1 week Ago
The rematch was not much of a match at all. After having to rally in order to get a narrow gridiron victory over West Ashley (4-7) only two weeks ago, Ashley Ridge (8-3) dominated the Wildcats Nov. 15 in the first round of the Class 5A, Division 1 playoffs.
The Swamp Foxes defeated West Ashley 51-13 in The Swamp to end the Wildcats’ season and advance to the second round to face Sumter Nov. 22. “From the beginning we came out strong and got our stops,” Ashley Ridge linebacker Dylan Polansky said.
“We are trying something new. We have worked hard the past two weeks on a new formation and it is working. We got in and got out.
” Polansky lined up more on the defensive line in the game rather than hovering in the second tier of the Swamp Foxes’ defense like he did in some other games. That and other adjustments paid off for his team, which suffocated the Wildcats’ offense in the first half. Three of West Ashley’s first-half possessions ended with a punt.
One ended when Ashley Ridge recovered a Wildcats’ fumble; one ended with a turnover on downs; and one ended when time expired in the second quarter. A potential West Ashley possession was stolen from the Wildcats when Ashley Ridge sophomore Stephen Jefferson recovered a muffed punt. Ashley Ridge punted the ball from its own end zone and Jefferson recovered the ball at the West Ashley 34.
That led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Ashley Ridge quarterback Trevor Kalisz. Ashley Ridge took a 30-0 lead into halftime and never looked back. “I thought our defense played very well,” Ashley Ridge coach Jeff Tate said.
“Our defense hasn’t played that well all season. Credit our coaches and the scheme they came up with and how our guys performed tonight. They got after it and set the tone early and we had some good plays on offense.
Our offense did what it has been doing all year. This is a good win for Ashley Ridge, especially considering it’s the playoffs.” In addition to his TD run, Kalisz threw a pair of TD passes to Bam Deweese and another pair to Jagger Spivey.
Deweese used his receiving and open-field running skills to score on plays of 75 and 50 yards. Acting in kind, Spivey scored on receptions that covered 65 and 14 yards. Running back Jayden Acosta had another strong night running the ball and catching passes out of the backfield.
During Ashley Ridge’s final drive of the first half, the senior hauled in a 14-yard reception on a gadget play and immediately followed it by grabbing a quick pass just past the line of scrimmage and dashing approximately 19 yards into the end zone. Place kicker Keith McCune made a 22-yard field goal as well as five PAT kicks. Senior running back Cameron Garner capped the Swamp Foxes’ scoring with an 80-yard TD run approximately two minutes into the fourth quarter for a 51-7 Ashley Ridge lead.
West Ashley’s two TDs came from quarterback David Dounian on runs of 61 and 1 yards. Ashley Ridge stole another possession away from the Wildcats on the opening kickoff for the second half. A special teams’ player went up and challenged the West Ashley player attempting to haul in a pouch kick at midfield and grabbed the ball to give the Swamp Foxes a first down at West Ashley’s 46.
That led to Spivey’s second TD catch of the evening. Ashley Ridge will travel to Sumter for the second round. The Gamecocks are the No.
2 seed for the Lower State, behind Summerville, so they earned a bye in the first round..
