Laurens Academy had already proven themselves in the regular season and they didn't miss a beat now that it's playoff time. They managed a 34-28 win over the Jefferson Davis Academy Raiders on Friday. Laurens Academy's victory was all the more impressive since the Raiders were averaging only 13.43 points allowed on the season.
Garrett Murphy was his usual excellent self, rushing for 184 yards and four touchdowns, while also picking up 76 receiving yards and a touchdown. His rushing production has been exceptional for a while as that marked his tenth straight game with at least 106 rushing yards.
Another reason for the win was Laurens Academy's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. Garrison Vaughan was especially locked on to Jefferson Davis Academy's QB and sacked him twice.
Jefferson Davis Academy lost despite a true team effort on the offense, the best among them being James Grubbs, who rushed for 101 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries. Another player making a difference was Payton Payne, who gained 121 total yards and a touchdown.
Laurens Academy has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won six of their last seven matches, which provided a nice bump to their 9-3 record this season. A key ingredient in that success has been their rushing production: they averaged an imposing zero rushing yards in those games compared to only zero in the others. As for Jefferson Davis Academy, the defeat snapped their winning streak at 12 games and leaves them with a 12-2 record.
The teams didn't have to wait long for a rematch: Laurens Academy beat Jefferson Davis Academy by a score of 34-28 later that day.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
