SALEM, Va. – The Salem Spartans bounced back from an opening-game loss a year ago to run the table. They notched back-to-back Class 4 state titles in 2015 and 2016. Salem's program has a long and storied history. The state title count for the program now stands at eight. Salem coach Stephen Magenbauer says there are no Salem secrets beyond the continuity of the program and the hard work.
The season will begin with an opening-game chance to redeem their only loss of 2016. On Friday, he Spartans travel to Amherst, the lone blemish on a 13-1 state title season.
"Well, it's a little more unsaid. We certainly bring it up and have shown them the film. But really it's about are we gonna deserve to win the game, are we gonna play well enough to deserve to win the game, you know? And if you don't, then you really don't deserve to win. So we're trying to clean up a lot of things that we still need to do at this point, and hopefully we'll play well and we'll see what happens," Magenbauer said.
Salem also takes on state final opponent Dinwiddie on Sept. 8 in Salem.