Patrick Henry of Roanoke will travel to Salem Stadium Friday evening to take on Salem, in a clash of 2-0 teams.
PH thus far has defeated Hidden Valley 14-6, and Blacksburg 56-0. Salem, in their first outing, likewise blanked Blacksburg 50-0, and four days later took down Christiansburg 35-13.
What are everyone's thoughts on this matchup? Without the usual preseason previews, I know almost nothing about PH. I do know that they have a very good mobile quarterback, probably one of the best in the area. I also know that that the Patriots almost always manage to find at least one or two receivers that give the Spartans headaches, at least in the last few years. Where PH usually seems thin talent-wise is on the lines. Looking at their results thus far, the Patriots' last minute win over Hidden Valley seems closer than expected. However, that score is very much in keeping with the HV-PH rivalry, which almost always sees close games that go down to the wire - and in which PH almost always pulls out the win. Obviously, PH beat Blacksburg a bit worse than Salem did. I'm not sure how much those scores tell us, other than that Blacksburg is in for a rough month of March.
I didn't see Salem's game with Blacksburg. I did see last week's game against Christiansburg, a substantially tougher opponent than the Bruins. Salem's running game still seems strong. Though it appears the offense hasn't gotten too fancy yet with much in the way of short and medium-range passes, receiver Shawn Collins has proven to be a serious deep threat. And Chauncey Logan gives Salem a viable dual run-pass threat at quarterback. Defensively, the Spartans' first-string unit has surrendered six points in two games thus far, as has PH's.
Patrick Henry will be trying to snap Salem's eight-game winning streak in the series, which overall stands 12-7-1 in favor of the Spartans. In the seven games played in the series since its resumption in 2013, Salem has scored fewer than forty points just twice, and has scored over fifty points on three occasions. The last three games have been wild and woolly affairs, high-scoring on both sides: 56-42, 42-21, and 51-34 in the last meeting at PH in 2019.
So - what do you all see happening between these two old rivals at Salem Stadium on Friday?
PH thus far has defeated Hidden Valley 14-6, and Blacksburg 56-0. Salem, in their first outing, likewise blanked Blacksburg 50-0, and four days later took down Christiansburg 35-13.
What are everyone's thoughts on this matchup? Without the usual preseason previews, I know almost nothing about PH. I do know that they have a very good mobile quarterback, probably one of the best in the area. I also know that that the Patriots almost always manage to find at least one or two receivers that give the Spartans headaches, at least in the last few years. Where PH usually seems thin talent-wise is on the lines. Looking at their results thus far, the Patriots' last minute win over Hidden Valley seems closer than expected. However, that score is very much in keeping with the HV-PH rivalry, which almost always sees close games that go down to the wire - and in which PH almost always pulls out the win. Obviously, PH beat Blacksburg a bit worse than Salem did. I'm not sure how much those scores tell us, other than that Blacksburg is in for a rough month of March.
I didn't see Salem's game with Blacksburg. I did see last week's game against Christiansburg, a substantially tougher opponent than the Bruins. Salem's running game still seems strong. Though it appears the offense hasn't gotten too fancy yet with much in the way of short and medium-range passes, receiver Shawn Collins has proven to be a serious deep threat. And Chauncey Logan gives Salem a viable dual run-pass threat at quarterback. Defensively, the Spartans' first-string unit has surrendered six points in two games thus far, as has PH's.
Patrick Henry will be trying to snap Salem's eight-game winning streak in the series, which overall stands 12-7-1 in favor of the Spartans. In the seven games played in the series since its resumption in 2013, Salem has scored fewer than forty points just twice, and has scored over fifty points on three occasions. The last three games have been wild and woolly affairs, high-scoring on both sides: 56-42, 42-21, and 51-34 in the last meeting at PH in 2019.
So - what do you all see happening between these two old rivals at Salem Stadium on Friday?
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