Just my opinion but, Marcus Parker without injury is at least in the biggest "what if" discussion but, as time rolls on only old timers are likely to remember. Sadly, Marcus' "what if" was beyond his control while Ramsey's was self inflicted.
Salem at GW
- Thread starter southbottomU
- Start date
To this day my favorite play from a Salem player. Watch Coach Cromer in the foreground going absolutely mental when he realizes Ramsey has gotten away and will score. This was so fun to see in the stands.
Great pick.
The best male athlete at Salem high school tends to have the position of running back at Salem because it is a desirable, feature position of the pro-I offense that Salem runs. The most athletic and physically dominant kid on the team is usually placed at this position with a few exceptions through all the years at Salem.
The program breeds great running backs because their offense lives and dies by them.
I'm also old and saw just about everyone that's been mentioned. Historically, with few exceptions, Salem has been able to field a pretty good tailback. The top of the list is a three person discussion in my opinion. Parker, Haley, and Ramsey. If you picked any of the three anyone would be hard pressed to make an argument to the contrary. I think the real debate starts at number four. A number of names have been mentioned and all worthy. I'd like to add one, Jomo Nelson. At just about any other time in the programs history Nelson would have been a three year starter at tailback but he and Parker were in the same class. When Parker was injured and missed the majority of his senior year, Nelson stepped in, rushed for north of 1,400 yards in ten games, behind what we will politely say was not the best offensive line, with no passing game to keep the defense honest, was the district offensive player of the year, all while playing outside backer full time on defense. Was he the top of "tier 2"? Maybe, maybe not but I think he should be in the conversation.
Last edited:
I just can't believe you leave Peyton Lewis off your list. By far, most highly recruited.
Always a difficult argument strictly because you don't come to Salem with the expectation of being a stat monster. It's not like playing for Harless or Highfill where they find a runner they like and give them the ball 400 times a season or what SR did with Overstreet. Most games Salem plays don't end up close so the foot is often off the gas by the start of the third quarter and you're yanked after a series or so anyway so you have to get what you get early most games and you do that splitting carries and, if Salem has a capable QB, with some intermittent passing which, due to your success running the ball, is likely going for big chunks. Thinking of this season, the Blacksburg game was a good example (or CS, trying to remember). Persinger got two carries that game, they went for 158 yards and two TDs but still, he only got to do a little. You can imagine if he'd gotten 10-12 touches he probably could have at least pulled 300 yards.
Ramsey had a fairly unique situation. Luke Owens goes down with a severe injury in week 8 and Ramsey gets 7 games where he is probably 75% of the offense and it pays off gangbusters as he goes for 1500+ yards on about 130 carries and snagged 20 TDs along the way. That was a great Salem team, make no mistake, but it was easy to see from a fan's perspective that all Salem had to do to win state was just keep feeding him.
But realistically, that's just not going to happen. Even Persinger this year, his success has been really good but Arrington is a force in his own right and McAdden can come in as well and pick up yards (those two will do great things next season). It's just rare for a Salem TB to be leaned on so heavily so the stats just don't always bear it out like you'd think when we talk about these all-timers at Salem.
Ramsey had a fairly unique situation. Luke Owens goes down with a severe injury in week 8 and Ramsey gets 7 games where he is probably 75% of the offense and it pays off gangbusters as he goes for 1500+ yards on about 130 carries and snagged 20 TDs along the way. That was a great Salem team, make no mistake, but it was easy to see from a fan's perspective that all Salem had to do to win state was just keep feeding him.
But realistically, that's just not going to happen. Even Persinger this year, his success has been really good but Arrington is a force in his own right and McAdden can come in as well and pick up yards (those two will do great things next season). It's just rare for a Salem TB to be leaned on so heavily so the stats just don't always bear it out like you'd think when we talk about these all-timers at Salem.
Good points.
I’m only engaging as a celebration of Salem running backs. The ones I blocked for will never be in that conversation but still very productive and love how they did more with less, whether that be in their personal physical stature or with the guys around them. Guys like Clemo, Hudson, Dyer, collie, Kirk coles, grigsby. Will never get discussed as greats but all had games/seasons where they were the man getting it done. Salem has been blessed to have so many great RB’s
Making this conversation about RB not specific to tail back because often kids will be tailbacks and then they will be full backs at other times of their career. Also different teams have different identities where some seasons the fullback is the feature back and sometimes it is the tail back.
