Saluda comes out of the gate fast despite loss of big senior class
Tigers open with convincing wins over Mid-Carolina, Ridge Spring-Monetta
Saluda – The Saluda High School football team may have lost a load of seniors from a team that took a 16-13 lead into the fourth quarter of the AA upper state championship game on the road against Abbeville, but it has been nothing but impressive through the first two games of the regular season.
The Tigers have scored 97 points in their two contests. They opened the season with a 42-10 victory over Mid-Carolina on August 18 and followed it up with a 55-18 triumph over Ridge Spring-Monetta on August 25.
“They’ve come out and answered the call both games,” said SHS head coach Stewart Young, who guided the team that had 20 seniors to an 11-3 record last season, eventually falling to eventual state champion Abbeville 41-16. “We’ve come out sharp both games and we were up big at halftime of both games. That meant we were able to play a lot of younger players in the second half.”
Saluda opened a 28-0 halftime lead against Mid-Carolina and scored 34 points in the first quarter against Ridge Spring-Monetta.
Young has been pleased with the offense with Drew Arant in his first full season starting at quarterback. The Tigers are rotating three running backs in Kyree Etheredge, last year’s starter Braylen Willams, and KenMane Brunson.
“Kyree wasn’t really supposed to be part of this at the start of the season,” said Young, who led the Tigers to the 2019 state championship. “We’ve developed a nice little stable of running backs. We’re a run-first team but being able to do that has helped Drew. His passing efficiency has been really good.”
In the Mid-Carolina contest, Etheredge led SHS with 104 yards and three touchdowns on 13 carries. Williams had 79 yards and a score on 10 carries, and Brunson had 77 yards and two scores on eight carries.
Arant, who claimed the QB job early last season, was 11 of 14 passing for 112 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. Arant spread the wealth with Victavis Gaines, Etheredge, junior tight end JT Lott and Jahlyir Foulkes each catching two. Gaines had the most yards with 43.
It was actually a pair of freshmen who did most of the damage in the running game against RSM. Tristan Daniels had 48 yards and a touchdown on four carries and Jaylen Bledsoe had 37 yards on four carries.
Etheredge finished with 35 yards on three carries, Brunson had 27 yards and a touchdown on eight carries and Williams had 14 yards on three carries.
Arant was 8 of 10 for 70 yards to go with three touchdowns. Foulkes had the most catches – three for 17 yards. However, it was Gaines, Josh Uhlar and Nick Butler who caught the TD passes.
Lott is a standout at end along the defensive line. He is joined up front by Devon Wallace, Amir Johnson and Jaylen Adams. Brunson and Etheredge and Jalen Nick are the starting linebackers while Gaines, Foulkes and Jordan Hagler are key figures in the secondary.
John Pinto is handling the placekicking duties.
Young said there is plenty his team can do to get better, but he admits the upside is great.
“We’ve got to limit the mistakes we make on both sides of the ball,” he said. “But we’re such a young team (just seven seniors). We’ve had a lot of them going both ways, some are still earning positions. They’re still learning the game, get in better shape and gain more exprience as we go.”
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