Saturday afternoon at Salem Stadium, Spartan junior running back Alex Ramsey put on a one-man highlight reel.
If the Hollywood academy was ready to vote, little doubt he had the Oscar.
Scoring six touchdowns on the afternoon, Ramsey propelled Salem to the 49-28 win over George Washington-Danville in a Group 4A state quarterfinal. Salem advances to play Liberty-Bealeton next Saturday afternoon at Salem Stadium for the right to play in the December 13th state championship game at Liberty University.
When asked if he had ever scored six touchdowns in a game, Ramsey had a quick response. “No way. Not even close. I’ve had three, but nothing like this.”
Ramsey, who stands 5’11” and tips the scales at just under 200 pounds, was workmanlike in five of his six scores. His longest run came from ten-yards out, while also adding a pair of two-yard plunges and two more from one-yard.
But, Ramsey’s biggest effort of the afternoon not only shifted the momentum in Salem’s favor, but likewise put a deep dagger into any designs of a comeback from a no-quit Eagles team that had rallied all afternoon in the matchup that was never short of hard hits from both squads.
Trailing 35-21 in the fourth quarter and threatening in the red zone, GW running back Jamil Griffin looked to be heading for a big gain before the initial hit from the Salem defense.
Suddenly, Ramsey emerged from the surge along the Salem sideline, racing 90 yards with the strip-six that pushed the Spartans to a 42-21 advantage with 8:31 left , taking all the wind out of the Eagle’s sails as well as the sizable GW faithful.
“I think our linebackers stood him up,” Ramsey noted of Griffin’s push at the ten-yard line. “I just grabbed the ball and starting running as fast as I could. I was a little tired at the end of the run.”
For GW, it was an afternoon of playing from behind.
After Ramsey’s first touchdown run that put Salem up 7-0 with 6:38 left in the first quarter, GW wasted no time in tying things at 7. Eagle quarterback Hunter Byrnes connected on a bomb to the Salem 18-yard line, and three plays later Byrnes went over from a yard out.
Salem scored the next two touchdowns on Ramsey runs for a 21-7 lead before GW countered on a fourth-and-3 from the Spartan 12 with a Byrnes touchdown run that cut the Eagle deficit to 21-14. But, a celebration in the end zone led to an unsportsmanlike penalty against GW, assessed on the ensuing kickoff. The penalty proved to be disastrous for the Eagles.
With GW kicking off from its own 25, Salem was set for what has become a patented late first-half Spartan rally that culminated with 24 seconds left on Ramsey’s fourth TD run that sent the teams to the locker room with Salem up 28-14.
The Spartans got the second half kickoff and was looking for additional separation on the scoreboard when things turned in two plays on Salem’s only major missteps of the afternoon.
Spartan quarterback Austin Coulling was picked off across the middle for one his few interceptions thrown all season. On the next play Byrnes connected on a 53-yard touchdown toss to Malik Clement that had the Eagles to within one score with 8:36 left in the third quarter.
Coulling atoned nearly six minutes later when he hit Spartan receiver Cody Peregoy on a 8-yard strike that pushed the Salem lead to 35-21.
That led to Ramsey’s heroics on the defensive gem before the teams traded scores in the final 5:22.
Salem looked like a different team than the one that trailed Woodgrove by two touchdowns the week earlier before rallying to win.
“It was important to get the early lead today,” Salem head coach Stephen Magenbauer noted afterward. “GW is a great team. They are fast and they hit hard. We learned from last week that if you don’t play well, you can lose. We had some big plays today. Alex’s defensive score was huge. Sometimes you just need unexpected things to happen. Like I’ve told you before, I never feel comfortable until the clock reaches zero.”
“We needed the close game last week,” Ramsey added. “It woke us up. Nothing changes now, we’re 100% committed.”
Bill Turner
