Salem VS PH

[CrushBlock]

Salem did not make a strong case for regional contenders tonight.

What Salem did well: a gap dominance. Salem could have ran 30 dive all game and gotten 4 yards. First quarter was perfectly willing to do that. Kudos to fullback, center and guards for keeping it physical. I take the two guards and center against everyone in the state.

Thats the kind of football that works when you’re disciplined, don’t make mental mistakes, and don’t give up penalties.

Had Salem avoided that, they win this game by two touchdowns. They were the far more physical team. But that only matters in so much that you don’t beat yourself elsewhere.

The K92 announcers had a lot to say about McCadden only getting 3 yards on plays. Was pretty annoying but I get it. Traditionally that’s a win for Salem. And gladly taken and lets Salem control the game if no mistakes.

The mistakes they have made all year finally caught up to them. Additionally they let PHs energy catch up to them and play on their level instead of playing their game (excess jawing and extra outside play stuff)

Doesn’t mean this team can’t be there, but they have to clean it up.

Next up: Cave Spring.

 

[Uh1966uhpickupsticks]

Salem got exposed. Salem may have been more physical but PH has the better team.
On a positive note for Salem, their field goal kicker hit a 44yd field goal. Love watching that kid.

 

[CrushBlock]

I don’t think PH has the better team, but we lost so it doesn’t really matter. Aren’t you that Kilroy guy?

 

[CrushBlock]

Salem’s whole philosophy says we are going to play a game where the more physical team has to win. They undercut that philosophy tonight by playing undisciplined. Exposed? In the sense they have proven they can lose a game like anyone else? Sure. But that’s not news to anyone paying attention. A lot of season left to play.

 

[SpartanO’Yore]

41-22 PH, final. Congrats to the Patriots, and any fans they might have lurking (I’m not sure I’ve ever encountered a Patrick Henry football fan in the twenty-seven years I’ve been active on high school football message boards). This marks the first time PH has beaten Salem in consecutive years since 1981-1982. PH certainly was the better team Friday night. However - and I hate making this kind of statement right after a loss, because it sounds like sour grapes - I, like CrushBlock, am unconvinced that PH is the better team, period.

I was texting three people updates from the game. Midway through the second quarter, the game was tied at 7-7. Salem had missed a good scoring opportunity in the first quarter, on a drive that ended with a field goal attempt clanging off the upright. PH had scored on a long catch-and-run big play. Otherwise, the Patriots had gotten very little going on offense. Early in the second quarter, I texted I was confident the Spartans had this. Salem was dominating play on both lines, and PH had already resorted to running trick plays, and had given up attempting to run the ball.

Then, two back-to-back calls led to a complete change in the tone and momentum of the game. [Well, sh*t. I had written a detailed account of what happened, and for some damn reason, everything I wrote got wiped out. I’m not typing it all again.] Suffice it to say that two questionable calls flipped Salem from having the ball first-and-ten at PH’s 40 in a tie game, to trailing 14-7.

I am not at all claiming that those calls cost Salem the game. I am saying that *everything* changed around after that turn of events. It almost seemed like the Spartans let a couple of apparent bad breaks take the wind out of their sails. Which is silly. The score was still only 14-7 in the Patriots’ favor at half, with Salem to receive the second half kickoff. All should have been well. Good teams don’t get down because of bad breaks.

Instead, Salem completely lost defensive focus in the second half. PH found one play that would work, running wide to the right, and ran it with great effectiveness. Patriot receivers ran free all second half. Pass coverage is now well into its third season of being a major bugaboo. Remember, in that playoff loss to Sherando two years ago, two of the Warriors touchdowns came on pass plays where the Spartan defensive backs were as lost as my car keys on a given day.

So - pretty disappointing loss, mostly because the final margin is so misleading, considering how the Spartans dominated both lines of scrimmage for the first 3/8 of the game. I thought the defense was miles ahead of last year’s team, but against the best team Salem will see in the regular season, it wasn’t. PH is a good team, and made almost all of the big plays last night. I suspect that, as usual, they will struggle in the Class 5 regional playoffs, but time will tell. Again, kudos to them for a big win.

If Salem’s coaches can get the secondary’s act together, I still think the Spartans can contend for the regional title. Barring an upset of major-to-biblical proportions, Salem will finish 9-1. The bad news is, it’s very possible 9-1 won’t get even one home game. We’ll just have to see how the points shake out. Salem just has to keep tightening up the D, and cutting down on surrendering big plays.

 

[Caraxes]

I think there's a very real chance that 9-1 doesn't get them a home game. Current #4 James Wood might have their best team in the past 40+ years, and they have three cupcakes and Handley left to end the year, so I would be surprised if they lost another game.

That said, with how Sherando's defense has looked the past couple weeks, I could see the Warriors drop a game against Kettle Run or Handley. Not sure where a 9-1 Sherando would end up.

If it ends as is and Salem has to play at James Wood in the first round, I might just have to go watch that game.

 

[CrushBlock]

To me PH didn’t look like the caliber of team Salem will play in late playoffs.

I’m not ready to call them a good team Salem got beat by.

PH defensively plays erratic, easily pushed around up front. Getting very low when things go wrong, then getting way high when things go right. Not the demeanor of a high level football team.

I don’t think this PH team will make it very far in their playoff bracket either.

Which makes the sting of the loss hurt that much worse. And makes Salems road to the state game seem that much more like an uphill battle if they can drop a game to this PH team.

But as I told countyboygeneral the other day, we always think we can win and won’t count ourselves out of any game, and Salem teams that have performed worse in the regular season have become state champions in the post season.

 

[Uh1966uhpickupsticks]

I don’t think PH has the better team, but we lost so it doesn’t really matter. Aren’t you that Kilroy guy?

Aren’t you that Maroon guy?

 

[Uh1966uhpickupsticks]

Goodness people, PH turned the ball over how many times in the first half?? They didn’t in the second half. The score was close in the first half because of this. PH is the better team

 

[CountyBoyGeneral]

This the first time in history I’ve seen it publicly stated that a team that was up 41-16 at one point and gashing that team’s defense, isn’t better than them…Arrington for PH had nearly 200 yards rushing in the second half. Sounds like a good C5 team was better than the Spartans last night to me.

Salem has to tighten it up defensively if they want a state run this year. I think they have a really good defensive line but I feel that they’re very vulnerable at the second level. If a good athlete can get to the outside, it’s a foot race to the end zone.

My post isn’t for controversy nor am I taking any kind of shots. I think Mike Salem said it best the other day. Salem and GW Danville’s district does them no favors in a year like this. Salem will be 9-1 at the end of the regular season and PH will be the only team they play all season with a winning record.

 

[Uh1966uhpickupsticks]

Nobody in Class 4 is beating Varina. Unless as stated previously, upset of biblical proportion happens. I told my buddy I go to the games with that I was worried with Salems defense. Contain is spotty at best, secondary gets burned over and over. A couple of slightly over thrown balls by PH would have blown the game wide open earlier. I was surprised that PH contained McCadden the way they did all game long. So if PH isn’t the better team?? I don’t know what else to say. Hilariously out coached?? Refs bad calls in first half?? but they did call a bunch of things at the start of the second half in Salems favor that Salem didn’t capitalize on, so there’s that. I guess you can’t be a Salem fan and tell the truth when it’s not in Salems favor!! Oh well.

 

[CrushBlock]

I’ve seen PH lose to an awful Cave Spring team in 2022 then go beat a solid Salem team. I was at both games. Salem had a bye.

I thought, “Hey, Salem is going to destroy this team.” I thought they were sloppy and all over the place. Then they beat Salem in a tight defensive match. PH football has proven to be incredibly inconsistent despite the high level talent they have. Year in and year out

My point is precisely that: that essence of PH football hasn’t changed based on what I saw last night. They still play all over the place. And the best Salem teams will let them beat themselves.

Apologies if my rambles earlier weren’t so eloquently put.

 

[CrushBlock]

Hey Kilroy I was number 74 in 2012. Do you know who I am? Have you been around that long?

 

[CrushBlock]

Nobody in Class 4 is beating Varina. Unless as stated previously, upset of biblical proportion happens. I told my buddy I go to the games with that I was worried with Salems defense. Contain is spotty at best, secondary gets burned over and over. A couple of slightly over thrown balls by PH would have blown the game wide open earlier. I was surprised that PH contained McCadden the way they did all game long. So if PH isn’t the better team?? I don’t know what else to say. Hilariously out coached?? Refs bad calls in first half?? but they did call a bunch of things at the start of the second half in Salems favor that Salem didn’t capitalize on, so there’s that. I guess you can’t be a Salem fan and tell the truth when it’s not in Salems favor!! Oh well.

Hilariously out coached?

it’s things like this that make me think you don’t understand Salem football.

Did you play here? Maybe for Lewis back in the day?

Nobody in Class 4 is beating Varina. Unless as stated previously, upset of biblical proportion happens. I told my buddy I go to the games with that I was worried with Salems defense. Contain is spotty at best, secondary gets burned over and over. A couple of slightly over thrown balls by PH would have blown the game wide open earlier. I was surprised that PH contained McCadden the way they did all game long. So if PH isn’t the better team?? I don’t know what else to say. Hilariously out coached?? Refs bad calls in first half?? but they did call a bunch of things at the start of the second half in Salems favor that Salem didn’t capitalize on, so there’s that. I guess you can’t be a Salem fan and tell the truth when it’s not in Salems favor!! Oh well.

What coaching decisions are you wanting them to make big dog.

 

[Uh1966uhpickupsticks]

Hey Kilroy I was number 74 in 2012. Do you know who I am? Have you been around that long?

Hilariously out coached?

it’s things like this that make me think you don’t understand Salem football.

Did you play here? Maybe for Lewis back in the day?

What coaching decisions are you wanting them to make big dog.

You missed my point. It was in the form of a question. If PH wasn’t the better team, was it coaching? Was it the refs bad calls? And no I didn’t play football at Salem. Moved into the area 10 yrs ago. Does that matter? Do I have to have played for Salem to say whether or not PH is the better team? Is it an exclusive club that only the born and bred are allowed?? Is it a cult of some sort? Do I have to sacrifice a chicken or something to get in?

 

[Uh1966uhpickupsticks]

I mean seriously, what I watched last night was a PH team that Salem had no answer for, they couldn’t stop them, think about it, it was pouring the rain and PH fumbled and turned the ball over and drives they were sustaining in the first half, hence the 14-7 score, should have been 28-7 had they not turned the ball over. Salem couldn’t run on them, didn’t have time to pass on them. What else is there to say. Do I think they got out coached? In a sense yeah, PH had a better game plan, but in the end PH played faster, and they wanted it more, that’s what Salem is missing from past teams I’ve watched. No foamed mouth dogs on the field that want to mame you( figuratively speaking of course)