By David Shaw
dshaw@salisburypost.com
WINSTON-SALEM — Salisbury’s bus made it safely to Winston-Salem — and that’s about all you need to know about Friday’s non-conference game at Atkins.
As sure as a Bob Gibson fastball, the defending 2AA state champs played house music all night and rolled to a 56-0 victory.
“We did what we were supposed to do,” junior linebacker Keion Adams said.
For the second consecutive week — and third time this season — Salisbury (4-1) scored more than 50 points in a one-sided win.
“One of the coaches on the sideline asked me if we were stuck on that number,” coach Joe Pinyan reported afterward. “He asked if we could score another one. I said, ‘Nah, we’re not doing that.’”
Salisbury scored the only points it would need on the night’s first play from scrimmage. The game was all of 18-seconds old when SHS defensive back Dejoun Jones penetrated the Atkins backfield, scooped up the first of five AHS fumbles and returned it 2 yards for a touchdown.
“It was a screen play,” said Adams. “The quarterback dropped back and threw but (defensive end) William Brown just laid out the motion back. We knew it was a fumble because it was behind the line of scrimmage. Then Dejoun just flew up and took it in.”
The Hornets proceeded to add touchdowns on each of their first four possessions and build a 35-0 halftime lead when Dominique Dismuke scored his third touchdown of the game — and seventh of the season — on a 17-yard sweep to the right side midway through the second period.
“We had to come out and play the first half hard,” Dismuke said, “so we could get our jayvee players in the game.”
Most of Salisbury’s starters sat out the second half — including Dismuke, who also scored on runs of 20 and 8 yards. Quarterback Brian Bauk was an early force, rushing for 19 yards and tossing a 7-yard TD pass to Justin Ruffin, all in the first quarter.
“We had pretty good energy from the first touchdown,” he said. “That set the tone. Then it was just a matter of doing your individual role and counting on your teammates to do theirs.”
Pinyan trotted a number of second- and third-stringers onto the field in the second half in an attempt to keep the score respectable. But that was like asking an Indy 500 driver to keep it at 35.
Backup quarterback Jon Hall scored on a 21-yard sprint late in the third period and junior running back Braylon Dailey added a short-yardage TD in the fourth quarter. Salisbury’s eighth and final touchdown came when linebacker Jaquez Finger confiscated a loose ball and rumbled 21 yards into the end zone with 3:58 remaining.
Oddly, Pinyan made a reference to Salisbury having to overcome an adverse situation.
“It’s something different than what they’re used to,” he explained. “Scoring 56 points last week against South Rowan was a little different than tonight. These guys were unorthodoxed.”
Or as Bauk noted, “What we saw on film was way different that what we saw on the field.”
The numbers told an accurate story. Salisbury used nine ball-carriers and rushed for 313 yards. Its defense limited Atkins (0-5) 53 total yards, most of it in the second half. The Camels barely kicked up any dirt, advancing only as deep as the SHS 25-yard line late in the third period.
Most likely the Hornets played with one eye on the field and the other on next week’s home game against Carson — a team they fell to a year ago.
“There’s not a whole lot of positives we can take from this game other than getting to see a lot of kids play,” Pinyan said. “They’re gonna get on that bus and feel good about themselves riding home. And when they get home there’s not a single kid here who’s gonna forget that Carson beat us last year.”