The Saluda Tigers head up the road to face the Newberry Bulldogs in the Week 5 SK Media Game of the Week presented by Mitchell Enterprises. Newberry holds a 24-15-2 edge over the Tigers in the all-time series and the Bulldogs are 11-4 against Saluda since 2000. No Saluda coach with more than two games played against Newberry holds a winning record against the Bulldogs, including the late great Bettis Herlong who was 4-4-1 across both his stints leading the Tigers. It was Newberry who ended Saluda’s season in the first round of the playoffs a year ago.
Saluda comes into the game sitting at 4-0 in spite of losing starting quarterback Drew Arant in the Week 0 win at Crescent. Brayden Williams has filled in admirably, orchestrating wins over Ridge Spring-Monetta, Chester, and Southside Christian. Williams, through four games, has rushed for 217 yards, has 73 yards receiving, and has thrown for 371 yards while scoring nine times–four touchdowns each passing and rushing and one touchdown receiving. Moving Williams to quarterback has allowed head coach Stewart Young to let sophomore running back Tristan Daniels loose. Daniels leads the team with 335 total yards and came up big multiple times in the Tigers’ win over Chester, who was ranked no. 3 in 2A at the time.
The Tigers’ defense has been the story so far in 2024. Saluda has given up just 8 points per game in 2024, with a shutout victory over RSM. J.T. Lott continues to lead the defense with 35 tackles, nine tackles for loss, and five sacks. Akiem Mills and Amir Johnson have both wreaked havoc in the backfield this year while Jordan Hagler, Merrick Medlin, Devon Wallace and C.J. Springs have each collected over 20 tackles on the season. The ball-hawking secondary has a whopping 11 interceptions on the season–nearly three per game–that complements the three recovered fumbles, for a total of 14 turnovers in just four games. Hagler, Jayden Foulks, and Zeb Penny each have two interceptions for the Saluda defense.
The Bulldogs (2-3) are not without weapons of their own. Kenton Caldwell returns as Newberry’s quarterback and has been impressive so far this season. Caldwell has three big targets in Isaiah Glymph, Jemel Howse, and Caleb Levy, who had over 200 yards receiving against Chapin. Cash Brown adds a nice burst of speed out of the backfield for the Bulldogs. Bryce Satterwhite began the season as the starter and tags in at quarterback for Newberry at times and Levy is a legit deep ball threat on every play. Newberry will be hungry Friday night, having lost their last three games to Clinton, Chapin, and Fairfield-Central after starting the season off hot with wins over Mid-Carolina and a weak Union County team.
Prediction: The Tigers have been rolling even without Arant at quarterback. Williams has settled in nicely and he will need to have a big game for the Tigers to win. Look for Daniels to make an impact on the game and for speedy receiver Vic Gaines to be more involved in the offense. Tigers grab another win on the road, 38-24.
