Honestly believe the cover two scheme confused Hughley and forced LT to throw short to mid range passes. Only the second time i have ever seen LT fail to break off a big play in a game.

2. With the exception of a few long passes
Salem played conservatively on offense and popped the big run as expected. The key to this plan was being able to keep drives alive with smart short passes. Beckley, stayed in the pocket, took his hits and did not throw a bad ball all night.

3. Special teams obviously played a role in this game (field goals) and Salem just did a solid job of covering kicks. With exception of the Davis punt return there was not a lot of excitement in this area. Neither team has to punt a lot during the season, so as expected neither did well. Three short punts by Salem gave LT possession at midfield, but did not cost them a single point.

4. LT's receivers have tremendous hands and run very good routes. When given time Hughley was able to move the ball down field quickly and was fairly accurate. I did think he threw several balls off his back foot and failed to connect with open receivers. Davis is the real deal! He can catch just about anything near him.

5. The LT defense hit hard and covered well. You have to respect a scheme thats says beat us if you can. Its hard to move to move the ball consistently on the Titans and they stiffened up on in the second half.

Conclusion:
Salem did just enough offensively to win and the defense played lights out. I know the veer has its limits, but i kept waiting for some adjustments that never came. I think LT's thought process regarding their conservative play calling in the final quarter makes sense, but I am a bit torn.

Was it Salem or did the LT coaches fail to let their horses out of the stall? Salems ability to keep LT out of the end zone in OT shocked me. No disrespect intended, but it seemed as if the Titans were playing not to lose and Salem was playing to win.

Congratulations to both teams. You are proven winners with well respected programs. Despite the doubters (myself included) Salem is the reigning State Champion. Enjoy! Can we just skip winter, spring and summer? I am ready for fall.

 

[freeatlast2013]

I was able to meet with Mike a couple of times and had some excellent conversations and brought my wife one time ! What a wonderful intelligent man who enjoys high school football as I do ! Ty Mike for putting up with me !

 

[freeatlast2013]

Ma

I was able to meet with Mike a couple of times and had some excellent conversations and brought my wife one time ! What a wonderful intelligent man who enjoys high school football as I do ! Ty Mike for putting up with me !

Maybe I can bring my boys over sometime and we could have a good time !

 

[mike salem]

Ma

Maybe I can bring my boys over sometime and we could have a good time !

I would love to meet them, just call me or shoot me a text to be sure I'm home.

 

[mike salem]

I was able to meet with Mike a couple of times and had some excellent conversations and brought my wife one time ! What a wonderful intelligent man who enjoys high school football as I do ! Ty Mike for putting up with me !

It was my pleasure meeting you & your lovely wife. I enjoy our shared passion of HS football. I think the biggest problem we have is hours can pass by while we are talking because we both love to talk!.

 

[freeatlast2013]

Yes sometimes I just cannot shut up lol !

 

[mike salem]

Yes sometimes I just cannot shut up lol !

Me either

 

[anon_vu6vqwsr4nf3b]

I want to echo all statements here, and add my congratulations to Salem on a great win. I was there on the front row, and the game just had a completely different feel to it than last year's right from the jump. Salem looked loose during warm ups and came out throwing punches for most of the first half, and it took LT a while to respond. The game, especially the second half, was awesome to watch. Salem's naked bootleg was very timely and executed perfectly. Maybe if they had run it one more time in the second half, the game may not have gone to OT! But I'm glad it did. It was just an excellent display of defense by both teams. I thought Hughey for LT should've carried the ball more, but he's young and you could tell Salem had him timid. I was waiting for the big special teams play by LT to come, as it had just about every week during the season, but when it finally came, it was littered with penalties. Unfortunately, special teams also did LT in, missing the winning field goal. I think these two teams will meet again next year and over the following few years, and that this is just the start of a nice rivalry.

It was nice to see LT brought many more fans than last year. Both games were rockin' in the stands! Magna Vista's and Salem's fans were the most impressive.

 

[wikki]

I want to echo all statements here, and add my congratulations to Salem on a great win. I was there on the front row, and the game just had a completely different feel to it than last year's right from the jump. Salem looked loose during warm ups and came out throwing punches for most of the first half, and it took LT a while to respond. The game, especially the second half, was awesome to watch. Salem's naked bootleg was very timely and executed perfectly. Maybe if they had run it one more time in the second half, the game may not have gone to OT! But I'm glad it did. It was just an excellent display of defense by both teams. I thought Hughey for LT should've carried the ball more, but he's young and you could tell Salem had him timid. I was waiting for the big special teams play by LT to come, as it had just about every week during the season, but when it finally came, it was littered with penalties. Unfortunately, special teams also did LT in, missing the winning field goal. I think these two teams will meet again next year and over the following few years, and that this is just the start of a nice rivalry.

It was nice to see LT brought many more fans than last year. Both games were rockin' in the stands! Magna Vista's and Salem's fans were the most impressive.

I actually thought at the beginning Lord Botetourt fans were the loudest. Magna Vista had just as many fans as Salem. Most fans are pretty good when scoring. I saw highlights of the Appomattox game and they were by far the best of any. They had thunder Stix and one of the photographers said it was deafening they were so loud. They were cheering the entire game