Salem running back Kaden Brink (Photo courtesy of Arkansas Activities Association)
The Salem High School football team’s first ever state championship game appearance ended with the Greyhounds finishing at the top of Class 3A. In the final game of the season in Arkansas, Salem was able to hold off Bismarck 42-34 Saturday night at War Memorial Stadium.
The Greyhounds took the lead on the final play of the first half on a 37-yard pass play from Jackson Taylor to Kaden Brink and went up by eight on the ensuing two-point conversion. The Lions’ first possession of the second half ended with a turnover on downs, and Salem later went up by two scores on a 13-yard run by Caleb Leisenning. Bismarck responded with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Ben Keithley to Preston Hughes less than a minute into the final quarter.
The Greyhounds chewed up a lot of clock on the next drive as they took almost nine minutes to go 74 yards in 15 plays, ending with a 1-yard scoring run by Brink. The Lions took less than a minute to cut the margin back to eight as their next possession ended with a 13-yard touchdown run by Keithley. Bismarck set up for the ensuing onside kick, but they were flagged for illegal formation and forced to back up 5 yards. They got penalized again when they recovered the next kick 7 yards short of the required 10 needed, and Salem was automatically awarded the ball. The Greyhounds were able to run the ball all the way inside the Lions’ 10-yard line and run off the clock for the win.
Taylor was named the most valuable player as he completed all five of his pass attempts for 129 yards and a touchdown and had 15 carries for 69 yards and two additional scores. Brink led Salem’s ground attack with 25 rushes for 131 yards and two touchdowns, and he ended up with over 1,400 rushing yards for the season. Keithley was 16-of-28 through the air for 152 yards and a touchdown and carried the ball 19 times for 118 yards and three more scores for Bismarck.
After going 3-3 early on, the Greyhounds reeled off nine straight wins to finish the year at 12-3. The Lions drop to 13-1.
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