SALEM — Charlestown continued to show why it’s not only the top-scoring team in the state, but also why it is one of the best defenses as well in a 48-0 victory over Salem on Friday.

On every possession of the first half, the Pirates scored a touchdown on a total of 413 yards.

Aaron Daniel led the Pirates with 10 rushes for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Seth McCutchen added 118 yards on 14 runs and a pair of scores.

Salem tried to get things going on the ground but was held to18 yards. The Pirate defense allowed only 42 total yards in the first half, and caused the Lions to punt on every possession.

Due to Charlestown’s 41-0 lead, both Salem coach Mo Moriarty and Charlestown coach Jason Hawkins agreed to start the second half with a running clock.

The scoring started quickly in the first quarter as McCutchen scored on a eight-yard touchdown.

After forcing a punt, Charlestown marched down the field after long carries from McCutcheon. Daniel finished the drive with a 14-yard run.

The Pirates got the ball back again and Daniel broke off a 21-yard TD run to finish the quarter with Charlestown leading 21-0.

After another Salem punt, McCutchen ran in for his second touchdown from two yards out to make it 27-0 Pirates.

Following another three and out, Charlestown started to work on its passing game, which led to Daniel-to-Gage Brafford four-yard touchdown pass.

Salem punted again and gave Charlestown the ball with 35 seconds left in the first half. After a 27-yard run by Daniel, he dropped back to pass on the next play with eight seconds remaining. He connected with Wesley Sexton for a 14-yard touchdown and the Pirates led 34-0 at the half.

The running clock in the second half allowed each team only two possessions, which made for a very quick half.

The Pirates had reserve quarterback Darren Taylor come in to take over things for Daniel and it didn’t take long for him to break off the lone second half score on a 15-yard run.

After back-to-back punts by each team, Salem began to march down the field toward the end of the fourth quarter. The Lions almost got onto the scoreboard when backup quarterback Klayton Dougherty broke off a long run, but Charlestown’s T.J. Jackson chased him down coming from the opposite side of the field to end the game with Charlestown getting their first shutout of the season.

The Pirates will travel to Corydon Central next week. The winner will be in the driver’s seat to win the Mid-Southern Conference championship.  



BOX SCORE

CHARLESTOWN 48, SALEM 0

Charlestown    21 20 7 0—48

Silver Creek      0   0  0 0—  0

First Quarter

    C — Seth McCutchen 8 run (Daniel kick), 9:09.

    C — Aaron Daniel 14 run (kick failed), 2:55.

    C -Daniel 21 run (Odle run), 0:02.

Second Quarter

    C — McCutchen 2 run (kick failed), 7:51.

    C — Gage Brafford 4 pass from Daniel (Daniel kick), 5:06.

    C — Wesley Sexton 14 pass from Daniel (Daniel kick), :06.

Third Quarter

    C — Darren Taylor 15 run (Daniel kick), 4:57.   

Statistics

Rushing

    Charlestown (33-350): Daniel 10-152, McCutchen 14-118, Taylor 3-40, Hopson 2-33, Wilkerson 3-10,  Stewart 1- (-3); Salem (22-55): Dougherty 3-42, Jerrell 6-39, Stephens 2-0, Day 1-0, Badger 2- (-7), McNeely 2- (-8), Smith 6-(-11)

Passing

    Charlestown (13-17-143-2): Daniel 13-17-143-2; Salem (10-19-77-0): Dougherty 5-11-53-0, McNeely 5-8-24-0

Receiving

    Charlestown: Gage Brafford 7-76, Wesley Sexton 3-32, Cody Donahue 3-19, Seth McCutchen 1-11, Tyler Odle 1-5; Salem: Kody Kramer 3-30, Tyson Thomas 2-20, Tyler Sizemore 2-8, Steven Kinslow 1-8, Trent Pennington 1-6, Jarred Blevins 1-5