Saluda Looking To Win The Close Games This Year
By Neill Kirkpatrick
Special to the HSSR
Saluda – The 2025 season for the Tigers of Saluda (6-6/2-3) was a season of near misses in region play as they were 11 points away from winning the region 2 AA crown and receiving one of the top seeds in the upper state playoffs instead they finished third and had to go on the road for their two playoff games head coach Greg Woerner is looking to change that this season.
“Last year we lost a lot of close games that we had chances to win. I think that will help us this year to draw from those tough experiences and be better this year. I am excited about the opportunities we have to compete in the non-region and believe that will only help us as we get into region play and prepare for a playoff run,” coach said. “We just need to continue to get better each day and take care of the little things.”
The Tigers dropped their opener to top ranked class A Abbeville 35-33. The Tigers jumped out a 13-7 halftime only to fall behind in the third quarter and then their rally fell just short. New quarterback senior Avery Coyle passed for 216 yards and four touchdowns. Senior running back Tristan Daniels had 109 yards of offense and scored three times.
“Abbeville is a really good program with a lot of winning tradition. I was proud of how hard our guys played and battled all game. We had moments in the game where we had chances to make big plays and just missed them, so we are just focusing on being consistent offensively and defensively as the season progresses,” said coach.
Coyle (5-10,160)transferred from Lexington to Saluda and has moved into the quarterback and a leadership role for coach Woerner. Daniels (5-10,185), one of the top backs in AA, joins him in the backfield and he is coming off a year where he rushed for 1500 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also handles the punting duties.
Senior wide receiver Mekhi Linton (6,154) and senior tight end Jahmeer Myers led the receiving group. They are joined by sophomore Darryl Hill (5-11,170) and junior Ceddion Springs. Springs had a team high 72 yards receiving and a score against Abbeville.
Two juniors are the leaders of the offensive line in LJ Sanders and Zayden Couch and they will be joined in the starting lineup by senior offensive linemen Jordan Padgett and Trent Skinner. They will all see time on the defensive lien as well.
Two other seniors that will battle for playing time along the offensive and defensive fronts are Noah Stoudemire and Tyler Gantt.
Defensively, the Tigers are returning a lot of guys who played a lot last year. Seniors Jahmeer Myers (6,180) on the defensive line and his brother Jayden Myers (5-10,195) at middle linebacker who will lead the charge defensively for us. Jayden makes plays from sideline to side line.
Juniors Cash Martin and Landon Hicks are at the outside linebacking positions.
Junior Ericson Vasquez will handle the kicking and punting for the Tigers.
Coach said he has a lot of young talent that played on JV last season and will get the opportunity play on Friday nights. A couple of those newcomers are Corbin Shaw and Jakaile Stevens.
