By Mike London
mike.london@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY —Ten-win football seasons in Rowan County have been pretty scarce over the years.

Ten wins is the record for a season at Carson.

Eleven wins is obviously a bit tougher. The school record at South Rowan is 11.

West Rowan had that championship three-peat, of course — 15, 15 and 16 wins. The Falcons won 13 in 2005 and 13 more in 2011 when they were state runner-up.

East Rowan had that magical 13-0 season in 1969 in the Western North Carolina High School Activities Association

North Rowan owns one season with 13 wins. That was achieved 10 years ago. If you’re wondering, North’s state runner-up team in 1992 won a dozen. The Cavaliers won 12 more in 1994.

As is the case with East and North, the school record for the Salisbury program is 13. The Hornets had 13 victories when they won the 2AA state championship in 2010 and they won 13 when they were 2019 state runner-up, losing to Shelby in the 2AA title game.

Those numbers and those great teams will come up in conversations over the next week because the 2023 edition of the Salisbury Hornets is 12-0 after walloping Maiden 40-0 in a game moved up to Thursday night at Ludwig Stadium. The current Hornets are only the 15th team in county history to pile up a dozen or more wins.

There’s no guarantee that they’ll get to 13 because Shelby will be the next visitor to “The Hive,” but the 12th win for the Hornets was impressive and dominating and surprisingly one-sided.

Maiden was averaging more than 30 points and hadn’t been shut out all season. The Hornets stuck it to them pretty good, stopped a number of fourth-down plays.

Leading 21-0, Salisbury stuffed Maiden’s fourth-down play with a little over two minutes left in the first half. That may have been the backbreaker.

“Our defense had one of the best games they’ve played this year,” said SHS head coach Clayton Trivett, who debuted in Salisbury with an 11-2 season in 2022. “Mike Geter intercepted a long pass. DJ Adams and Jaylin Graham-Taylor blew up a fourth-down screen pass that was really big.”

Trivett declined to take any credit for delivering an emotional pregame speech or halftime speech.

“We had seniors who played in that playoff game at Maiden when they beat Salisbury (32-20) and stopped a long Salisbury winning streak two years ago,” Trivett said. ‘They were fired up and ready to play tonight. I didn’t have to say much at all. I watched film of Maiden — they’ve got a good team and I did expect a closer game — but our guys were so ready for this one that there just wasn’t much Maiden could do about it.”

Maiden (8-4) hadn’t lost to any chumps. Maiden had lost to 11-0 Bunker Hill and 11-0 Watauga and 9-2 West Lincoln. Now the Blue Devils can add 12-0 Salisbury to the list.

Offensively, the Hornets got it done with the running game. Jamal Rule had his 35th and 36th TDs of the season before halftime, breaking JyMikaah Wells’ school record for touchdowns in a season that only lasted a year.

Hank Webb missed a field goal at the end of the half, but a personal foul gave him a second chance, and he took advantage of it. That kick put the Hornets in command 24-0 at halftime.

Maiden got an important stop when the second half began to stay in the game temporarily, but then the Hornets got a key defensive stand after Maiden QB Josh Stover hit a 68-yard pass.

When Rule broke a 50-yard run for TD No. 37, it was 31-0, and it was over.

Webb had an impactful game with his foot, scoring 10 points with four PATs and two field goals. He boomed punts on the few occasions when the Hornets had to punt, and he almost always excels on kickoffs.

Nygel Elliott is listed on the Salisbury roster as a defensive end, but he was in the game as a fullback in a goal-line situation and powered in a short-yardage touchdown.

Salisbury tacked on a late TD in the final seconds with Jay’lin Johnson  doing the honors. It would have been friendlier to kneel it out, but it was an emotional night for Salisbury’s seniors, and payback continued to be exacted until the clock hit zeroes.

“Rule was special like he’s been all season, and our offensive line is still improving every week,” Trivett said.  “Our guys played very well.”

•••

There were a few more 2A West games played  on Thursday. Seventh-seeded  Shelby (9-3) outscored Lincolnton 41-21. Reidsville (11-1) blasted West Stokes 42-7.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The

 

 

West, 2010, Scott Young 16-0 Offense — 40.6 Defense — 7.1 Won 3A state championship

West, 2009, Scott Young 16-0 O — 40.5 D — 11.0 Won 3A state championship

West, 2008, Scott Young 15-1 O — 38.5 D — 9.3 Won 3A state championship

East, 1969, W.A. Cline 13-0 O — 28.8 D — 6.6 Won WNCHSAA championship

North, 2013, Joe Nixon 13-1 0 — 39.4 D — 13.6 Lost 3rd round to Shelby

West, 2005, Scott Young 13-1 O — 35.6 D — 9.9 Lost 3rd round to A.L. Brown

West, 2011, Scott Young 13-3 O — 31.1 D — 16.3 Lost 3A state championship game to Havelock

Salisbury, 2010, Joe Pinyan 13-3 O — 33.1 D — 20.3 Won 2AA state championship

Salisbury, 2019, Brian Hinson 13-3  O — 25.3 D — 9.8 Lost 2AA state championship game to Shelby
Salisbury, 1995, Conrad Green 12-1 O — 38.9 D — 5.5 Lost 3rd round to Thomasville

North, 1994, Roger Secreast 12-2 O — 33.0 D — 16.4 Lost 3rd round to Thomasville

Salisbury, 2004, Joe Pinyan 12-2 O — 26.3 D — 14.3 Lost 3rd round to Bandys

West, 2000, Scott Young 12-2 O — 30.6 D — 14.4 Lost 3rd round to Mooresville

North, 1992, Roger Secreast 12-3 O — 25.5 D — 11.2 Lost 3A state championship game to Cummings

Salisbury, 2023, Clayton Trivett 12-0