The Salem Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade football teams traveled to Mountain View and won a pair of games Thursday, Sept. 25.
The Salem seventh-graders won 6-0. Running back Kentley LaJoie had the one and only scoring touchdown in this game. Our offense was able to open up running lanes. Running backs Peyton Mercer, Kentley LaJoie and fullback Cameron Utnage were hitting the edge and able to pick up yards on each drive. On defense, Dillon Emory had the play of the game where he had an amazing interception to cap this win for the Tigers. He made a great play on the ball and cut the receiver off to get the pick. Defensive linemen Brayden Hughes, Kordel Hayes, Colten Timbrook and Maddix Lough were relentless getting to the backs and making play after play. Our defense had our second consecutive shutout on the year. Our tackling has improved so much and our boys are not afraid to come up and pop the other team. This group is a fun group to coach and they have a lot of potential. Our 7th grade team is 2-0-1 on the season.
The Salem eighth-graders won 44-26 over the Liberty Eagles. We knew this game would be our toughest challenge of the season. Mt View Liberty has a QB that can really sling it and a couple wide receivers that are fast and athletic and that can make plays on the outside. Linebackers Braxton Hopkins, Weston Tackett and Eli Decker really stiffened the running game for Liberty. Our secondary was challenged early and often but they ended up shutting out the Eagles in the second half. Players making plays were Safety David Brooks Jr, corner Carter Kissir, corner Ryker Huff, safety Rafe Dodson, safety Ben Hobson, safety Thomas Lewis and corner Alec Capuchilo. We were up 22-20 at halftime but held Liberty scoreless besides a kick return for a touchdown. On offense our running back David Brooks Jr had a remarkable game with 4 rushing touchdowns and a punt return for a touchdown. He really made some incredible runs breaking tackles and running away from defenders. Running back Weston Tackett had some strong runs to set up those scoring drives. The 1-2 punch of Brooks, Jr. and Tackett is a hard to beat combination. Fullback Eli Decker scored once up the middle for a touchdown. His blocking and runs up the middle soften up the defense and allow explosive players to make plays on the outside. This was a tough hard nose win for our boys. They came to play and beat a very good team. I was proud of the way the boys responded after giving up an opening drive score. This game was good for our team because we had to battle adversity and persevere. I was very proud of the team in this game. Our 8th grade team is 3-0 on the season.
Both Salem Middle School football teams shut out the Mountain Grove Panthers Thursday night, Sept. 18 at Schuchardt Stadium.
Salem’s seventh-grade squad beat Mt Grove 14-0 while the Salem eighth-graders beat Mt Grove 40-0.
In the seventh grade game, running back Kentley LaJoie stole the show when he started the Tigers off with a great touchdown run. Tight end Brayden Hughes had a diving catch in the end zone for the 2 point conversion to take the 8-0 lead. LaJoie would go on to score another touchdown in the second half to put the Panthers away. Fullback Cameron Utnage, running back Peyton Mercer and quarterback Dylan Mayberry added some really nice runs in the game to help the Tigers move the football up the field. Our offensive line of Bryer Black, Ryder Duncan, Wesley Smith, Cooper Case, Brody Walker, Brayden Hughes, Trenton Taysom and Maddix Lough did a good job making the blocks needed for our backs in this one.
The Tigers defense had multiple defensive stands in this game and improved tremendously on their tackling and finishing plays this week. Our secondary made plays through the air and came up to support the run game as well. Safety Dillon Emory, safety Foster Jones, linebacker Peyton Mercer, corner Carter Woolf and corner Dash Gallagher stepped up big time in the run game with some important tackles to keep Mt Grove off the scoreboard. This was a great team win by the Tigers. We improved quite a bit in a short period of time. We travel to Mt View Liberty next Thursday to battle the Eagles.
In the eighth-grade game the Tigers came to play. Running back David Brooks, Jr started it off with a great run around the edge to score for Salem. Brooks, Jr would go on to score again to give himself a pair of touchdowns on the day. Running back Weston Tackett was banged up last week but made his impact in this game with two rushing touchdowns as well. He had some great strong runs breaking tackles left and right as he ran into the end zone. Quarterback Thomas Lewis capped off the win with a rushing touchdown of his own off the left side of the line on an option run. Our offensive line Owen Parker, Brantley Thompson, Bryce Coates, Rafe Dodson, Braxton Hopkins, Keegan Terrill, Madden Schloemer and Ben Hobson did an incredible job opening up running lanes for our backs. We controlled the line of scrimmage all night on offense and defense.
Our defense was relentless in this game. My Grove couldn’t make much ground at all on our defense with stop after stop. Some highlight hits by our linebackers Eli Decker, linebacker Braxton Hopkins and linebacker Weston Tackett were a big difference in this one. I was very proud of our kids in this game. We had an early turnover in the first quarter and didn’t let it rattle us. We went on to put scoring drives together and then get stops on defense. This is a special group of young men and very proud of their effort and execution.
