BOGUE CHITTO — Salem head football coach Kenneth Murphy knew his Wildcats faced a huge test on the road Friday night in the form of undefeated Region 4-1A foe Bogue Chitto, ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press 1A poll.
When the final horn sounded, Salem had upset Bogue Chitto 21-20.
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 6-3 overall and 5-3 in 4-1A.
Murphy praised his squad after the win.
“I just don’t know where to start,” Murphy said. “I am just so proud of these guys. We just held on all night.
“When we went up 14-0 in the first half, that was huge. I felt like the offense played extremely well against a really tough Bogue Chitto defense. Our defense stepped up and stood tall in the last few minutes to get the win.”
Salem scored first on a 22-yard touchdown scamper by Shannon Damond. The point-after failed.
Bogue Chitto responded and drove down to the Salem 5-yard line, but quarterback Brock Roberts fumbled and Salem recovered. Salem took over and scored on a 49-yard pass from quarterback Tae Smith to Austin Fazande.
Damond connected with Zack Bacot for the two-point conversion to give Salem a 14-0 lead at halftime.
Bogue Chitto cut the lead to 14-6 on a 10-yard touchdown run by Jermaine Blackwell, but the point-after failed.
Both teams swapped possessions for much of the second half. With 9:17 left in the fourth quarter, Fazande ran 45 yards for another Wildcat score. The point-after by Dale McDaniel was good.
Salem recovered an onside kick at the Wildcat 47-yard line, but turned the ball over on downs.
Bogue Chitto started its drive from the Salem 43. In five plays, the Bobcats scored on a pass from Roberts to Damien Terrell with 1:09 left in the game to cut Salem’s lead to 21-20.
Following the Bogue Chitto kickoff, Salem’s Damond fumbled on the Wildcat 9 and Bogue Chitto recovered. The Bobcats went nowhere on their first three plays, and on fourth down Bogue Chitto kicker Cameron Price missed a field goal with 25 seconds left in the game.
Salem took over and ran out the clock.
“Salem came out with a lot on the line,” Bogue Chitto head coach Gareth Sartin said. “Salem came ready to play. We had a couple of bad snaps that caused some turnovers that hurt us. They ran the ball really well on us in the first half. We had two drives inside the red zone and didn’t score.”
For Salem offensively, Roger Nicks had nine carries for 63 yards. Fazande had three carries for 56 yards and a reception for 49 yards. Stevie Quinn had 37 yards on 17 carries. Bacot had 27 yards on four carries and also had three pass receptions.
Damond completed one of his two passes for 3 yards. Smith went 3-for-3 for 64 yards and one touchdown.
Salem had 279 yards rushing for the game.
Defensively, Bacot lead the Wildcats with 10 tackles. Blane Bossier had nine tackles and one sack. Cedric Damond had five tackles, two assists and 11/2 sacks. Kirk Jefferson had three tackles and one assist. Aaron Quinn had three tackles, an assist, a 1/2 sack and three fumble recoveries.
For Bogue Chitto offensively, Roberts had 17 carries for 72 yards and a touchdown. Jermaine Blackwell had 14 carries for 104 yards and two touchdowns. Roberts completed 3 of 10 passes for 61 yards.
“Jermaine Blackwell is one of the best running backs I have seen,” Murphy said. “It’s hard to believe he has not been voted for the all-star team. The state of Mississippi is missing out on a great player.”
Terrell had two catches for 55 yards and Dennis Rogers one catch for 6 yards.
“We had a chance at the end to win the game and just couldn’t,” Sartin said. “Salem played a good game. We are going to use this as a motivational tool heading into next week’s game against Stringer.”
Bogue Chitto dropped to 9-1 overall and 7-1 and travels to Stringer (9-1, 7-1) for a showdown with the Red Devils for first place in the district. Stringer is ranked No. 2 in the 1A poll.
“(Stringer) is a game our kids have been looking forward to,” Sartin said. “Our kids will be ready to play.”
Salem entertains Sacred Heart on Friday in the final game of the regular season. The Wildcats have to win and hope Hinds AHS can take care of Lumberton to secure a place in the 1A playoffs.
“We could finish the season at 7-3 and still not make the playoffs,” Murphy said. “I know there are teams with two wins and they are in. Just seems something is wrong with the system.”
