Football Recap: Mountain Grove Takes Down Salem in a Playoff Battle

Mountain Grove had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They took their matchup on Friday with ease, bagging a 55-0 victory over the Salem Tigers. The Panthers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won seven games by 24 points or more this season.

Aden Estep

Rushing Yards

11/07/25 vs Salem	205
10/24/25 vs Thayer	74
10/17/25 @ Houston	237
10/10/25 @ Salem	109
10/03/25 vs Liberty	68
+ 5 more games

Aden Estep produced another solid effort rushing for 205 yards and four TDs on only nine carries. With that strong performance, he is now averaging an impressive 102.7 rushing yards per game.

On the other side of the ball, a lot of the credit has to go to Mountain Grove's defense and their five sacks. Jacob Crosco was especially locked on to Salem's QB and sacked him twice.

Mountain Grove's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1. Those home victories came thanks in part to their defensive effort, having only surrendered 9.7 points on average over those games. As for Salem, their loss dropped their record down to 4-7.

Looking ahead, Mountain Grove will square off against Clever at 7:00 p.m. on Friday. The two teams have allowed few points on average (the Panthers 14.3, the Blue Jays 14.4) so any points scored will be well earned. Salem does not have any more games scheduled as of now.