BLACKSBURG -- You don't always need horses to win football games. Sometimes all it takes are "Mules."

That's what Salem calls its beasts of burden, and Friday night the offensive line carried a major load as the unbeaten Spartans continued their early domination of the River Ridge District with a 21-0 thrashing of Blacksburg.

Salem (7-0, 2-0) controlled the line of scrimmage, the clock, the ball and everyone in a blue Blacksburg uniform to run its regular-season winning streak to 31 games.

The Spartans got two short touchdown runs by Jonathan Clemo in the first half and a third-quarter TD pass from Nick Leftwich to Evan Fisher, while the defense posted its second shutout in two weeks.

Salem outgained Blacksburg 280-16 on the ground and ran the ball a whopping 60 times from scrimmage to just 19 for the Bruins (5-2, 1-1).

"That is a very good team," Blacksburg coach David Crist said of the Spartans. "We knew we would need to play our best game."

Such a feat was not possible against Salem. The Spartans' offensive line -- center Blake Howery, guards Tyler Person and Kyle Wilson, tackles Matt Carr and David McCauley, and tight end George George -- opened holes all night.

Alan Kim | The Roanoke Times

Jonathan Clemo (21) scores Salem's first TD.

They are the 2007 Mules, the affectionate term Spartan Nation calls its men up front. "It's just a long, long-time thing that's continued down through the tradition," Howery said.

"It's a great privilege. Growing up, I remember seeing a lot of these guys coming up through the fields. They were just huge. I couldn't imagine being one of those one day, but we're here today and just did what we had to do up front to get it done."

Clemo took advantage for 119 rushing yards on 28 carries, burrowing in on a 2-yard run with 2:24 left in the first quarter and on a 1-yard run 12 seconds before halftime for a 14-0 lead.

Salem's first score was set up by a tackle-hurdling 54-yard punt return by Fisher. The second TD capped a patient 77-yard drive in the final four minutes of the half that included just one pass.

"We were just going to run that clock down and not let them back on the field," Leftwich said. "We'll score if we can score, but we were just trying to run down the clock."

Blacksburg's best chance to score came with Salem leading 7-0 late in the first quarter. From the Salem 43, Leftwich sent a pass to the left flat that Blacksburg defensive back Greg Keys dropped with nothing but open space on the way to the end zone.

Keys muffed a nearly identical pass early in the second half of last year's 14-10 loss in Salem.

"The same thing happened last year against Salem, just at a more crucial part of the game," Keys said.

Blacksburg couldn't play pass-and-catch on offense either.

Unlike last week's 35-0 win in Christiansburg when Salem left its defensive backs in one-on-one situations, the Spartans dropped numerous defenders in coverage.

The Bruins threw five times on first down in the first half with little success. Blacksburg quarterback Trey Gresh never really found a rhythm, completing just 9 of 20 attempts for 58 yards despite feeling he had some open men.

"They were there and I just didn't get them the ball," Gresh said.

Blacksburg's defense simply could not get Salem's offense off the field as the Bruins ran just 16 plays in the second half.

Running back Latrell Keys managed 36 yards on 13 carries.

Not even the return of star linebacker Tyler Holmes from a stress fracture in his foot could prevent Salem's offensive line from dominating the Bruins.

"They always fire off good and low ... strong, a lot stronger than I thought," Holmes said.

Salem's next test is at home against Hidden Valley, while Blacksburg has a trip to Pulaski County.

"After 12 o'clock tonight, that game is just not in our heads no more," Greg Keys said. "We won't dwell on it. We'll bounce back. We'll take out against Pulaski next week down at their place and hopefully come out with a victory."

Salem 7 7 7 0--21

Blacksburg 0 0 0 0--0

Sal -- Clemo 2 run (Murphy kick)

Sal -- Clemo 1 run (Murphy kick)

Sal -- Fisher 47 pass from Leftwich (Murphy kick)

SA BL

First downs 21 7

Yards rushing 60-280 19-16

Passes C-A-I 3-7-1 9-20-1

Yards passing 75 58

Penalties-yards 2-15 2-15

Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0

Punts-average 1-29.0 5-41.0

Individual statistics

RUSHING -- Salem -- Clemo 28-119, Hudson 10-66, Goad 12-40, Leftwich 5-39, Medley 5-16. Blacksburg, L.Keys 13-36, Violette 1-(-5), Gresh 5-(-15).

PASSING -- Salem, Leftwich 3-7-1-75. Blacksburg, Gresh 9-20-1-58.

RECEIVING -- Salem -- Fisher, 2-70, Hickman 1-5. Blacksburg, Holmes 3-7, G.Keys 2-13, L.Keys 1-18, Wooddell 1-9, Reynolds 1-9, Phillips 1-2.