By TROY SARVER
Patriot Publishing
SALEM – Pulaski County put up a good fight, but in the end, it was another disappointing outcome for the Cougars on Friday night.
Salem’s Jordan McCadden rushed for 252 yards and four touchdowns including a 62-yard score on the Spartans’ first offensive play as Salem took an early lead and went on to take a 45-23 win over Pulaski County at Salem Stadium.
With the win Salem (3-5, 3-1) took their 17th straight victory in the rivalry while Pulaski County (2-6, 1-3) lost their fourth straight game after a 2-2 start.
Salem got off to a hot start after McCadden’s opening touchdown, scoring the game’s first 17 points and building a 17-0 lead with seven minutes left in the second quarter.
The Cougars began to switch the momentum midway through the second when Maddox Thompson put Pulaski on the scoreboard with a 31-yard touchdown run to make it 17-7 at 5:28 mark of the quarter.
The Cougar defense then stepped up on Salem’s next possession when Carter Wilson forced a fumble on a quarterback sack that was recovered by Pulaski’s Parker Price at the Salem 23.
Three plays later PC quarterback Bryant Nottingham scored on a 6-yard TD run to make it 17-14. Nottingham was initially stopped on a run up the middle but bounced it out to the left and found the end zone.
Pulaski County head coach Cam Akers was proud of his team’s effort and that they kept fighting after falling behind three scores.
“We were going to try to play aggressively. We felt like we could score. We just needed some (defensive) stops,” Akers said.
Leading just 17-14 at halftime, Salem responded, coming out after the break driving 64 yards in seven plays on their opening third quarter possession. McCadden finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to move the advantage back to 23-14 after a missed extra point.
“We really needed a stop and score there after the break. We struggled stopping them. We got kids injured and kids out there without a lot of experience,” Akers said.
PC answered Salem’s score with a drive that saw the Cougars advance to the Spartans’ 2. On a fourth-and-goal from the 2, however, Akers elected to kick a field goal, which Nottingham successfully made from 19 yards out to make it a one score game at 23-17.
“I felt like we needed to take the points there based on the score,” Akers said of his decision.
Salem, though, proved too tough to stop offensively as they scored touchdowns on their next three possessions to pull away. All the Spartan damage was done on the ground as Salem did not attempt a pass on the evening.
Pulaski would get one more touchdown from Thompson on a 1-yard run with 6:43 left in the fourth, but it was too little and too late for the Cougars’ hopes of winning.
The Cougars return home Friday night when they take on Patrick Henry in a River Ridge District matchup. Pulaski County will be looking for their first win at Kenneth J. Dobson Stadium this season against a Patriots team that will come into the contest undefeated on the year.
Game time in Dublin is set for 7 p.m.
Pulaski County 0 14 3 6 23
Salem 10 7 14 14 45
S – McCadden 62 run (Millard kick)
S – Millard 44 FG
S – Saul 1 run (Millard kick)
PC – Thompson 31 run (Nottingham kick)
PC – Nottingham 6 run (Nottingham kick)
S – McCadden 13 run (kick failed)
PC – Nottingham 19 FG
S – McCadden 7 run (McCadden run)
S – McCadden 3 run (Millard kick)
PC – Thompson 1 run (kick failed)
S – Wood 17 run (Millard kick)
Pulaski County Salem
First Downs 14 13
Yards Rushing 256 328
Passes C-A-I 7-16-0 0-0-0
Yards Passing 58 0
Penalties-Yards 3-39 7-75
Fumbles-lost 1-0 5-1
Punts-average 1-35 1-43
RUSHING – Pulaski County, Carrasco 9-46, Aviles 2-66, Nottingham 5-29, Thompson 18-73, Wilson 4-42, Salem, McCadden 23-252, Saul 15-49, Wood 4-42, Woolwine 6-(-15)
PASSING – Pulaski County, Nottingham 7-16-0-58, Salem, none
RECEIVING – Pulaski County, White 1-9, Aviles 3-19, Wilson 2-20, Carrasco 1-10, Salem, none
