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Northside and Salem met Friday night at Salem Stadium and prior to the Vikings tight win a season ago, the Spartans had won 18 of the past 20 games in the series.
Salem quarterback Matt Hill was injured and missed the loss on the road last season, out to make amends for that.
In the 3rd, Salem was up 10-0. Dominic Dunaville and the Vikes had to play catch up, Dunaville took off from his own 40 and evaded multiple would-be tacklers. It was by far Northside's biggest play of the night and got them to the Spartan 24, the visiting crowd was feelin' it.
A few plays later, it was Dunaville again as he rolled out, saw no one home so he used his speedy legs to get the job done. He found the zone to get Northside on the scoreboard at 10-7 late in the 3rd.
In the 4th, Northside would actually get the chance to tie it, but the 28 yard field goal couldn't find its way through. Salem's offense went into grind mode, Arius McConnell picked up 19 and kept the chains moving and clock ticking. The Spartans went 80 yards on this 4th quarter drive, capped by Devontae Payne's 2 yard TD. Northside got a late score, but it was not enough. Salem squeaked by to get to 4-0 with a 16-14 win.