Salem beats Christiansburg 6-0 in a classic battle on a stormy night
CHS, Christiansburg, VA – With the remnants of Hurricane Ian, wind and rain, the battle between two the River Ridge’s best teams was distilled down to ‘run right at you football.’ Passing and punting were certainly curtailed. Salem Coach Don Holter didn’t mind the weather. “People don’t like a night like tonight, but I do. It demonstrates what they (his Salem team) are capable of in some adverse weather conditions against a good football team.” Good on good it was, as both defenses flexed their muscles all night. In the end, it was the powerhouse Spartans utilizing RB/DB 2 Peyton Lewis’ five yard TD run early in the third quarter to provide the difference. True to form this night, the hold was mishandled and the subsequent 2-pt throw fell incomplete. But 6-0 was all it took to send the Spartans home the victor. Salem did force or benefit from 3 fumbles by C-burg, two of them recovered by DB/WR 9 Chris Cole. You couldn’t fault either team’s effort tonight. Points were just at a premium in that swirling wind. RB/QB/S 4 Tanner Evans rammed into the line, again and again, but Salem’s defense held up. “Tanner’s tough, smart, ran hard and gave us a chance, said Blue Demon Coach Alex Wilkens. He was disappointed, but still proud of his clubs efforts. When asked what the Demons would take away from this one, “situational things, handling adversity. We had a few crucial plays tonight where we just didn’t quite get it done. We put the ball on the ground, the fourth down, we didn’t make a couple plays.” All told, other than the score, the game was pretty even. “We knew this was going to be a scrum of a game. Both teams were going to try and run the football – a good SW Virginia football game.”
