UPDATED WITH CORRECTED SCORING AND STATISTICS
After almost two years of winless football, Salem got the swagger back Friday night and beat visiting Willow Springs 42-12 to break a school-record 16-game losing streak.
If you are going to break a losing streak, this is the way to do it.
The Tigers, who had scored 13 points total in their first five games, exploded for 21 points in the first quarter on the strength of a pair of TD runs of 23 and 16 yards by five foot five, 195-pound bowling ball of a running back Carter Degon, a sophomore. Another sophomore, Haiden Sanders, scored from 41 yards out on a pass from Everett Campbell as Salem unleased a two-game old offense that, against winless Willow Springs anyway, worked all night long.
“How does it feel?” first-year Tiger coach Neal Myers asked his players as they gathered near the south end zone to celebrate after the game. For many of the juniors and seniors, it was the first time they’d tasted the thrill of victory instead of the agony of defeat.
And in another first, the Salem Tigers gathered and sang “Salem Will Roll Tonight” for the first time in almost two years.
After handshakes with the Willow Spring Bears – themselves now 0-6 and fighting a losing streak – the Tigers gathered on the sideline in front of the student section and the band and raised helmets high as the school fight song played. Twice.
It was a sweet, sweet, long-awaited and relief-filled victory, and on Homecoming night nonetheless. There were probably a few tears mixed in with the heavy sweat worked up on this hotter than usual September night. Then the Dent County Fire Department turned the postgame hoses on the Tigers and the celebration was almost complete.
For the record and for history buffs out there, Salem beat Cabool 30-26 on Oct. 22, 2021, and had not won since. They lost 34-32 to Priory of St. Louis in the first round of district play that season and then entered the most futile stretch of football in school history.
The numbers the past nearly two years are staggering for a program that had one of the most successful stretches in the history of Missouri high school football. Under Missouri Hall of Fame coach Bill Schuchardt, Salem compiled a record of 255-91 in 32 seasons. The Tigers captured 14 South-Central Association championships, 16 district championships, had five state Final Four appearances and two berths in the Missouri state championship game without a losing season.
That was then, and it hasn’t been the same since, especially lately.
Since that win over Cabool in 2021, Salem lost the 16 straight games. In 2022, the Tigers were outscored 437-64, including 152-0 in the last three games. Through the winless first five games of this season, the Tigers were just as futile, being outscored 204-13 and getting shut out four of five games.
“That’s not a school record anybody wants to be associated with,” Myers said of the losing streak. “This is a proud program. For these kids it’s (winning Friday) so big. They have put in a lot of work since I got here. They worked their butts off trying to get better. This town, this program, has had a lot of success. For them not to get a taste of that for so long. . . this is a big deal.”
The game had barely gotten started when the lights went out and there was already talk of a forced Saturday day game. The Salem utility department came to the rescue, and a little over 30 minutes later, the Tigers were literally off to the races.
After the 21-0, first-quarter lead, senior running back Jamal Metcalf scored from nine yards out with 3:27 to go before halftime. The extra point bounced off the goal post and Salem led 27-0. The missed extra point and a Willow 72-yard TD reception with no time left on the clock before halftime were pretty much the only things that went wrong for Salem.
Willow scored again with 11:17 to go in the third quarter to make it 27-12, then Salem tacked on a Tobey Gover 15-yard TD run and a Campbell to Hayden Ragsdale 24-yard touchdown pass and it was 42-12. Metcalf scored on a two-point conversion and kicked the extra point.
Salem had not scored 42 points in, well, let’s say a long time.
“Last week after Ava (51-0 loss) we said the biggest thing we wanted is we want them to be sort of like sharks and taste that blood in the water,” said Myers. “Once you get a taste of that winning, the atmosphere can change.”
With a slew of sophomores and juniors playing key roles this year and a new offense that is two weeks old, Myers sees light at the end of the losing streak.
“Up front, we showed what they can do when they want to do it,” he said. “Their success determines our success as a team. They did a very good job Friday night. Willow, like us, is heavy sophomore.”
Two weeks ago, Salem put in a new offense. Despite a 51-0 loss to Ava last week, Myers said the staff saw some bright spots. The new offense is a wing offense with a little motion in it that he says will offer a little “lightning to go with that thunder” we saw Friday night when it’s fully operational.
“When we got to 0-4, something had to change,” he said.
Salem rolled Friday night, but the end of the losing streak is tempered with reality. Willow came into the game not only 0-5, it had been outscored 380-12 in those five games.
“We didn’t win the Super Bowl, we won one game,” Myers said as well-wisher after well-wisher offered him congratulations and hugs. “We’ve got to come back and player harder and harder.”
Next for Salem is Mountain Grove, Liberty and Cabool, then the first round of the playoffs, a stretch of games where the Tigers would like to extend their one-game winning streak.
Salem had 413 yards of total offense – 348 on the ground. Metcalf and Degon combined for 304 rushing yards, with Metcalf getting 173 yards on 15 carries and Degon 131 on seven attempts.
The Salem defense rattled the Bears much of the night. Campbell paced the Tigers with 12 tackles, while senior lineman Joseph Griffith added 10. Salem sacked Willow Springs quarterback Aiden Stuart six times, with Campbell and junior linebacker Gover getting two each.
With the win Salem stayed sixth in the seven-team Class 3 District 5 standings with three weeks left in the regular season. Ava (6-0) leads District 5 with 48.33 points, while Eldon (2-4) is second with 31 points, St. James (3-3) third with 29.67, Mountain Grove (3-3) fourth with 29.17, Buffalo (3-3) fifth with 27.67, Salem sixth with 18.33 and Clever (0-6) seventh with 14.
The Tigers will host SCA and district foe Mountain Grove this week. Friday’s kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Sept. 29 at Salem
Salem 42, Willow Springs 12
The score by periods:
Willow Springs 0 6 6 0-12
Salem 21 6 15 0-42
The scoring plays:
Salem: Degon 23-yard run, Metcalf kick.
Salem: Sanders 41-yard pass from Campbell, Metcalf kick.
Salem: Degon 16-yard run, Metcalf kick.
Salem: Metcalf nine-yard run, kick fails.
Willow Springs: Baugh 72-yard pass from Stuart, conversion fails.
Willow Springs: McDaniel 46-yard run, conversion fails.
Salem: Gover 15-yard run, Metcalf runs in conversion.
Salem: Ragsdale 24-yard pass from Campbell, Metcalf kick.
Salem Leaders
Rushing: Metcalf 15 for 173, Degon seven for 131, Gover seven for 40.
Passing: Campbell 2-4-65-0.
Receiving: Sanders one for 41, Ragsdale one for 24.
Tackles: Campbell 12, Griffith 10, K. DuBois 6, Degon 5, Gover 4, Parsons 4.
QB Sacks: Campbell 2, Gover 2, Griffith 1, Parsons 1.
Fumble Recoveries: Richter 1, Bender 1.
