All-Time Victories
707
Official Varsity Games Played
1,328
All-Time Record
707-526-95
Winning Percentage
.568
Northeastern Conference Championships
6 (1974, 1975 (shared with Saugus), 1986, 1989 (shared with Lynn English), 1994, 1999
Super Bowl record
1-3
Number of all-time head coaches
26 (including newly hired Brett Segala for the 2026 season)
Best Coach
Bill Broderick. One of the legendary football mavens in Massachusetts state history, Broderick piloted his Salem teams to a 151-46-31 mark (.726) from 1923-42 and 1949 and went 17 straight years without losing to arch rival Beverly. Won 57 games his first six years in the Witch City after they had only won 23 the previous six campaigns. Had 13 unbeaten teams in his 36 year coaching career, including stops at Rindge Tech and Haverhill, winning 305 total games.
Other Legendary Coaches
1. Glenn O’Brien. Salem High Hall of Famer only served as the head football coach for six years 1943-48) in between Broderick’s two stints but was highly successful, going 35-22-5. The former SHS assistant had a pair of 10-win teams, including an unbeaten 10-0-1 squad in 1944.
2. Ken Perrone. Tied with Broderick for the most wins on the Salem High sidelines (151) during a 22-year stint from 1973-94. Had previously won 97 games in Maine before coming to the 01970 and led the Witches to five NEC crowns and Super Bowl appearances in 1974 and 1994.
3. Sean Gallagher. Former Witches’ linebacking great only called the shots for seven seasons (1997-2003), but he won the biggest game in school history when his charges took down North Attleboro, 25-12, in the 1999 Super Bowl, capping off a 10-1 NEC championship season with a state title.
Five All-Time Program Greats
1. Wayne Millner. Remains the answer to a great trivia question: who is the only Hall of Famer from the North Shore in one of the big four sports Halls? Sleek, elusive end with size had an All-America career at Notre Dame before going to the NFL to play for the Boston, then Washington, Redskins, playing seven years from 1936-41 and 1945, earning induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2. Don Sadoski. Physically tough running back with breakaway speed finished second in the state in scoring in 1963 with 132 points for an 8-1 Witches’ club before going to to success at Harvard.
3. Billy Pinto. Near the top of any conversation when Salem’s all-time best quarterbacks are discussed, he started for three years (1973-75) and epitomized the word ‘leader’ while guiding Salem to a 24-5-1 record, including a 1974 Super Bowl appearance.
4. Mike Giardi. Another big play signal caller who could beat opponents with his arm, his legs and his brain helped guide the Witches to a share of the NEC crown in 1989 and went on to start for three seasons under center at Harvard.
5. Matt Horgan. Wrecking ball of a running back powered Salem to its only Super Bowl title in 1999, rushing for 18 straight 100-yard games to end his career and finishing with 3,322 yards in just 27 games while scoring 41 touchdowns.
19th Century Standouts
Records are virtually non-existent for games for most high school teams that played any contests played prior to 1900 … that is, except for Salem High. The Salem Football Boosters put together a remarkable book chronicling their favorite football team’s first 100 years from 1890-1989, and through exhaustive research they found that their beloved squad had played 58 different games in the last decade of the 19th century, winning 39 of those with just 10 losses and nine ties (a terrific .750 winning percentage).
Pure Dominance
Salem’s 1931 unit could argue that it was the best team in SHS annals — and certainly the most dominant defensively. The Witches didn’t allow a single point in 10 regular season games, winning eight of those and pitching two scoreless ties. A postseason clash against Greenfield saw Salem rip off 27 points quickly before their foes intercepted a lateral late and became the only squad to score against the Red-and-Black all season.
Best 21st Century Player
Melikke Van Alystne. The fact that he was the Northeastern Conference MVP in 2008 as a senior on a last place team says it all about Van Alstyne, who graduated with a school records for rushing attempts (611), rushing yards (3,853) and touchdowns (42) before rushing for more than 6,000 yards in a brilliant career at Framingham State.
Most Common Opponent
Beverly. Shocking, we know. Thanks in large part to ‘The Game’ played between the two neighboring cities on Thanksgiving each year, the Witches and their arch rivals from ‘TAB’ — that’s Team Across the Bridge to you non-Salemites — have played 127 official games against one another. Salem had the lead in their all-time rivalry for much of the 20st century, but has captured just eight wins against Beverly since the 100th game in 1998.
Other Familiar Foes
1. Peabody: 102 meetings (Salem leads series, 47-47-8)
2. Lynn English: 92 meetings (Salem leads series, 46-35-11)
3. Marblehead: 85 meetings (Salem leads series, 48-33-4)
4. Gloucester: 74 meetings (Gloucester leads series, 40-31-3)
5. Lynn Classical: 69 meetings (Series tied, 33-33-3)
Odd Opponents from Yesteryear
1. Harvard Consolidated, a 6-5 win over on Thanksgiving Day 1900 vs. college players who had all previously played for Salem to cap off an undefeated 10-0-0 season.
2. Shaw HS of Cleveland in a 1923 postseason contest, a 26-0 loss that dealt the Witches their first loss.
3. Asbury HS of New Jersey the following season in another postseason contest, this time with the good guys prevailing, 13-0. (They’d take on another New Jersey club from Atlantic City 30 years later).
4. Leon High, Tallahassee, Fla., whom the Witches pummeled in the Sunshine State, 44-7, in 1925 en route to a 14-0-1 season, then again the following season in Salem, 12-0.
5. General Electric Apprentice School, based out of Lynn, took on Salem five times between 1925 and 1933, with the Witches winning three, dropping one and tying the other matchup.
Number of teams played all-time
132. It’s a staggering amount of opponents the Witches have faced since first fielding a team in 1890 — an average of nearly one new foe per season. Many of those came in the program’s first two-plus decades, but they’ve also faced some newer teams in non-league and playoff games in recent seasons as well.
Games vs. out-of-state foes
22. Again, another stupefying number of opponents where Salem either crossed state lines or invited another squad to do so to face them in the Witch City. From New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine all the way to California — and even two meetings against teams from Canada — the Witches have literally gone anywhere and welcomed in anyone to match wits on the gridiron over the years.