Spartans advance with 42-14 win over Hilltoppers in Salem
Willis White Field, Spartans Stadium, Salem, VA – After a big win last week versus Seminole District foe Jefferson Forest, the Hilltoppers were riding high and looking to keep their momentum against the Salem Spartans in the Regional Final. They did just that in their start against a stacked Spartan team. Coach Jamar Lovelace’s squad held Salem on their first series and then followed that up on offense with a breakaway 66 yard TD pass from QB 12 Maxwell Calloway (16/30 265 pass yards 2TD’s 4INT’s, 4/64 rush yards) to WR/DB 8 Jamar Smith (5/7 111 receiving yards 1TD, 1/7 rush yards).
That put the Hilltoppers up 7-0 three minutes into the first quarter. On the other side of the coin, the Spartans were looking to avenge last year’s Regional final loss to Glass, and one early TD wasn’t going to be enough to walk out off Willis White field with a win. Salem’s RB 2 Peyton Lewis (23/280 rush yards 3TD’s, 1/2 yds rec) was their main option on offense and the Senior scored on two 50+ yard rushes of his own. Salem’s defense stepped up as well after that first surrendered TD, holding the Hilltoppers scoreless twice after they got inside the 10 yard line.
Salem forced four interceptions, one of which resulted in WR 9 Chris Cole (2/32 yds rec) TD for a final score to make it 42-14. “When you play a team like Salem, you’ve got to be disciplined #1 and execute at a high level #2,” Glass head coach Lovelace said after the game. “We knew that we were coming into a hostile environment but… we let ourselves down tonight.” Salem will now travel to Tuscarora this coming Saturday for a chance to advance to the state championship. – Graham Whitaker
Scoring
1st quarter
ECG: Jamar Smith 66yd TD catch from Max Calloway; K 44 Will Pacot PAT (9:05)
Salem: Peyton Lewis 56yd TD run; Wesley Cross PAT (7:35)
Salem: Josiah Myer 24yd TD catch from Eli Taylor; Wesley Cross PAT (4:02)
2nd quarter
Salem: Peyton Lewis 8yd TD run; PAT no good (4:35)
3rd Quarter
ECG: : Avante Brown 15yd TD pass from Max Calloway; Will Pacot PAT (8:22)
4th quarter
Salem: Peyton Lewis 52yd TD run; Wesley Cross PAT (10:51)
Salem: Jayvion Jones 1yd TD run; Peyton Lewis 2pt conversion (3:59)
Salem: Chris Cole 60yd Interception return for a TD; Wesley Cross PAT (2:26)
OFFENSE:
RUSHING: SALEM – Peyton Lewis 23/280yds 3TD’s, Jayveon Jones 14/31yds 1TD EC GLASS – Michael Thomas 14/73yds, Maxwell Calloway 4/64yds, Taveon Carter 4/17yds, Jamar Smith 1/7yds
PASSING: Salem – Eli Taylor 5/11 83yds 1TD EC GLASS – Maxwell Calloway 16/30 265yds 2TD’s 4INT’S
RECEIVING: SALEM – Chris Cole 2/2 32yds, Chris Martin 1/2 25yds, Josiah Moyer 1/1 24yds 1TD, Peyton Lewis 1/1 2yds, Jaelyn Allen 0/1 0yds, Josiah 0/2 0yds, Kharmari Garner 0/2 0yds EC GLASS – Jamar Smith 5/7 111yds 1TD, Jamarion Kittrell 4/4 59yds, Jonathan Wood 2/3 48yds, Avante Brown 2/2 20yds 1TD, Samuel Treacy 2/7 14yds, Jertavius Osborne 1/3 13yds, Michael Thomas 0/1 0yds
PUNTING: SALEM – Chris Martin 3/34.7yd. avg. EC GLASS – David Matthews 2/44yd. avg.