The North Egypt Conference co-champions compiled a 9-2 record, a victory total topped only by the 1985 team’s 10-1 mark, and at the time of its inductions was one of only three Salem football teams to have won a playoff game.

Coach Scott Steward’s team kicked off its season with a 35-21 win over Centralia in the annual Shriners Game, as running back Brad Mabrey rushed for a school record 354 yards and had touchdown runs of 48, 6 and 57 yards.

Mabrey ran for 154 yards and scored three more touchdowns on runs of one, three and seven yards and the Salem defense recovered two fumbles, as the Wildcats opened NEC play with a 28-0 win at Red Hill.

Salem’s defense posted its second straight shutout in a 35-0 triumph against Flora in week three, as quarterback Jeff Hopkins ran for two TDs and threw for two more to go along with 185 yards passing.

The Wildcats survived a tough battle in week four when they slipped past Fairfield 16-8, as Hopkins threw a 33-yard TD to Justin Carter and a 24-yard TD to Brian Hill to go along with Ed Mann’s 33-yard field goal.

Salem suffered its lone regular season blemish in week five and fell out of sole possession of first place in the NEC. The Golden Aces ran for a 76-yard TD the first play from scrimmage, converted four Salem turnovers into TDs and ran out to a 34-0 halftime lead and held on for a 34-20 victory despite 278 yards of total offense  from Hopkins and 104 yard receiving by Tony Evischi.

One week after being down 34-0 at halftime, Salem led 34-0 at halftime in week six en route to a 47-0 win over Lawrenceville thanks to a pair of TDs from Hill, Evischi and Chad Donoho and another TD from Hopkins.

The Wildcats also built a 34-0 lead by halftime and cruised to a 34-6 win over Onley in week seven, as Hopkins threw for 201 yards and two TDs and ran for another TD from 49 yards out.

Salem needed a win over a 2-5 Carmi squad in week eight to clinch a share of the NEC crown with Mt. Carmel and the stubborn Bulldogs put up quite a fight. The game was tied 7-7 late in the third quarter before a 13-yard TD run by Scott Falletta, who rushed for 113 yards, put the Wildcats ahead for good. A 16-yard run by Hopkins late in the fourth quarter secured the 21-7 win that wrapped up a share of the league title and a 6-1 NEC record.

The Wildcats concluded the regular season with an impressive 24-0 win over a DuQuoin squad that ranked No. 8 in Class 3A. Hopkins threw TDs of 22 and 24 yards to Evischi, Falletta rushed for 102 yards and Mann kicked a 30-yard field goal in the 24-0 victory.

Salem drew a first-round postseason matchup home game against Highland in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs. The Bulldogs owned the first half and a 10-0 lead, but three second half TDs by Mabrey on runs of 4, 8 and 15 yards rallied the Wildcats to a 20­10 win and their first playoff victory since 1987.

Salem traveled to Jerseyville in round two. Snow had fallen on the field earlier in the week and melted shortly before the game and left the field a muddy quagmire. After having averaged 28 points going into the contest, Salem’s offense could never find its footing against the tough Panthers defense. Jerseyville got a 20-yard TD on a halfback option pass late in the first half and a 45-yard TD run midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Panthers a 14-0 victory.

Ten Wildcats earned NEC honors. First Teams picks included Steve Garrett at guard, Falletta at tackle, Evischi at wide receiver and Hopkins at quarterback on offense and Joe Owens at lineman, Falletta at linebacker and Carter at defensive back on Defense. Evischi was chosen as return speciaist. Second Team honors went to Hill at running back and Doug Jourdan at defensive end. Special mention went to Mabrey at running back and Shawn Morris at linebacker, who had their seasons reduced by injury.

The quartet of Angie Burroughs, Julie Bierman, Trisha Ward and Serra Morton, which was coached by Suzanne (Henry) Brown, broke the school record in three straight postseason races. They began their path at the Class AA sectional race where they defeated a very tough East St. Louis squad on its home turf as well as several other strong relay teams from the metro east and southern Illinois with a first place time of 1:51.1.

The group needed to be even better at a state meet held at Eastern Illinois University and they responded by lowering their time at another school record of 1:50.7 during the preliminaries to earn a spot in the finals.

Burroughs, Bierman, Ward and Morton saved their best for last in the final, as they broke their school record yet again with a time of 1:49.6 and an eighth place finish.

Crystal Anderson was also a key contributor to the squad. In addition to serving as an alternate for the state race, Anderson stepped into Ward’s spot at the North Egypt Conference Meet and teamed up with Bierman, Burroughs and Morton to win that race with a league record time of 1:55.

In addition to their state medal in the 800 medley relay, Burroughs, Bierman, Ward and Morton had a big postseason in other areas and competed in two other state events that year. Burroughs, Bierman, Ward along with Lori Huston qualified for state in the 800 meter relay and set a new school record of 1:47.1 during the state preliminaries even though they were unable to advance to the finals. Burroughs, Bierman, Morton and Aimee Francois competed in the 1600 meter relay at state. While the 800 and 1600 relays did not grab one of the two automatic state berths at the sectional, their respective third place performances still beat the qualifying standard. Morton won the 400 meter dash at the sectional with a school record time of 59.2, but was unable to advance to the state finals.

Salem was nearly perfect in the regular season where it compiled a 47-1 record. The Wildcats won the NEC Meet, which was played at Lawrenceville, by 33 strokes over second place Carmi. Salem’s winning score of 304 included a 73 from NEC individual champion Mike Williams and a 75 by runner-up Blake Morrison. The Wildcats also got identical rounds of 78 by Ryan Andrews, Jeff Morgan and Mike Russell.

Salem came out on top again at the Class AA Centralia Regional when it held off second place Marion 311-320. Morgan and Morrison led the way with matching rounds of 75 and tied for third place overall. Andrews was 11th at 79 followed by Russell at 82, Williams at 92 and Craig Vieira at 96.

Salem’s hopes for a state berth came to an end at the sectional where the Wildcats finished eighth in a very difficult 13-team field with a score of 351, 13 stroked out of the last state advancer spot. Morgan led the way with a sixth place finish at 82 followed by an 85 by Vieira, a 91 by Morrison, 93 by Williams and Andrews and a 94 by Russell.

While Salem’s season as team ended at the sectional, Morgan’s season continued as his sixth place sectional finish was good enough to land him an individual berth in the state meet.

Morgan, who had broken the Salem Country Club Course record during the regular season when he shot a three-under-par 33, turned in an impressive 11th place finish at state with a round of 140.

The program won its first ever regional and sectional championship and improved its state meet finish to ninth under the direction of Coach Bill Morgan.

Salem lost just once during the regular season and compiled a 39-1 record going into the state meet before it settled for the final mark of 44-9.  During the regular season the Lady Wildcats won the Benton Invitational by 15 strokes over Carterville, an event where Julie Morgan and Anne Clark tied for Medalist honors. The Lady Wildcats were even more dominant when they won the Olney Invitational, as they had a 27- stroke margin of victory over second place Benton.  Amber Boyles was the individual medalist in that tournament.

Salem’s domination carried over into the postseason, as they shot a 369 and won the Murphysboro Regional by 32 strokes over Mt. Vernon. Clark led the way with a fourth place finish with an 88 followed by Leslie Horn at 88, Julie Morgan at 91, Jane Morgan at 102, Boyles at 105 and Sarah Cosby at 111.

Salem and Mt. Vernon went 1-2 again at the Edwardsville Sectional, as the Lady Wildcats lowered their score to 356 and won by 20 strokes. Clark led the way with an 83 and a seventh place finish. Next was Julie Morgan with 89, Boyles with 91, Horn at 93, Cosby at 98 and Jane Morgan at 108.

After they shot 856 at the 1989 state meet and an 832 at the 1990 event, the Lady Wildcats improved their score to 825 at the 1991 finals. As she did throughout the postseason, Clark led the way with a 24th place finish at 187. Julie Morgan followed with 204, Horn at 212, Boyles at 222, Cosby at 229 and Jane Morgan at 246.