SALEM — The St. Aloysius Flashes put an early scare into the Salem Wildcat fans on Friday night.
But Salem scored early and often in a 41-14 victory.
The Flashes took the opening kick off and drove the ball 64 yards and scored on their first possession. The PAT was good, and St. Al led 7-0 with 6:12 in the first quarter.
“When St. Al took the ball and drove down the field and scored on us, my first thought was that we might be in trouble,” said Salem coach Kenneth Murphy.
But the Wildcats toughened up and only allowed the Flashes one other score in the fourth quarter.
Salem got on the scoreboard on a 1-yard run by Stevie Quinn with 1:53 in the first quarter. The score was tied 7-7.
Salem took over the game with 7:12 left in second quarter. David Carr scored on a 3-yard run. A 2-point conversion was good by Quinn.
With 4:44 before halftime, St. Al fumbled on a Salem punt. Salem took over on the Flashes’ 35-yard line.
It only took Salem two plays to find the end zone when Cameron Robinson scooted 9 yards for the score. A 2-point conversion was added by Maurice Beard.
“St. Al has been down a little bit, but they came in playing us hard,” Murphy said. “I think us scoring right before the half sort of took the wind out of their sails.”
Quinn scored on a 23-yard run with 5:59 in the third. Still in the third quarter, with 1:27 left, Shannon Damond scored on a 36-yard run.
Salem’s final points came with 4:22 left in the fourth quarter on a 33-yard run by Austin Fazande.
St. Al scored late in the fourth on a 15-yard interception return.
Salem’s Dale McDaniel was good on 2-of-4 extra points.
Defensively, Salem had four interceptions in the game from Tae Tae Smith, Damond and Trevor Polk.
Cameron Robinson led all tacklers with six tackles and three assists. Nick Henry had six tackles and a sack. David Carr had four tackles and an assist and Jonathan Wilson had two tackles, a sack and forced a St. Al fumble.
Wilson is being recruited by Southern Miss and Mississippi State.
“Our defense came in and played well,” Murphy said. “After the opening drive for a score on us, we made a few adjustments and pretty much shut them down.”
Offensively, Salem quarterback Tae Tae Smith went 3-for-4 passing for 42 yards . He carried the football 47 times for 396 yards
Quinn had 15 carries for 178 yards, David Carr had seven carries for 40 yards, Damond had three totes for 44 yards and Cameron Robinson had nine carries for 70 yards.
Zack Bacot had two catches for 40 yards.
Salem improved to 2-1.
Salem hosts Hartfield on Friday for homecoming. Homecoming festivities begin at 7 p.m. with the game set to kickoff at 7:30.
Hartfield was shut out by Dexter 30-0 on Friday.
Kentwood tops Sumner
Making halftime adjustments is what good coaches do. Kentwood coach David Currier is one of the best.
At Kentwood, the Kangaroos defeated parish rival Sumner 29-17 on Friday.
Sumner led the ’Roos 17-0 at halftime, and things looked bleak for Kentwood, but when the two teams returned for the second half, Sumner could only wonder where their first half success went.
Sumner scored first when quarterback Bryant James threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Michael Spiers at 7:22 of the first quarter. Leo Moreno was good on the PAT for Sumner.
With 3:21 left in the first quarter, Moreno hit a 33-yard field goal to give Sumner a 10-0 lead.
At 10:20 in the second quarter, Spiers scampered 2 yards for another Cowboys score. Moreno’s PAT was good.
With 4:24 left in the third quarter, the ’Roos began their comeback.
Kentwood quarterback Tavarious Battiste scored on a 57-yard run, and Jaquavis Roberts ran for a two-point conversion, which cut the lead to 17-8.
With 7:43 left in the fourth, KHS scored on a Shymeim Carter 44-yard run. Jordan Taylor added the PAT.
The ’Roos scored again in less than a minute on a 73-yard punt return by Leslie Collins.
On a Sumner punt, the ball went over the kicker’s head. Kentwood got a safety with 5:44 left in the game and Kentwood led 23-17.
Kentwood’s final score came on a 42-yard interception by Battiste with 4:45 left in the contest.
With the win, the ‘Roos are 1-0.
Battiste finished with 10 carries for 81 yards. He completed 8-of-18 passing for 92 yards.
Shyheim Carter had five carries for 72 yards and a touchdown, while Roberts had four carries for 32 yards.
Defensively, Rodney Williams led with 11 tackles and Jordan Taylor had 10.
Kentwood hosts St. Helena on Friday.
In other games, Glenbrook defeated Amite School Center 52-14 and Arnold High School (Fla.) defeated Amite County 44-0.
