Salem Beats Bayside Handily, Moving to 2-0: Two of the Eastern Region's top-ranked teams squared off on Thursday night in a much anticipated battle that turned out to be lopsided for the second straight season. The reigning Beach District Champion Salem SunDevils scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions and held Bayside scoreless in the first half on their way to whipping the Marlins, 37-7.

Salem went on to out-gain Bayside 349-129, coming up with three takeaways in the process. Leading the offensive charge was four-year starting quarterback and Virginia Tech commit Bucky Hodges, who completed 15 of 24 pass attempts for 248 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also had a 26-yard run that set up a 21-yard touchdown by teammate Khalib Brown.

Hodges was surgeon-like all night long, spreading the ball around and completing passes to six different receivers. The 6-foot-5 signal caller had a firm control of things, helping Salem convert eight of their first nine third downs they were faced with on the evening.

"That's real big. In practice, we always go over our third downs and two-minute drill," Hodges noted. "All I was worried about was the win. It was a great overall game. As a team, we have a whole lot of potential and we haven't cracked what we can really be."

The SunDevils' defense was suffocating also, sacking Bayside QB Deion Stitt a total of 10 times, five of them by senior defensive end Rainney Thompson. It's nothing new for Thompson, though; he sacked Stitt four times in the regular season opener a year ago, which Salem won 31-6. Something about the Marlins brings the best out in Thompson and the Salem pass rush.

"Obviously there's always a bunch of hype between Salem and Bayside. It's kind of like a rivalry," Thompson admitted. "We had the energy and got hyped up this whole week, trying to get ready for this. For some reason they can't contain us and we're relentless when we do it."

With the win, Salem improves its record to 2-0 overall and will next take on First Colonial. Bayside, meanwhile, drops to 1-1 and will visit Green Run in its next contest.

More Analysis from the Game & Comments Here

Video Interview with Salem QB Bucky Hodges
Video Interview with Salem DE Rainney Thompson
Video Interview with Salem Coach Robert Jackson

Rod Johnson's Photo Feature
Kim Black's Photo Feature

Stats:

Salem 37:
Bucky Hodges - - 15-24 for 248Yds. 2-2TD/Int. ratio; 9Car. 18Yds.
Torron Person - - 12Car. 32Yds. TD; 1Rec. 55Yds. TD
Khalib Brown - - 5Car. 38Yds. TD; 1Rec. 15Yds; 2PBU, INT
James Church - - 5Rec. 54Yds.
Kwamane Bowens - - 4Rec. 75Yds.
Kyree Burton - - 3Rec. 44Yds. TD
Steven Smith - - 8 Tackles, TFL
Rainney Thompson - - 7 Tackles, 5 Sacks (CH)

Bayside 7:
Deion Stitt - - 17-29 for 151Yds. 1-2TD/Int. ratio
Quin Blanding - - 8Rec. 87Yds. TD; 12 Tackles, 3TFL
Taquan 'Smoke' Mizzell - - 4Rec. 9Yds; 4Car. 1Yd.
Jamez Brickhouse - - 3Rec. 34Yds; 2 Tackles, PBU
Will Dillard - - 1Car. 10Yds; 6 Tackles, TFL
Joshua Duhe-Harris - - 5 Tackles, 2TFL, Sack

Matthew Hatfield has covered Eastern Region Football & Basketball since 2004 for VirginiaPreps.com, part of the Rivals.com Network. Check out Hatfield's Twitter page for more sports related updates, and you can also read his work in the Suffolk News Herald. To contact Matthew, please e-mail hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com, and don't forget to listen to him on the VirginiaPreps.com Hour every Saturday at 11AM on ESPN Radio 94.1 plus watch him on the Cox 11 Sports Report.