By Tim Fleischer

Editor-in-Chief

Salado Eagles looked as if they have been running the spread for years, not mere weeks, dismantling the visiting Battlin’ Billies from Fredericksburg to begin Tom Westerberg’s return to his hometown on a Friday night with fans spilling out of the stands onto the lawn of the venerable Eagle Stadium.

The Eagles sent the Billies home with a 53-17 licking.

One of the Fredericksburg touchdowns was a fluke of sorts when Weston Herbert grabbed a shanked punt on the first bounce and returned it for a 26-yard TD with 4:30 left in the third quarter to make the score 38-10 Salado.

The Eagles answered in quick fashion, putting up 14 points in three and a half minutes.

Following a touchback, 6’5” junior quarterback Luke Law, who was able to stand tall in the pocket all night, hit Seth Reavis about 10 yards deep. Reavis shucked a tackler and dodged two more on his for a 75-yard touchdown. Daniel Chtay toed the extra point for a 45-10 lead.

AJ Fach intercepted a Billie pass at the 42 yard line to set up another quick strike for Salado. This time, Law found Kase Maedgen for a 23 yard TD on second down. The kick missed leaving Salado with a 51-10 lead with 1:31 left in the third.

The Salado defense put numbers on the board when a snap went awry for Fredericksburg, resulting in a safety with 10 clicks left in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 53-10 lead.

Fredericksburg scored with 13 seconds left in the game on a 3 yard pass from Reed Spies to Drake Threadgill. Jovany Alva converted the PAT to bring the final score to 53-17.

The Eagles dominated from 12:00 in the first to 0:00 on the clock, scoring in the first six minutes of the game. Law hit Seth Reavis for a deep pass on a 53-yard strike with 6:15 in the first. Chtay converted the PAT for the early 7-0 lead.

The Eagles led 14-0 after the first as Law hit Brendan Wilson for 63 yards with 2:02 left in the first. 

  Salado wasted no time in the second, putting up 14 points in less than two minutes.

Law found Reavis for a 41-yard TD pass with 11:08 left in the half.

On the first play of the next possession, Wilson intercepted a Billies pass and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown with 10:49 left in the half. Chtay’s kick made it 28-0.

After shutting down the Billies, Salado went up 35-0 on a 2-yard run by Reavis with 8:21 left in the half to go up 35-0.

Fredericksburg and Salado then traded field foals of 35 yards and 36 yards respectively to make the score 38-3 before the Billies took advantage of the errant punt to get to their closest margin of the second half, 38-10.

Law was 16 of 28 attempts for 377 yards on the night with one interception.

The Eagles added another 62 yards on the ground on 23 rushing attempts for 439 yards total offense.

The Salado defense held Fredericksburg to 283 yards total offense, 188 on the ground and 95 in the air.

Law spread the ball among five receivers, but his favorite was Reavis, who had 212 yards on seven catches. Wilson followed with 80 yards and two grabs while Maedgen had 67 yards on five catches. Roman Law had a 14 yard catch and Morgan Adams had a 4 yard catch.

Salado’s explosive offense was only on the field for 18:48, a completely new style compared to their former Slot T ground-and-pound game.

Salado travels to Bryan next week to face the Rudder Raiders.