Salem's first home game had a great atmosphere with major community support. There were a lot of reasons for the large turnout which probably drew at least 6,000. It was a beautiful night, there was a documentary filmed chronicling the fandom of HS sports, there was a dedication and memoriam for Adam Ward who was a former Spartan killed along with Allison Parker, it was 9/11 and the band performed a wonderful patriotic halftime show, and they were facing an undefeated William Byrd team led by the tremendous Sophomore RB Larry Basham.
Salem got the home team out of their seats quickly when WR Vonte Tucker took a simple pass from Noah Beckley 68 yards for a TD.
Salem stopped William Byrd on their opening drive. They wasted little time in moving the ball down the field. Alex Ramsey had a 17 yard run, but then Beckley showed off his passing skills throwing for 75 yards to 3 different receivers. Ramsey caught a 10 yard pass for Salem's 2nd score.
Salem held Byrd again on their 2nd possession. The next drive for the Spartans featured RB Donte Clayborne who ran the majority of the plays leading Salem to their 3rd score with a 12 yd TD run.
William Byrd got in on the scoring bonanza with a drive featuring RB Larry Basham and QB Will Culicerto. The combo led the Terriers down the field with a mix of passing and running. Basham took the short run in for Byrd's first score.
Salem went back to work with running by Riley Fox and Alex Ramsey and the passing game of Beckley and Tucker. Ramsey made an amazing run across and around the field for a 20 yard score.
Just before the half William Byrd fumbled the KO giving the Spartans great field position. On the 3rd and 3 from the 8 Beckley cruised into the endzone on a rollout to the right.
Both teams held the other on their next set of drives. When Salem got the ball again Beckley showed off his arm with a 20 yard pass to Pinello and a 52 yard perfectly placed pass to Tucker for the TD.
On the ensuing kickoff Basham showed off his return skills with a 97 yard TD run up the right side.
Not to be outdone Clayborne ran for a 83 yd TD 2 plays later.
There was a final score by QB Culicerto to end the scoring with Salem winning 49-21. Salem goes to 2-0, with WB dropping to 2-1.
Salem got the home team out of their seats quickly when WR Vonte Tucker took a simple pass from Noah Beckley 68 yards for a TD.
Salem stopped William Byrd on their opening drive. They wasted little time in moving the ball down the field. Alex Ramsey had a 17 yard run, but then Beckley showed off his passing skills throwing for 75 yards to 3 different receivers. Ramsey caught a 10 yard pass for Salem's 2nd score.
Salem held Byrd again on their 2nd possession. The next drive for the Spartans featured RB Donte Clayborne who ran the majority of the plays leading Salem to their 3rd score with a 12 yd TD run.
William Byrd got in on the scoring bonanza with a drive featuring RB Larry Basham and QB Will Culicerto. The combo led the Terriers down the field with a mix of passing and running. Basham took the short run in for Byrd's first score.
Salem went back to work with running by Riley Fox and Alex Ramsey and the passing game of Beckley and Tucker. Ramsey made an amazing run across and around the field for a 20 yard score.
Just before the half William Byrd fumbled the KO giving the Spartans great field position. On the 3rd and 3 from the 8 Beckley cruised into the endzone on a rollout to the right.
Both teams held the other on their next set of drives. When Salem got the ball again Beckley showed off his arm with a 20 yard pass to Pinello and a 52 yard perfectly placed pass to Tucker for the TD.
On the ensuing kickoff Basham showed off his return skills with a 97 yard TD run up the right side.
Not to be outdone Clayborne ran for a 83 yd TD 2 plays later.
There was a final score by QB Culicerto to end the scoring with Salem winning 49-21. Salem goes to 2-0, with WB dropping to 2-1.
