Ridge View and Blythewood are an even 5-5 against one another since August of 2015, but not for long. After each having a week off, both will dust off their jerseys to take on one another at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Ridge View will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Last Friday, Ridge View made easy work of West Florence and carried off a 41-16 victory. The Blazers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matches by 24 points or more this season.
Spencer Bobian and Derek (Tre) Howard Iii were among the main playmakers for Ridge View as the former rushed for 205 yards and a touchdown while picking up 10.3 yards per carry and the latter rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown. Bobian showed off some serious burst, turning on the afterburners on one carry for 63 yards. Aidan Keeffe was in the mix as well, providing Ridge View with two touchdowns.
Ridge View was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 379 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since the start of last season.
Ridge View didn't go easy on the quarterback and picked off two passes before the game was over. The picks came courtesy of Jordyn Best and D?Juan Franklin. Franklin also made six total tackles, which is notable because Ridge View is undefeated when he posts at least four total tackles, but 2-3 otherwise.
Meanwhile, Blythewood suffered their biggest loss since November 3, 2023 last Friday. They took a blow against Sumter, falling 49-20. While losing is never fun, the Bengals can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' South Carolina football rankings (they are ranked 52nd, while the Gamecocks are ranked tenth).
The loss doesn't tell the whole story though, as several players had good games. One of the most active was Johnny Collins, who threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for 38 yards. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in rushing yards. Carter Coleman was another key player, gaining 32 total yards and two touchdowns.
Ridge View's win bumped their record up to 5-3. As for Blythewood, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 6-3.
Friday's matchup might be decided in the trenches. Ridge View has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 174.4 rushing yards per game. It's a different story for Blythewood, though, as they've been averaging only 90.8. How will they fare against such a dominant running game?
Ridge View was able to grind out a solid victory over Blythewood in their previous matchup back in August of 2023, winning 32-21. Does Ridge View have another victory up their sleeve, or will Blythewood turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
