Salem headed to its 4th state semi in a row. Salem hosts Dominion I believe next Saturday.
Salem 24 Byrd 17
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Slight correction: 5th state semifinal in a row for the Spartans.
2012: Heritage-Lynchburg (L), 2013: Sherando (L), 2014: Liberty-Bealeton (W), 2015: Jefferson Forest (W), 2016: Dominion
2012: Heritage-Lynchburg (L), 2013: Sherando (L), 2014: Liberty-Bealeton (W), 2015: Jefferson Forest (W), 2016: Dominion
This will be the second time Dominion has played Salem at Salem. They should have some understanding of what the place is like coming in this time.
Wow! What a great game! I'd say between Salem/Byrd, LT/Dinwiddie, and Woodgrove/Dominion, 4A high school football fans got a gridiron show well beyond the price of admission. The question is, can Lafayette/EV live up to last night's spectacular dogfights? As far as the Salem/Byrd game goes, it was everything I thought it would be, albeit a slightly closer final score. Two great teams lined up and knocked the snot out of each other. There were some huge hits and both defenses swarmed to the ball. I was impressed with toughness of both teams as I counted multiple players go down only to muster up the energy to get and keep fighting the next play with what had to be some pretty serious pain. The game was also a chess match between two great coaches and some great play calls were made. In particular, Salem's first TD on that pass to Owens out of the backfield was genius and caught Byrd completely by surprise. However, Highfill matched that on several occasions, including what looked to be a few "muddle huddle" type plays from way back in the day. On offense, Byrd was able to pass a little more though Basham was still the culprit on the receiving end. Salem was more effective running the ball, especially by using Fox as a tank to just muscle his way for yardage. Hats off to that young man for the game he played on both "O" and "D"! I was also really impressed with Watson for Byrd. Yes, he threw a couple picks, but through his speed and sheer determination, he kept drive after drive alive and took some heat off of Basham. For Salem, Joseph Quinn had maybe his best game ever. What say you Salem fans? At least, that's the best I've ever witnessed him play. With Tucker double-teamed, he lit up Byrd's secondary. I love how he plays the game. He's not the biggest or fastest, but is gutsy, runs great routes, and has "sticky" hands. Last night, he was "Mr. Clutch" for sure. Those several diving grabs and multiple occasions of making Byrd's defenders miss as he eluded them for yards after the catch, saved Salem's drives at crucial moments.
My takeaway from last night is that Salem is poised for another run at a title. Offensively, Beckley has four five guys he can go to in the air and if things break down, he can take off and burn you with his feet. Burnette does a nice job hitting the hole (I think better than Ramsey did) and is a threat once he gets to the second level. Fox is almost always good for 3 or 4 yards and will break one much longer if you don't wrap up. Their defense has shored up most of its weaknesses from earlier in the season, especially on the DL. Fox is incredibly smart at his LB position and sniffs out much of what other teams try and do. You can see him leading his defensive squad exactly as a senior captain should on every down. Finally, special teams for Salem are about as good as they can be for anyone at the high school level. As we found out last year, that can mean the difference between a ring and no ring. The question mark I have for Salem which will get answered next week is, "How will the defense respond to a highly talented dual threat QB when he takes off downfield and/or pulls up and throws a dart to a streaking wide-out?" It's going to take a lot of preparation and discipline of which Salem has both, but as we saw last night, Dominion is going to make it awfully difficult.
My takeaway from last night is that Salem is poised for another run at a title. Offensively, Beckley has four five guys he can go to in the air and if things break down, he can take off and burn you with his feet. Burnette does a nice job hitting the hole (I think better than Ramsey did) and is a threat once he gets to the second level. Fox is almost always good for 3 or 4 yards and will break one much longer if you don't wrap up. Their defense has shored up most of its weaknesses from earlier in the season, especially on the DL. Fox is incredibly smart at his LB position and sniffs out much of what other teams try and do. You can see him leading his defensive squad exactly as a senior captain should on every down. Finally, special teams for Salem are about as good as they can be for anyone at the high school level. As we found out last year, that can mean the difference between a ring and no ring. The question mark I have for Salem which will get answered next week is, "How will the defense respond to a highly talented dual threat QB when he takes off downfield and/or pulls up and throws a dart to a streaking wide-out?" It's going to take a lot of preparation and discipline of which Salem has both, but as we saw last night, Dominion is going to make it awfully difficult.
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Great post. Just like the first game, probably more so than that game, it felt like Salem should be ahead by three or more touchdowns, but Byrd just refused to go away. The Spartans had a golden opportunity to really take control at the start of the third quarter, but Nakhle for Byrd made a great play on the steal-and-score to cut the deficit right back to seven. It had to be a very frustrating game for the Salem defense. Time and again, Byrd seemed to be stymied, only to have Watson or Basham make something out of nothing on third or fourth and long.
I mean the following analogy in the best possible way, so no one freak out. Byrd's offense against Salem reminds me of a junk-type offense in basketball where a team has one small, slow-ish kid who's a dead-eye three point shooter, one guy who can get offensive rebounds and put-backs, and three guys who can do nothing but set picks. You think, "All we have to do is cover that one shooter." But then, the other team runs you through a million picks, the rebounds keep bouncing around and going to the garbage guy inside, who kicks it back out to the shooter, who just happens to knock down nine or ten threes because your guys have all scrambled out of position for the rebound, or are gassed from playing defense for thirty seconds every time. Maybe you're having a tough shooting night on your end, and all of a sudden, you're set up for heartbreak. That's the kind of feeling I got watching both games against Byrd, especially last night's. Not that Basham is either small or slow-ish, but you get the point.
But even with all the playmaking and heroics of Watson and Basham, Salem still held the Byrd offense to ten points, the Terriers' low offensive output of the season. Their second lowest (in regulation) was the fourteen to which Salem limited them in September. I was impressed with the way the Spartans stayed poised after Byrd tied it with eleven minutes left. Instead of panicking or putting their heads down because things weren't going their way, Salem fashioned their most impressive drive of the season, under the most pressure they've faced thus far. And as RKE Fan noted, Quinn was Mr. Clutch on that drive. Beckley had a few great throws as well.
All in all, that was a great high school game. One I was rather concerned about. I knew Byrd would match Salem's physicality, and that they would have a whole bunch of new surprises to pull from the bag of tricks. And, no one knows you - and your weaknesses - more than the guys who play you every year. My hat is off to Coach Highfill and his gallant Terriers, and I am very glad to see them in the rear view mirror.
From what little I've heard of Dominion's McCants, I think Salem will have a big challenge on their hands next Saturday. With his ability to scramble, keep plays alive and create, he sounds like Watson from Byrd - with the key difference being that McCants is actually a good passer. With viable targets, unlike Byrd. So, this is going to be a tough one. There'll be a lot of midnight oil burned just off of Goodwin Avenue in Salem the next few nights.
