King Academy and Laurens Academy are an even 5-5 against one another since October of 2014, but not for long. The King Academy Knights will head out to square off against the Laurens Academy Crusaders at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W'.
King Academy is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of South Carolina's top teams: Newberry Academy, who was ranked eighth in their home state at the time (King Academy was ranked ninth). King Academy fell 26-14 to Newberry Academy on Friday. The Knights have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Meanwhile, it's never fun to lose, and it's even less fun to lose 56-20, which was the final score in Laurens Academy's tilt against Richard Winn Academy on Thursday. The Crusaders were in a tough position after the first half, with the score already sitting at 35-12.
Despite the loss, Laurens Academy got top-tier performance from Garrett Murphy, who rushed for 179 yards and two touchdowns on only ten carries, and also caught a touchdown. Murphy didn't just play on offense: he also picked up a sack, forced a fumble, and made five total tackles (1.0 for loss). Mason Cooper handled things on the ground, rushing for 82 yards.
Laurens Academy wouldn't let Richard Winn Academy keep a hold of the ball as they managed to force two fumbles. Laurens Academy can thank Murphy and Hack Hardy for forcing both of them. Hardy is also on a roll when it comes to total tackles, as he's now made five or more in the last four games he's played dating back to last season.
King Academy's record is now 1-3. As for Laurens Academy, their record now sits at 3-2.
King Academy didn't have too much breathing room in their game against Laurens Academy when the teams last played back in October of 2023, but they still walked away with a 26-22 victory. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Murphy, who rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 carries, and also picked up 35 receiving yards and a touchdown. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will King Academy still be able to contain Murphy? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
