Football Preview: Sumter Gamecocks vs. Ashley Ridge Swamp Foxes
Two dominant backs in John Peeples and Jayden Acosta are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Sumter Gamecocks will look to defend their home field on Friday against the Ashley Ridge Swamp Foxes at 7:30 p.m. One thing working in Sumter's favor is that they have posted at least 31 points every time they've taken the field this season.
Sumter is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Carolina's top teams: Ridge View, who was ranked 23rd in their home state at the time (Sumter was ranked eighth). Sumter simply couldn't be stopped last Friday as they easily beat Ridge View 49-6. The result was nothing new for the Gamecocks, who have now won eight games by 21 points or more so far this season.
Sumter found their leader in sophomore Franklin Richardson, who rushed for 140 yards and two touchdowns on only eight carries, and also threw for 82 yards and a touchdown on only seven passes. Richardson's longest rush was for an impressive 59 yards, which helps to explain his lofty yards per carry total. Kameron Fortune was another key player, rushing for 113 yards and two touchdowns on only five carries.
Sumter was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 427 rushing yards. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now rushed for at least 235 rushing yards in ten consecutive matches.
Meanwhile, it can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Ashley Ridge had no problem doing just that on Friday. They blew past the Wildcats 51-13. The victory made it back-to-back wins for the Swamp Foxes.
Trevor Kalisz was his usual excellent self, throwing for 300 yards and five touchdowns while picking up 13.0 yards per attempt, and also punching in a rushing score. His passing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his fourth straight game with at least 300 passing yards. Acosta helped Kalisz out on the ground, rushing for 136 yards, while also picking up 82 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Sumter's victory was their fifth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 10-0. They've dominated over that stretch too, winning by an average of 30.8 points. As for Ashley Ridge, their win bumped their record up to 8-3.
Everything came up roses for Sumter against Ashley Ridge when the teams last played back in November of 2023, as the team secured a 56-13 victory. In that matchup, Sumter amassed a halftime lead of 28-7, an impressive feat they'll look to repeat on Friday.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
