'Noles hang on to top Heritage

CONYERS, Ga. - Gerald Walker had a pair of touchdown passes and Salem defeated rival Heritage 19-14 Friday in the Region 8-AAAAA opener at Seminole Stadium.

The win, which evened the Seminoles’ record at 1-1, snapped a four-game losing streak in the series, while Heritage is off to its first 0-2 start since 2009.

“I think for the first time since I’ve been here, we’ve got a signature win,” said fifth-year Salem coach John Starr, whose teams had been outscored 96-42 in the four losses to its crosstown rival. “We’re definitely not satisfied with one win.”

Salem went ahead for good with about six minutes to go in the third quarter. Blessed with excellent field position at their own 42, Walker completed all three of his passes on a quick, four-play drive, including a 17-yard scoring strike to Kanome McIntosh that made it 19-14.

A wild final 18 minutes ensued.

Walker fumbled twice, once at the end of the third and the last of which gave Heritage the ball at its own 35-yard line with about three minutes to go in the game. Heritage quarterback David Turner gave it right back on a scramble when he was hit by Darius Crowder and the fumble was recovered by David Britain. Salem tried to run the clock out, but after not moving the ball at all on three plays, punter D.J. Carter couldn’t handle a low snap on fourth-and-10 and took off and was soon tackled behind the line of scrimmage.

The last possession of the game included a fumble by Turner, which would’ve been a sack for Zaayid Cooper and essentially put an end to the game, but the ball was advanced upfield and recovered by Heritage’s Joseph Dorsey for a first down. With no timeouts remaining and the clock winding down, Turner was nearly sacked on a second down scramble, and after getting free, threw a ball into the end zone that Anthony Stanley nearly caught as time expired.

Heritage had taken a 14-13 lead with seven and a half minutes to play in the third. In the eight-play drive, Blade Reid had a 29-yard scamper to the Salem 6 and Stanley carried the ball on the other seven plays, including a seven-yard scoring run.

Walker hooked up with Robby Cyrus on a 67-yard, second-quarter touchdown for the first score of the night.

“Robby came out of the backfield (and) it was a great pass,” Starr said. “Gerald threw that about as good as it could be thrown.”

Heritage evened things up on Reid’s 13-yard touchdown run early in the second, and Salem re-took the lead when Tristan Hernandez had a nice fake on a pitch and scored from 13 yards to make it a 13-7 game with about six minutes left in the opening half.