Football Preview: Richard Winn Academy Eagles vs. Laurens Academy Crusaders
Richard Winn Academy is 10-0 against Laurens Academy since October of 2017, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. The Richard Winn Academy Eagles will head out to square off against the Laurens Academy Crusaders at 7:30 p.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Richard Winn Academy comes in on seven and Laurens Academy on three.
Richard Winn Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Carolina's top teams: King Academy, who was ranked eighth in their home state at the time (Richard Winn Academy was ranked first). Everything went Richard Winn Academy's way against King Academy last Friday as Richard Winn Academy made off with a 48-28 win. Considering the Eagles have won six matchups by more than 19 points this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.
Charlie Bonds was a one-man wrecking crew for Richard Winn Academy as he threw for 184 yards and four touchdowns on perfect 7-for-7 passing, and also rushed for 73 yards and two touchdowns on only six carries. Jake Gaillard was in the mix too, providing Richard Winn Academy with two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Laurens Academy was fully in charge on Friday, breezing past Newberry Academy 36-6 at home. That's two games straight that the Crusaders have won by exactly 30 points.
Laurens Academy's win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Garrett Murphy, who picked up 111 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and also rushed for 120 yards and a touchdown on only 12 carries. Murphy didn't just play on offense: he also forced two fumbles and made eight total tackles (4.0 for loss). Another player making a difference was Ethan Collins, who threw for 276 yards and four touchdowns while completing 86.4% of his passes.
Laurens Academy wouldn't let Newberry Academy keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Murphy was the leader in that area as all came courtesy of his dominant performance. His rushing production has been exceptional recently as that marked his sixth straight game with at least 120 rushing yards dating back to last season.
Richard Winn Academy pushed their record up to 7-0 with the victory, which was their fourth straight at home. As for Laurens Academy, they are on a roll lately: they've won four of their last five games, which provided a nice bump to their 6-2 record this season.
Everything came up roses for Richard Winn Academy against Laurens Academy when the teams last played back in September, as the squad secured a 56-20 win. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Murphy, who rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries, and also caught a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Richard Winn Academy still be able to contain Murphy? There's only one way to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
