There will be plenty of storylines when Salem and Heritage hook up Saturday afternoon, not the least of which is the tie between the two head coaches.
Stephen Magenbauer and Brad Bradley grew up together in Salem. They were teammates at Andrew Lewis Middle School and again with the Spartans under legendary head coach Willis White.
White was a major influence on them both, and that influence will be on display Saturday as the old friends hook up again.
“I've known him since I was in the sixth grade. We played middle school and high school football together until he got hurt but we still talk on the phone every once in a while,” Bradley said.
Magenbauer said: “He's got great work ethic and great energy, and we sort of have different styles in what we do. But he's been successful wherever he's been, so we've got great respect for the fact that he's gonna have his team ready on Saturday.”
Bradley and Magenbauer also talked about the influence White had on them.
“Willis taught me about how to do things the right way. He taught me how to run a class program. He taught me how to work and those kinds of things,” Bradley said.
Magenbauer said: “We both played here for coach White and learned a lot of football from him and both adapted sort of to our style. Hut he was a great coach for a long time, and we'd be crazy not to use that resource.”
