The season came to a close for the fourth-seeded Salem High football team Friday, Nov. 7, as the Tigers fell to top-seeded Mountain Grove 55-0 in the semifinals of the Missouri Class 3 District 5 playoffs at Mountain Grove.
The Mountain Grove Panthers went on to beat second-seeded Clever 28-21 in the District 5 championship game Friday, Nov. 14 at Mountain Grove.
It is Mountain Grove’s first district title in 11 years.
The Panthers (10-1) will meet Seneca (10-1) in Class 3 Quarterfinal action Saturday, Nov. 22 at 1 p.m. in Mountain Grove. Seneca won the District 6 crown by hammering Cassville 47-14.
Salem ends the season with a 4-7 record.
Semifinals, Nov. 7 - Mtn. Grove 55, Salem 0: In the matchup of two old SCA rivals, the Tigers simply could not slow down the potent rushing attack of the Panthers.
Mountain Grove ran for two touchdowns in the first period then made it 35-0 at halftime with three more rushing TDs in the second quarter.
The turbo clock ran throughout the second half. Mountain Grove added two touchdowns in the third period and one more in the fourth quarter.
Once again, senior quarterback Aden Estep did most of the damage, scoring four touchdowns, including breakaways of 62, 37 and 62 yards.
The Panther defense limited Salem to just 80 yards of total offense.
“They are very athletic; you can tell they’ve been in the weight room,” Salem head coach Neal Myers said of Mountain Grove. “They know how to win. We’re one step closer to getting to that point, and that’s what we’ll keep working towards.
“We wanted to keep taking steps forward. We wanted bigger steps this year, but we’ll keep working.”
Myers said the Tigers will take a break then get back to work in the weight room.
“We look to go again after Thanksgiving break,” he said. “Our seniors who are going out, I can’t thank them enough. They played a big role for us this year. We have a lot of athletes returning; we have eight of 11 (starters) back on defense and eight of 11 on offense. In the past we had to play younger kids. And some young kids who put in their time this year are itching to go.”
Class 3 District 5 Semifinals
Mtn. Grove: Golden 15-yard run, Martin kick.
Mtn. Grove: Estep 62-yard run, Martin kick.
Mtn. Grove: Estep 10-yard run, Martin kick.
Mtn. Grove: Estep 37-yard run, Martin kick.
Mtn. Grove: Estep 62-yard run, Martin kick.
Mtn. Grove: Curtiss six-yard run, Martin kick.
Mtn. Grove: Lafranchise four-yard run, kick fails.
Mtn. Grove: Bevan 12-yard run, Martin kick.
Salem Individual Statistics
Rushing - Ray 12 for 23, DuBois 4 for 15, Ragsdale 7 for 3.
Passing - Ragsdale 2-5-39-0.
Receiving - DuBois 1 for 28, Sapaugh 1 for 11.
