Thursday, Oct. 12th at West Plains
Salem seventh grade won 34-0 to go 5-1 on the season. Nick Ferreira set the tone for the Tigers while returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown. It’s his second touchdown return on the season. A group of Tigers got into the end zone in this game. Jake Gover scored a touchdown on a 20-yard run. Tripp Creek extended the lead with a touchdown score. Keegan Grunden had an electric 50-yard run out on the edge for a score. Nick Hardecke put a nail in the coffin with a 48-yard touchdown run to seal the win 34 to 0.
Our defense was on fire all night shutting out the Zizzers. We gave up one long play and that was it for the West Plains offense. Drake Smith, Lucas Jennings and Colby Malone were dominating the inside of the West Plains offense and in the backfield all night. Jake Gover and Nick Ferreira played great and set the edge.
This team finished up the season with an exclamation point. Salem seventh grade scored 190 points all season, while only giving up eight points. Opposing teams were shut out in 23 of the 24 quarters this season. This was a great team to coach, and we feel like this group accomplished everything we set out to do and more. This will be a fun group to watch going forward. The future is bright for the Salem Tigers.
Salem eighth grade lost 0-36 to a very good West Plains Zizzer team to go 2-4 on the season. Kahne Barred and the offense were looking really good early until an injury knocked Kahne out of the game. Skyler Reeves, Titus White and Alton May picked up the slack after the injury and did a nice job running the football. West Plains gained the lead early and never looked back. They had some really fast players that got out on the edge and we could never catch up.
Titus White and Trent Ragsdale did a good job of tackling on the outside and keeping contained.
Our team grew so much this season and improved every single game. We are so proud of this group of only 12, eighth graders. This isn’t a large group of boys, but they have the biggest hearts of anybody I’ve ever coached.
Thursday, Oct. 5 vs. Houston
Undefeated Salem 7th grade lost 0-8 to the also unbeaten Houston Tigers. These were two really good teams and it came down to the final possession. Houston scored a touchdown in the final minute of the game and added a two-point conversion to take the lead 8-0. Colby Malone had a long 22 yard run and Jake Gover added a 20-yard run but the Salem Tigers could never break one for a touchdown. Turnovers and missed opportunities made the difference in this one.
Our defense has been so strong all season and gave up their first points in the last quarter of the fifth game. Our boys fought hard and competed. We tip are caps to the Houston team and coaches. They controlled the line of scrimmage and got the best of us in this one.
Salem 8th grade lost to Houston 14-38 in the final home game of the season. Kahne Barred had over 100 rushing yards with two touchdowns and one 2-point conversion. Our offensive line opened up some running lanes for Kahne and he ran the ball so hard.
We played a ground and pound type of football with Titus White who had several physical runs inside on the Houston Tigers. This was a Houston team that had a couple athletes that were too much for us to handle. Their speed was hard to match on the defensive side of the football. Levi Pogue, John Cunningham, Maison Sanders, Kahne Barred and Alton May had several tackles on defense. We fought to the very end. Our lack of depth hurt us and we just ran out of gas.
