Sumner is on a eight-game streak of home wins (dating back to last season), while Durant is on a six-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Sumner Stingrays will take on the Durant Cougars at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Keep an eye on the score for this one: both teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
With a playoff game on the line, Sumner rose to the challenge on Friday. They secured a 33-28 W over Riverview. Given Sumner's advantage in MaxPreps' Florida football rankings (they are ranked 78th, while Riverview is ranked 216th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Multiple players turned in solid performances to lead Sumner to victory, but perhaps none more so than Greg Smith III, who threw for 161 yards and three touchdowns on only 15 passes, and also punched in a rushing score. Tyler Williams was another key contributor, picking up 62 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Durant put the finishing touches on their sixth blowout victory of the season on Friday. They took their matchup on the road with ease, bagging a 33-0 win over Palm Harbor University.
Among those leading the charge was Michael Ryan, who threw for 301 yards and four touchdowns while completing 80% of his passes. The team also got some help courtesy of Jayden Cornelius, who picked up 107 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Another reason for the win was Durant's imposing defense, which managed to get into the backfield for five sacks. The heavy lifting was done by Cade Long and Jerome Parham who racked up four sacks between them.
Sumner's win bumped their record up to 10-1. As for Durant, they are on a roll lately: they've won six of their last seven contests, which provided a nice bump to their 9-2 record this season.
Friday's contest might be decided on the ground as these two are both standouts in the run game. Sumner has been unstoppable on the ground this season, having averaged 202.4 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like Durant struggles in that department as they've been averaging 153.7 per game. It's looking like Friday's matchup might have some serious battles in the trenches. Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other football content.
Sumner and Durant were neck-and-neck in their previous meeting back in September, but Sumner came up empty-handed after a 28-27 loss. A big factor in that loss was the dominant performance of Durant's Emmanuel Lee, who rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown. Now that Sumner knows the damage he can cause, will they be able to stop him this time? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
