Salmen’s Spartans will try to end a two-game losing streak Thursday when they host the Sarah T. Reed Olympians.

Both teams are coming off losses. Salmen (1-2) suffered a 25-20 loss to the Independence Tigers.

Salmen coach Jerry Leonard said the team needs to eliminate penalties, big plays on third downs and turnovers. The coach added the Spartans have been inconsistent so far this season.

Sams

Reed (0-3) was blanked by Pope John Paul II, 20-0, last Friday.

Last year’s meeting was one-sided as the Spartans won handily, 56-6.

Offensively, Salmen runs a spread offense, led by senior quarterback Julien Troullier. In last week’s game, Troullier ran for a touchdown and threw for another. His TD pass was to his main weapon senior Isiah Tate.

One of his other receivers is sophomore wide receiver Daniel Sams, who Leonard said is improving.

“He’s good at understanding the big picture. His technique has been better, and he’s doing the little things to get better,” Leonard said.

They will be going against a defense that limited the Jaguars to 38 yards on the ground and 130 total. The problem was that the Olympians turned the ball over five times and had a negative 10-yard punt turned into a 31-yard touchdown return.

Offensively, Reed runs a flex option. Last week, the Olympians had 204 yards total.

The quarterback is Keywan Bullocks. Last week, Bullocks followed up his 70 yards rushing from the prior week with 96 yards on the ground with 16 carries.

The trouble came when he attempted to throw. Bullocks completed just two passes in 14 attempts and had four interceptions.

Reed will be going against Salmen’s 3-3-defense. Salmen had trouble stopping Independence on third down. Leonard said Dedrick Parson, Joe Rudolph, Cedrick Wilkes and Curtis Owens have played well defensively.