Patience pays off

October 22, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

SALEM

Considering the way his previous coaching stint came to an abrupt end, you would think Salem coach Ron Johnson felt enormous pressure to succeed in 2015.

Johnson came to Salem in 2012 after guiding Canton McKinley to a four year mark of 31-16. Despite putting the Bulldogs in the playoffs all four years, it wasn’t enough for the Canton School District, which chose not to renew Johnson’s contract at the end of the 2011.

Johnson’s first three years at Salem included an 0-10 start and an overall record of 6-24.

Yet while history might have suggested that Johnson had reason to worry, all signs pointed to a patient Salem community that was behind his efforts.

The patience has paid off in historic fashion.

Thanks to last week’s 55-21 win at Alliance, Salem is 8-0 and ranked fourth in Division IV, region 13. The Quakers have virtually locked up a playoff spot, and now have their sights set on a few more targets.

Salem owns a 5-0 record in the Northeastern Buckeye Conference. It finishes the regular season with games against league rivals Louisville (7-1, 5-0) and West Branch (6-2, 4-1).

Salem’s lone conference title came in 1994 when it shared a Metro Athletic Conference championship with Poland. It has never won an outright league title. The Quakers’ last undefeated season (11-0) came in 1929, the same year they became the first high school team in Ohio to host a game under the lights.

Prior to last Friday, the last time a Salem team started off the season with eight straight wins was 55 years ago. In 1960, the Quakers were 8-0 before losing 8-6 to East Liverpool. They finished the season with a win over Girard to go 9-1.

Johnson isn’t surprised by Salem’s turnaround, noting that he “believed all along in the building process.” He also isn’t the least bit surprised that those who support his program didn’t panic during the three-year struggle.

“I always knew that here in Salem I was dealing with educated individuals who understood the process and who understood the big picture,” Johnson said. “The people here, they were patient because they valued what we were trying to accomplish. They recognized and trusted what was going on.”

“I came to Salem four years ago because I knew it was a great place to raise a family and it was a place that valued the role of football beyond wins and losses. This community gets it. They have great core values as a school and a community.”

A year ago, Salem went just 3-7, losing six of its last seven games. This season, the Quakers are averaging 34.5 points per game while surrendering an average of just 11.5 points per contest. By comparison, in 2014 the Quakers were being outscored by an average tally of 30-17.

Salem’s offense is paced by quarterback Matt Weingart (80-of-123, 1,057 yards, 18 TD, 1 interception) and the rushing tandem of Cooper Bezeredi (112 carries, 1,005 yards, 11 TD) and Kade Byland (103 carried, 607 yards, 3 TD).

Bezeredi and Jake Humeniuk each have a team-high 26 receptions.

While the turnaround might seem unlikely to outsiders, Johnson insists that the foundation to this year’s success was cemented during the winless 2012 campaign.

“We take pride in building one singular program from K through 12,” Johnson said. “We took over the youth program with the goal of getting everyone to use the same offense, the same defense and the same language. When they get to the varsity level, it’s all they know”

“Some coaches will go into a program and sell their souls to the devil to achieve short-term success. In order to make this work long term, you have to be committed to building a solid foundation.”

In fact, one day after the Salem varsity team lifted its record to 8-0, its junior varsity squad defeated Alliance 30-0 to also lift its mark to 8-0. The Quakers’ freshmen team is 6-2.

“The unity that exists in the program right now is pretty crazy,” said senior lineman Keaton Turney. “We get more excited seeing someone else make a big play than we do when we make a big play ourselves. And us older guys, we really enjoy seeing the lower level teams succeed.”

Turney has anchored the offensive line for the past four years and is a two-year captain. He said that the Quakers’ team-first attitude isn’t the result of the current successful season. Rather, this year’s historic run is a by-product of team unity which has existed throughout his high school career.

“We’ve always believed in ourselves and in what our coaches were teaching us,” Turney said. “Even when we were struggling to win the past few years, we stuck together and believed in what we were doing. We wouldn’t be where we are at today if we didn’t stick together through tough times.”

Noting that “success can often be harder to deal with than adversity,” Johnson said that his team has also done a tremendous job of dealing with this year’s run which has made them the toast of the town.

“So many times, success gets the best of professional and college athletes, you see it all the time,” Johnson said. “This group, they have such a maturity about them. They totally respect the process that led them to this point.”

The process, according to Johnson is not based on wins and losses.

“We never talk about winning. For us, it’s not outcome-based. We want perfect effort and perfect execution. Just give one-hundred percent every minute you’re out there. If you do that, you’ve succeeded. And, you will probably look over at the scoreboard at the end of the night and be satisfied with the results,” Johnson said.

Indeed, the scoreboard has been kind to Salem and its fans this year. After starting the season with comfortable wins over non-conference foes Mineral Ridge, United and East Liverpool, Salem opened the NBC portion of its schedule with a narrow 10-9 win over Canton South (2-6). Since joining the NBC in 2011, the Quakers owned a four-year league record of 6-22.

“I think everyone was just waiting for us to fall, and when we had a tough time with Canton South people were like, ‘here they go again,’” Weingart said.

However, the Quakers then beat longtime nemesis Marlington (5-3) 36-28, and have won their last three league games by a combined score of 111-28.

“The Marlington win was big,” Weingart said. “We always believed in ourselves. Once we got that win, I think fans around the area started to believe.”

“It’s been really great because everyone in town has been so supportive even when we struggled to win a couple of games. So our success this year is like a reward to the community for always having our back.”

Like his coach, Weingart insists that his team’s goals “aren’t necessarily based on winning,” and says that he feels as though the season has already been a huge success because of the turnaround from a year ago. He says that the season-long effort given by the team and the commitment the players and coaches have for each other is further proof that “we’ve all accomplished our goals on and off the field.”

Still, Weingart admits that a post-season berth – which would be just the third in Salem history – would be the ultimate reward for a group of players and a program that has had its share of rough times.

“We’ve been through a lot together, and we’ve always stuck together,” Weingart said. “Playing in week eleven would be the ultimate payoff for all the hard work and dedication.”

Based on the first eight weeks of the season and on the latest rankings, it appears as though Weingart is on the verge of seeing his wish come true.