Salems Statement - 1 Bayside Falls 31-6
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mso-highlight:yellow'>Surprise Opener in the Beach:
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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>The reigning Eastern
Region Division 6 Champions, two-time defending Beach District Champs and
preseason #1 ranked team in the state took it on the chin Thursday night as the
Bayside Marlins received a rude awakening in their opener courtesy of the Salem
SunDevils. Playing at home in front of a
near packed to capacity crowd, Salem dominated to the tune of 31-6, nearly the
exact same score they lost to Bayside a year ago when the Marlins won 31-7.
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With
Hurricane Irene pushing games from the first week back, this highly anticipated
battle in the Beach suddenly became the opener.
There was plenty of hype coming in with two of the best teams squaring
off so early, and Salem, rated #19 in the state and #5 regionally, did its part
to make sure they answered the challenge.
"We
had something to prove," said SunDevils senior running back
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Divante Walker, who rushed for 172
yards on nine carries, breaking off two long touchdown runs in the fourth
quarter of 57 and 83 yards. "They're the
#1 team in the state and we were trying to take that away from them.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We knew what we could do and expected to win."
Salem's
offense was efficient and revved up in the second half when they gained 210 of
their 352 total yards. Six-foot-6 quarterback
Bucky Hodges, one of the nation's
top prospects from the Class of 2013 who enjoyed his coming out party in last
year's postseason upset of Ocean Lakes, accounted for three touchdowns.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> He connected with wideout and fellow junior
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>James Church for two scores through the
air, ran for a touchdown and finished by completing 80% of his ten passes for
88 yards.
Complementing
him and Walker, unsung senior running back Brehon
Daniels provided a spark with 48 yards rushing on 10 attempts, plus had a
35-yard reception that put the SunDevils in the red zone right before half-time
as they went on to build at 13-0 lead at intermission.
"Bucky's
our field general. We go as he goes,"
admitted Salem Head Football Coach Robert
Jackson. "He's a threat to run it and
throw it. We've got Walker and then
Brehon played a heck of a game for us."
In
addition to Walker's two late scampers that put the game away, Salem got it
done with an ultra aggressive, intense and relentless defense that contained
Bayside's playmakers as well as harassed quarterback Deion Stitt.
Seeing
Bayside's offensive line struggles as they missed senior Derek Taitano and played most of the game without injured center
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Raphael Shields, the SunDevils seized
the opportunity and took advantage.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Stitt was sacked eight times and the
Salem defense registered 17 tackles for loss on the night.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> The Marlins had only 52 total yards of
offense entering the fourth quarter, and despite three trips into Salem
territory in the first half, they came away scoreless.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Also, Salem capitalized on mistakes as two of
the Marlins' three turnovers led to touchdowns.
"Both
teams are young on the line," noted Jackson.
"We kind of figured we could pressure them, that's just how we play.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We like to pressure folks, and with our DB's,
we felt we were good enough in the secondary to matchup with a lot of these
guys. We saw some things on tape, and we
thought conditioning would be a factor early."
Bayside
has boasted one of the most explosive offenses in all of Tidewater lately,
averaging 31.6 points per game a season ago and scoring numerous touchdowns of
40-plus yards in the past with several of those talented skill players that
have contributed to their previous Championship success returning.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> But it's a new season, and the SunDevils are
hoping a new Champion is crowned in the Beach District and Eastern Region.
"We
expect to play like this. We went over
the game-plan, seen their weaknesses, knew we were a better team all the way
and just wanted to come out and punch them in the mouth," commented Salem
senior cornerback D'Metrius Williams.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "Coach Jackson was telling us they're #1, so
after tonight we wanted to take them out of the Top 50, Top 100 and make them
unranked."
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mso-highlight:yellow'>Without Defensive QB Others Emerge
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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Entering the 2011
campaign, the SunDevils had an idea that their defense would be mighty tough,
downright nasty at times and fly to the football with several next-level
players among the eight starters returning.
However, with starting middle linebacker and last year's leading tackler
Josh Lawson (88 stops and 7 sacks in
2010) suffering a season-ending shoulder injury, some questions arose as to how
they would cope without one of their leaders.
During
the off-season, Coach Jackson called Lawson the quarterback thinker of
coordinator Vincent Pugh's
defense. In his absence, a number of
different players stepped up and rose to the occasion against what many
anticipate to be one of the region's more potent offensive attacks.
"We
feel like we have a good defense here. I
think they showed that tonight, even with the loss of Lawson," said
Jackson. "Our approach has been a
team-approach. We feel more for Lawson
because he's a senior and won't get a chance to play.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> We felt like we had some adequate
replacements because he's going to miss his senior year."
Especially
effective were the defensive linemen with senior defensive end
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Jeffrey Stephens posting nine tackles,
four tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and recovering a couple of fumbles.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Teammate Justin
Vinson, another senior, had two
sacks as well, and junior Rainney
Thompson was in on three tackles for loss when he went out before half-time
due to a sprained ankle.
Senior
D'Andre Nicholson and junior
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Steven Smith rounded out the group,
combining for seven tackles, four behind the line of scrimmage.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> At the linebacker spot, Andrew Motu'apuaka flew around to the football with reckless
abandon and tallied seven tackles.
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mso-highlight:yellow'>Hangtime Shines:
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font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>If you had to choose an MVP from this
battle that featured nearly a dozen Division I prospects, it might be
Williams. He holds offers from Western
Michigan, Ball State, Liberty, Norfolk State and Coastal Carolina, plus is
being courted by Connecticut and UMASS.
Following his latest performance, some new BCS level programs may start
to take a harder look at the 6-foot-tall, 180-pound defender.
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"D'Metrius
is a good player," stated Jackson. "We
call him Hangtime. The first game out
here his freshman year he had braids and looked like this character from a
movie, one of the old karate movies, so we call him Hangtime."
Williams
had the job of covering Bayside star wideout Anthony Cooper, who's committed to the University of Virginia and
is a lethal weapon on the outside capable of scoring a touchdown at any
moment. Cooper was limited to just one
reception for five yards until a 29-yard reception midway through the fourth
quarter. Bayside never completed a pass
of over 30 yards, and Williams along with his secondary mates Walker,
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Kimdrick Feaster and
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Torrance Brown made sure they wouldn't
get burned, allowing the defensive front to cause havoc.
"As
DB's, we jut wanted to jam them, hold them up for two seconds because we knew
our d-line was going to get to Deion," Williams added.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "As long as we could do that, we felt we'd
execute our game-plan."
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mso-highlight:yellow'>Long Way to Go:
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font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Salem's win in this game isn't as shocking
as the margin, considering it was Bayside's first regular season loss by
20-plus points since 2006. But Salem
knows they have a long way to go with nine more games to go before the postseason,
and they've been motivated all off-season by the humbling 48-7 defeat they
suffered in the regional semifinals last November against Oscar Smith.
"We're
at 1-0 and keeping us in the right direction.
We could be on the other end easy and we wouldn't even be having this
conversation. We're going to take them
one at a time. We feel like the more
people talk about that Oscar Smith game, the more charged we get," Jackson
said.
"A
lot of these kids started as freshmen for us.
You're talking about some three, four-year guys.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> This is a team that they love each
other. They get along.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I've had a lot of teams where they didn't get
along."
The
camaraderie and cohesiveness is great for Salem, which has firmly established
itself now as a contender and a force to be reckoned with this year.
"I
feel like we played an okay game and can get a whole lot better.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> I just wanted to manage the game, keep the
offense flowing and run a fast-paced offense," Hodges said.
style='mso-spacerun:yes'> "We're going to enjoy the win for the rest of
this week, come back on Monday, ready to work and take no team for
granted. This is only one game and we're
trying to go 1-0 every week."
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
href="http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/914/1132026.WMA">Postgame Audio with
Salem Head Football Coach Robert Jackson
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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Stats:
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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Salem 31:
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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Bucky Hodges - - 8-10
for 88Yds. 2-0TD/Int. ratio; 9Car. 22Yds. TD
Divante Walker - - 9Car. 172Yds. 2TD; 2Rec. 3Yds.
Brehon Daniels - - 10Car. 48Yds; 1Rec. 35Yds.
James Church - - 3Rec. 21Yds. 2TD
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Jeff Stephens - - 9
Tackles, 4TFL, 2FR, 1.5 Sacks
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Justin Vinson - - 6
Tackles, 3TFL, 2 Sacks
Andrew Motu'apuaka - - 7 Tackles, 2TFL, FF
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>D'Metrius Williams
- - 6 Tackles, 2PBU
Rainney Thompson - - 6 Tackles, 3TFL, 1.5 Sacks
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style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Bayside 6:
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for 140Yds; Sacked 8 Times
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Mizzell - - 18Car. 108Yds. TD
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Quin Blanding - - 5Rec.
76Yds; 5 Tackles, TFL
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Anthony Cooper - - 2Rec.
34Yds; 6 Tackles
Jaivon Smallwood - - 2Rec. 19Yds.
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Will Dillard - - 6
Tackles, Sack
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Shaq Black - - 6
Tackles, FF
Matthew Hatfield has
covered Eastern Region Football & Basketball since 2004 for
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href="mailto:hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com">hatfieldsports2k4@yahoo.com
style='mso-bidi-font-style:normal'>, and don't forget to listen to him on the VirginiaPreps.com
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