SALISBURY — Pass the yellow jacket to Salisbury’s football team.

The Hornets are the last of the CCC’s unbeatens and alone in first place after dropping a Week 8 hammer on East Davidson, 56-7, Friday night at Ludwig Stadium.

“It feels good,” first-year coach Clayton Trivett said after Salisbury (7-1, 4-0 CCC) collected its seventh consecutive victory and officially moved into the high-rent district. “From where we started the season to where we are now, I’m excited about it. Early in the season we were trying to find ourselves. After about Week 3 or 4 we found ourselves with a good group of kids who want to play and love playing for each other. Most of them don’t care who gets the credit. They just want to be successful.”

There was reason to believe East (4-3, 2-1 CCC) would present a more stringent challenge. The Golden Eagles had their way against North Rowan a week ago, rushing for 477 yards in a lopsided win. But against Salisbury they mustered only 58 yards on the ground and 114 total.

“You’ve got to give their defense credit. I mean, they flew to the football,” said East defensive coordinator Ryan McClamrock, who took over for ejected head coach Vance Hanner just before halftime. “Every gap that was there, they had covered. That made a big difference.”

Salisbury played military-grade defense and essentially pitched a shutout — East’s only points came on Ty Johnson’s 95-yard kick return with 1:01 remaining in the first half. And it forced two turnovers while limiting the Eagles to nine first downs.

“The key was to play our gaps,” senior defensive tackle Anthony Dodd said in the jubilant SHS weight room. “We just had to control what we could control out there. We had to form tackle. When you see someone wrapping up, you’ve got to help out and bring ‘em to the ground.”

The contrast in East’s output from last week was glaring. Quarterback Brogan Hill, who ran for three touchdowns and passed for another against North, was muffled by SHS. He ran the ball 13 times for zero net yards and completed five of 12 passes for 56. Teammate Josiah Allred had just 28 yards rushing, eight days after scorching North for 228 and a pair of TDs.

“We knew if we stopped the run, we could easily win this game,” said junior DE DaShawn Brown. “We took their legs out. They were big, so we hit them low and wrapped up.”

“We made stopping the run a big emphasis all week,” added Trivett. “All we heard was how physical they were and that we’d need to strap it up and be ready to play. We just challenged the defense and they came out ready to play.”

Salisbury received top-tier games from quarterback Mike Geter, running back JyMikaah Wells and its entire offensive line. Geter rushed for 129 yards — 38 of them came on a highlight-reel touchdown play that put the Hornets ahead 21-0 late in the opening period — and passed for another 80. He also threw first-half TD passes to Dominic Wallace and Deuce Walker. Wells, meanwhile, was both a workhorse and a show pony. He navigated through gridlock for 184 yards on 17 totes and scored four touchdowns, hiking his season total to 23. The o-line, anchored by center Bryan Rosado, helped Salisbury rack up 362 yards on the ground and 442 all tolled.

“The offensive line worked its tail off all week in practice,” said Wells. “We seemed to work as a team tonight, always executing. These are special individuals.”

By the time Wells scored on a 1-yard plunge with 4:51 remaining in the third quarter, Salisbury had a 49-7 lead. A running clock was used the rest of the way.

“When he (Wells) gets upfield,” Trivett noted, “he gets upfield quick. And the offensive line has been our biggest question mark all season, but they’ve gotten better every game.”

While the victory kept the Hornets hurtling toward a post-season berth, nothing is locked up.

“The job’s not done,” Dodd insisted. “We can’t get a big head yet.”

If nothing else, Salisbury has fate in its own hands. “We all know what we want,” Brown said, extending a finger for emphasis. “A championship.”

Most importantly, the Hornets have survived another challenge on the road to November.

NOTES: Members of the SHS Class of 1982 were on hand for a 40th-year reunion. … Dodd and Damien Brandon recovered fumbles for Salisbury. The Hornets scored touchdowns on eight of their 11 possessions and suffered one turnover —  Geter was picked off by Johnson late in the first half. They never punted. Kicker Hank Webb went 8-for-8 on PAT tries and ran for a late-game, rub-it-in touchdown. … Salisbury hosts Lexington next Friday and closes its regular season at North Rowan on Oct. 28. East, which had won two straight games, will entertain South Davidson next week.

 

East Davidson     0     7     0     0 —  7

Salisbury             21    14    14    7 — 56

SHS — Wallace 13 pass from Geter (Webb kick), 7:12 1st

SHS — Wells 2 run (Webb kick), 3:05 1st

SHS — Geter 38 run (Webb kick), 0:39 1st

SHS — Wells 9 run (Webb kick), 4:46 2nd

SHS — Walker 25 pass from Geter (Webb kick), 1:17 2nd

ED — Johnson 95 kick return (Romero kick), 1:01 2nd

SHS — Wells 24 run (Webb kick), 8:07 3rd

SHS — Wells 1 run (Webb kick), 4:51 3rd

SHS — Webb 6 run (Webb kick), 6:14 4th

Team Stats                     ED                      SHS

First downs                      9                         14

Rushes-yards               34-58                  35-362

Passes                           5-12-0                   5-14-1

Passing yards                   56                        80

Penalties                         6-46                    6-60

Punts                                4-19.5                    0

Fumbles-lost                    4-2                     0-0

Individual Stats

Rushing — ED: Allred 12-28; Marcolivio 3-19; Cabe 3-8; L.Hill 3-3; B.Hill 13-0. SHS: Wells 17-184; Geter 9-129; Rule 7-40; Webb 2-9.

Passing — ED: B.Hill 5-12-0, 56. SHS: Geter 5-12-1, 80; Webb 0-2-0.

Receiving — ED: Romero 3-41; Irwin 1-11; Allred 1-4. SHS: Walker 2- 40; Harrison 1-14; Wells 1-13; Harris 1-13.