Spartans rally Late to deny Northside
Fleming here for Homecoming Friday
Most schools like to pick a team they think they can beat for Homecoming. So what’s the deal with Salem?
This is Homecoming week for the Spartans and they’re taking on unbeaten William Fleming, a Group AAA school. The Colonels are feeling good after a 35-17 win over Pulaski County in Dublin last Friday, setting up a match of two 4-0 teams for. . .Homecoming!
Mules open a big hole for Adam McGarrell during Salem's last drive. -Photo by Brian Hoffman
“I understand all that Homecoming stuff but I told (Salem athletic director)Ms. Hadaway it doesn’t matter to us who we play, whatever works with the school,” said Salem coach Stephen Magenbauer. “We have district games coming up after this week and look who we play. There’s no one easy on the schedule.”
Salem didn’t have an easy one last week, although it wasn’t an option for Homecoming since the game was at Northside. The Spartans had to put on a defensive stand and a late drive to pull out a 26-22 win over the Vikings in a thriller on Jim Hickam Field.
“It was a very physical game, and I knew it would be,” said Magenbauer. “They kept battling and hung there and pulled out the game.”
Salem got a great start when Bud Tolliver ran the opening kickoff back 86 yards for a touchdown. Tolliver was virtually untouched.
“We executed the return excellently,” said Magenbauer. “Everyone did their jobs. We work on that at least twice a week.”
Northside tied the game on an 11 yard pass from Ryan Keith to Dustin Phelps, who was a game time decision, but Salem bounced right back with a 45 yard TD pass play from Adam McGarrell to Stephen Barnette. After a scoreless second quarter it was 13-7 Spartans at the half.
Northside came alive in the third quarter, as speedy Philip Scott scored on a two-yard run. The extra point gave the Vikings a 14-13 lead, and when Ryan Bowden scored with three and a half minutes left in the third quarter the Vikings were successful on a two-point conversion to put them ahead by nine at 22-13.
Although Salem was down two scores, they were far from out. The Spartans drove the ball down the field, scoring on a three yard run by Adam Collie. That made it 22-20 and the Salemites were a field goal away from the lead, but they still had to stop Northside.
The Vikings followed with a sustained drive that carried them into the red zone. Northside converted a fourth and inches play at the 15 where Salem appeared to have stopped the Vikings, but a favorable spot gave Northside the first down by inches. Magenbauer was proud of the way his kids reacted.
“Was it a first down?” he said. “It was, because the official said it was. We preach to our kids about not allowing the officials to effect how you play the game. You can’t do anything about it, so don’t worry about it. If they said it was a first down, it was a first down.”
The Vikings had an opportunity to put it away with a touchdown, but the Salem defense stiffened. They stopped a run on first down, then on second down Northside was called for offensive pass interference in the end zone. That gave them a 15 yard penalty and, just as important, a loss of down. Now they were on the fringe of field goal range and facing a third down play, which the Spartans stuffed. Northside then came up just short on a 45 yard field goal attempt and Salem had the ball at the 20 with about three and a half minutes still remaining.
At this point McGarrell led the Spartans on a march that will be one of the highlights when Salem fans look back on the 2009 season. In a minute and a half the Spartans drove 80 yards for what would be the winning score. McGarrell ran three times in the drive, ripping off big chunks of yardage over the left side.
“We had some things we cooked up throughout the week, and we were just waiting for the right time to use them,” said Magenbauer. “The kids executed well.”
Collie went over from the one with just under two minutes remaining for a four point lead. Salem went for two, trying to increase the lead to six, but the play failed and Northside had one last chance. The Vikings couldn’t go the length of the field, however, and Salem had a hard-fought win. Phillip Hughes had a big sack in the final defensive stand.
“I thought our defense played really well,” said Magenbauer. “Northside has a lot of speed but they never got that huge play they could have given them momentum. They had some yards, but not the huge play. Give our kids credit.”
Northside finished with 252 yards rushing on 52 attempts, and the Vikings actually outgained Salem for the game, 346-254. McGarrell and Kirk Coles led Salem with 44 yards rushing each, Collie had 25, and Daniel Dyer had 23 yards.
“Against good teams you won’t run it up and down the field,” said Magenbauer. “I was proud that we were able to establish the run in the fourth quarter.”
McGarrell was six for 16 passing for 134 yards, including three to Barnette for 88 yards. Ryan Murphy, Tolliver, and Dyer had one catch each.
On defense Tolliver had 12 tackles to lead the Spartans. Zach Houchin had 10, Jackson Bradley and Seth Fisher had nine each, and Darius Medley had eight tackles. Medley is now the nose guard as Caleb Dillon, the first game starter, is officially out for the year.
This week the Spartans go from the frying pan into the fire as Fleming visits. Salem has won the last seven games against Fleming, and Magenbauer is 6-0 against the Colonels as Salem coach. However, many of the games have been close and the Colonels have the talent to ruin Salem’s Homecoming.
“They’re another team that’s big up front,” said Magenbauer. “They like to line up in the shotgun and run the ball. We’re going to have to play well.”
Salem’s junior varsity is at Fleming tonight while Andrew Lewis plays host to Clifton Forge in the last home game of the season. Last week the jayvees slipped by Northside, 21-19, and the Wolverines won at Blacksburg, 26-12.
