A look at Friday’s matchup as the Houston Tigers (2-0) face the Salem Tigers (1-1):
THE STREAK: Nearly four decades. That’s how long it has been since Houston beat Salem in football. The Texas County Tigers have lost 37 consecutive matchups to the Dent County Tigers dating back to the 1980 season.
Does it end Friday night? Houston is 2-0 for the first since 2015 – coach Eric Sloan’s first season – and looking for the first 3-0 start in a decade. Of course, going back to 2008 is nothing like 1980. HHS has started the season with two impressive outings: a shutout of Sarcoxie and dropping 61 points on Cuba.
Houston began Sloan’s first season with a pair of wins before losing 14-7 to Salem. That was the 35th straight loss. HHS was held to five first downs and 74 rushing yards. Salem stymied HHS by putting all 11 players near the line of scrimmage. “There was a little confusion on who was blocking who,” Sloan said at the time.
HHS improbably nearly ended the streak in 2007. The Tigers led 12-6 all the way until the final 11 seconds of the game when Yousef Ibrahim caught a 9-yard touchdown pass for a 15-12 Salem win. It was the 16th straight loss overall for Houston and 27th in a row in the series.
Friday’s game is the South Central Association opener for both teams.
WEATHER: Showers and heavy thunderstorms are expected Friday afternoon through Saturday night as the remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon move through the region. A flash flood watch has been issued for the region. The high temperature is 79 with the low 68.
IF YOU GO: Salem Schools contacted Houston last week to let its fans know there will be only two porta-pottys available at the football stadium. Shuttles will also take fans to restrooms at a main building on campus.
WATCH ONLINE: The matchup will be streamed live in HD at www.houstonherald.com/live. Coverage begins with a pregame show at 6:45 p.m. featuring an interview from Sloan as well as assistant coach Boulder McKinney breaking down the Salem offense.
ABOUT SALEM: Salem fell to 1-1 with a 28-20 Week 2 loss to Dexter. Two special teams miscues –– both poor punt snaps –– set up two Dexter scores. The Bearcats, who were shut out in the first week, rallied from a 14-0 deficit. …Salem defeated St. James 24-20 in the opening week. …Salem senior quarterback Chandler Gray has rushed for 132 yards on 30 carries and two touchdowns and has completed 7-of-12 passes for 125 yards and no interceptions. …Senior halfback Sam Ball leads Salem in rushing with 175 yards (8.8 yards-per-carry) while senior running back Tristan Newman has 120 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns. …Senior wideout Boone Schrader has three receptions for 55 yards. …Ball, a linebacker, paces Salem in tackles with 25, including 10 solo, while freshman defensive back Garrett Connell has 13; defensive backs Gray and Newman 11 each; and sophomore defensive back Caden Camden 10. Gray also has two interceptions.
TIGER TIDBITS: Houston’s 628 total yards in Week 2 were the program’s most in nearly two decades. The Tigers had 639 total yards –– 610 on the ground –– in a 47-7 victory in 2000 against Thayer. Ryan Wimberley led the way with 13 carries for 137 yards and three touchdowns. Luke Fraser added eight carries for 100 yards and two scores. …The past decade, Houston’s most offensive yards were 574 in the Tigers’ 62-22 win in 2008 against Cuba. …The next-highest total yards in recent years was 478 –– 414 on the ground –– against Cabool in 2013. …Paydon Dixon led the HHS defense with nine tackles against Cuba. He also had one of the team’s four interceptions … Sophomore nose guard Chris Cichon had a pair of sacks and three tackles for losses in Week 2.
HHS STAT LEADERS: A look at the Tigers’ statistical leaders after the first two weeks:
RUSHING ATT YDS AVG TD LG
Hutcheson 26 384 14.8 7 59
Dixon 28 150 5.4 0 22
Sawyer 15 123 8.2 2 23
Hurst 11 97 8.8 1 60
Burchett 16 3 0.2 0 15
Harrison 1 (-2) (-2.0) 0 (-2)
PASSING COMP ATT YDS AVG TD INT
Burchett 8 18 169 21.1 1 0
Dixon 1 1 7 7.0 0 0
RECEIVING NO YDS TD AVG LG
Wilson 3 84 1 28.0 49
CLee 3 50 0 16.7 19
Sawyer 3 35 0 11.7 20
Hutcheson 1 7 0 7.0 7
KICKING PAT FG-A P AVG LG
Lee 3 0/0 2 43.5 50
SCORING TD 2PT FG PAT TOT
Hutcheson 7 0 0 0 42
Sawyer 2 0 0 0 12
Dixon 1 2 0 0 10
Hurst 1 0 0 0 6
Wilson 1 0 0 0 6
CLee 0 0 0 3 3
DEFENSE T TFL S FF FR INT
CLee 17 2 0 0 0 0
Dixon 14 0 0 0 0 1
Wallander 13 0 0 0 0 0
Hutcheson 12 0 1 0 0 0
CMitchell 12 1 0 0 0 1
Burchett 11 1 0 0 0 4
Cichon 10 3 2 0 0 0
Sawyer 8 1 0 0 0 0
AROUND THE SCA: A look at last week’s conference scores and this week’s games:
Week 2 scores
Houston 61, Cuba 22
Cabool 42, Chaffee 0
Willow Springs 34, Marionville 14
Bolivar 20, Liberty 14
Thayer 52, Doniphan 14
Ava 31, Hallsville 0
Strafford 42, Mtn. Grove 6
Dexter 28, Salem 20
Week 3 games
Houston at Salem
Cabool at Willow Springs
Thayer at Liberty
Mountain Grove at Ava