It’s All Spartans As Salem Blasts Hidden Valley 51-24

Halloween costumes of every variety were in abundance Friday night at Dwight Bogle Stadium during the much-anticipated football matchup between undefeated Salem High and once-beaten Hidden Valley.
Hidden Valley junior running back Logan Puckett (#24) looks for yardage Friday night against the tough Salem defense. Puckett had a game-high 129 rushing yards, but it wasn't enough as Salem rolled to the 51-24 win.
Hidden Valley junior running back Logan Puckett (#24) looks for yardage Friday night against the tough Salem defense. Puckett had a game-high 129 rushing yards, but it wasn’t enough as Salem rolled to the 51-24 win.

Unfortunately for Hidden Valley, Salem came as a Fox.

Scoring four touchdowns in a combined rushing and aerial effort, Spartan senior standout Coleman Fox led the onslaught as Salem ran away from Hidden Valley 51-24 to firmly stay atop the Group 4A rankings heading into this Friday’s regular season finale against Pulaski County.
This one wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.
Salem looked like a scoring machine in the first half, lighting up the scoreboard on its first six possessions.
The Spartans took the opening kickoff and methodically drove for their first score on a Alex Ramsey 11-yard touchdown run with 7:52 left in the quarter.
Kyle Reighard added a 27-yard field goal with 2:40 left and when Hidden Valley turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, Fox took it to the house on the Spartans first play from scrimmage for a 33-yard TD run with 1:40 remaining that put Salem up 17-0.
“We came out strong and played like it was the fourth quarter,” Fox, who committed to play at Virginia Tech earlier in the week, noted afterward. “We executed well. We ran the ball and got some completions.”
Hidden Valley came to life for its only score of the half after a Spartan face mask penalty and 17-yard Tariq Harris run led to Titan running back Logan Puckett barreling into the end zone from 2 yards out with 7:45 left in the second quarter that cut the Salem lead to 17-7.
Salem wasted no time answering. Ramsey scored on a 27-yard run, Fox added an 11-yard touchdown run and Fox put to rest any designs of a Titan comeback when he hauled in a 20-yard pass from Salem quarterback Austin Coulling on the last play of the half that sent the teams to the locker room with Salem holding a commanding 37-7 lead.
Hidden Valley, which played with key personnel missing including star running back Mason Dermott (knee), quarterback Tyler Rice (finger) and linebacker Nate Atkins (turf toe), was faced with a virtually impossible uphill climb.
“Our kids played hard, but we made some mistakes,” Hidden Valley head coach Scott Weaver said. “All credit goes to Salem. The backbreaker was the score before the half. That hurt any momentum we could try to get.”
Salem added 14 points in the third quarter. Fox scored on a 3-yard run that gave Salem a 37-point lead and put the game clock in continuous running mode. Later in the quarter Donte Clayborne broke loose for a 57-yard TD run that sent the teams to the final 12 minutes with the Spartans up 51-7.
Salem emptied the bench and Hidden Valley scored on a field goal midway through the fourth before the Titans added a pair of touchdowns in the final 43 seconds on a Bryant Bredberg touchdown run and sophomore Ryan Mitchell’s 13-yard touchdown catch that settled the final margin.
“We were really focused tonight,” Salem head coach Stephen Magenbauer said. “Hidden Valley plays well and we felt they would run right at us.’
“Our seniors again showed their leadership,” Magenbauer added. “The fact that this is high school football, I don’t feel good until the game is over. I know its always good that we played Salem football.”
Coulling said there was some pressure about the expected tight matchup. “We heard it all week on social media and took it personal. Everyone did their job tonight. The coaches have confidence in us and we were feeling it.”
“Salem is a real talented team,” Titan’s Tariq Harris said outside the Hidden Valley locker room. “A real good ball club. We went 100 %, but it was tough tonight. We’ll recover.”
Fox led the Spartan ground attack with 114 yards, while Hidden Valley’s Puckett had a game-high 129 yards on the ground via 26 tough carries. As a team, the Spartans out gained the Titans 256-177 yards, while taking the aerial advantage 148-44.
Bill Turner

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