Summerville - All three high schools in the Dorchester County School District II are ranked in the top 10 of the latest S.C. media statewide polls. Two of those teams, top-ranked Summerville (8-0) and eighth-ranked Ashley Ridge (7-1), collided in a key region 7-AAAAA contest on Friday night.
As expected, the game included plenty of points as two of the state’s top offenses were on display. Summerville rallied from a 11-point deficit, scoring the game-winning touchdown with under two minutes to play and posting a 42-38 win.
Senior Trae Green rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns for Summerville. Junior quarterbsck Jaden Cummings also topped 100 rushing yards. Ashley Ridge running back Jayden Acosta also topped the 200-yard mark on the ground.
Ashley Ridge receiver Derrick Salley, who leads the state in receptions and yards, had 13 catches for 188 yards in the game.
“It’s a good win because Ashley Ridge is a quality team,” Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty said. “I told our kids all week how good they were. I knew this would be a challenge. I’m glad we came out on top.”
Ashley Ridge opened the game with an eight play,65-yard drive, getting a one-yard run from Salley for an early 7-0 lead just three minutes into the contest.
After an exchange of punts, the Green Wave tied the game on Green’s five-yard run with 4:46 left in the first quarter. Ashley Ridge later missed a field goal and Summerville failed on a fake punt attempt, giving the Swamp Foxes great field possession on the Green Wave 35-yard line.
Acosta, who had 120 yards rushing in the first half, scored on a two-yard run to give Ashley Ridge a 14-7 lead.
That lead did not last long as Summerville struck paydirt in only four plays. Jaden Cummings hit Yannick Smith on a 25-yard pass to the end zone to tie the game at 14 with 7:36 left in the half.
Ashley Ridge’s most impressive drive of the half came on their next possession as the Swamp Foxes covered 87 yards on 13 plays with Salley again scoring from a yard out with 3:29 remaining.
The Green Wave tied the game at 21, needing just four plays to score as Green rumbled in from 30 yards with 1:48 to play.
Ashley Ridge was not done, however, working into field goal range late in the half. Keith McCune was good from 47 yards out to give the Swamp Foxes a 24-21 halftime lead.
The first few minutes of the third quarter saw two huge plays. Acosta raced 56 yards for a touchdown to give Ashley Ridge a 31-21 lead with 9:24 to play. Four plays later, Cummings showed his running ability with a 54-yard scamper down the sideline. A missed extra point left Ashley Ridge with a 31-27 lead with 6:57 remaining in the third quarter.
Early in the fourth, with Ashley Ridge facing a fourth-and-eight from the Summerville 30, the Green Wave were whistled for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. With new life, Acosta broke off a 15-yard touchdown run for a 38-27 lead with 11:15 left in the game.
Summerville quickly answered with a five-play scoring drive with Cummings finding Smith on a 15-yard touchdown pass. A successful two-point conversion pass made it 38-35 Ashley Ridge with 9:53 remaining in the game.
After a punt, Summerville gained possession on their own six-yard line with 6:22 left in the game. The Wave went with the ground-and-pound with Green and the 5-10, 220-pounder rumbled for 67 yards on a touchdown drive. Green’s three-yard run with 1:55 gave Summerville their first lead at 42-38.
Ashley Ridge moved into Summerville territory in the final seconds but failed on fourth down with :38 seconds left in the game.
“It was good to see us respond to the adversity and find a way to make enough plays to win,” Rafferty said. “We haven’t had much adversity lately so it was good to see us respond in a positive way. The game could’ve went either way.”
Summerville will close out the regular season next week against a third district team, seventh-ranked Fort Dorchester, while Ashley Ridge will host Stall.
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