The Salem Tigers are fresh off a district title game appearance in 2015. They fell to Mountain Grove 30-26, and that game has motivated Coach Brian McNamee and his squad to get over that hump this season.
Head Coach: Brian McNamee
2015 Record: 6-6
Top Players: Eli Floyd (CB/WR), Taylor Shipp (OL/DL), Zak Eplin (QB/DB), Jon Arzt (TE/DL), Isaac Anderson (LB/RB), Xavier Elwood (WR/RB)
“The kids had a taste of what it was like to play for a district championship,” said McNamee, who is entering his eighteenth season at Salem. “It’s been a while since we’ve been there. And the kids getting there just lifted them to another level.”
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It will be a challenge to get back to that level. The Tigers lost seven starters on the offensive side of the ball, including their quarterback Dylan Wisdom, their leading rusher Derek McClain, and their leading receiver Antonio Quick.
But conversely, Salem will retain a ton of production on the other side of the ball.
“We have eight back on defense, and we think that’s going to be a strength for us,” said McNamee. “When you get eight of those guys that have played together for that long, they get that chemistry and they feel comfortable with what we’re trying to do with the system. And it makes the offense that, like you said earlier, we had to replace quite a chunk of offense, it allows us to kind of let that group find a personality and mature and grow because this defense has been pretty stable for us.”
Senior Eli Floyd will lead the way as a defensive back and wide receiver. He’s one of a handful of seniors that will be four-year starters for Salem. Floyd led the team with five interceptions last season and has snagged 18 over the course of his high school career.
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Look for senior Zak Eplin to be the signal caller this season. Eplin filled in when Wisdom was injured last year and threw for 128 yards a touchdown, while also rushing for 269 yards and three touchdowns in just three games under center.
McNamee expects junior Taylor Shipp to have another big season at linebacker. Shipp led the team 119 total tackles last year as a sophomore.
“We have ten seniors and they’re go getters,” said McNamee. “We’ve had the best offseason that we’ve had in a long, long time here. We’ve had huge numbers turn out all summer long. We’ve had great numbers at camp. This group of kids is probably one of the harder working groups of kids that we’ve had in a long time. And you don’t have to get them to work, they work on their own.”
The Tigers will have to contend with the likes of MV-BT/Liberty, Mountain Grove and Thayer in the SCA conference, but McNamee thinks they’re more than capable of competing and winning in the conference.
“A lot of people don’t really realize how tough the SCA is,” he said. “Our conference is tough and it’s a very hard-hitting conference. And I think the key for everybody in this conference is staying healthy. The team that can stay healthy and go the distance, that plays a big role in it.
“Each day, the practice is going to be better, we’re going to be better in practice, we’re going to learn more today, we’re going to condition more today, and I really like that out of them. You know, success comes to those who work, and this is a hard working group of kids.”
Salem will kick off the 2016 season at McDonald County on Aug. 19.
