Summerville finishes regular season at 10-0 with win over Fort Dorchester
Summerville - As if the rivalry between Fort Dorchester and Summerville wasn’t enough, Friday night’s annual showdown between the Dorchester District II combatants was for the region 7-AAAAA championship.
Both teams entered the game ranked in the state’s top 10 of Class AAAAA but Summerville had not beaten Fort Dorchester since 2018.
Summerville senior running back Trae Green rushed for more than 200 yards and three touchdowns to end that four-game losing streak to their rivals as the Green Wave completed a perfect regular season with a 48-28 win.
Green also rushed for 200 yards in last week’s other big rivalry win over Ashley Ridge.
Green Wave quarterback Jaden Cummings threw for more than 250 yards and Yannick Smith had more than 100 yards receiving, a 39-yard touchdown run, and two interceptions.
Both teams will enter the Class AAAAA state playoffs next Friday with home games.
“This was the first goal so I am really proud of our players and our coaches,” Summerville head coach Ian Rafferty said. “It feels great. This program has come a long way since those Covid years (2020, 2021). These seniors were freshmen when I got here. We have been through a lot together so I am really happy for them. We usually take 24 hours to celebrate our wins. We might take 48 hours for this one.”
Fort Dorchester got the first break of the game, recovering Green’s fumble on the second play of the game at the Summerville 30. Six plays later, Charles Watson hit Mul-Ty Snider on an 11-yard touchdown toss for an early 7-0 lead.
“Trae never fumbles but he sure made up for that mistake in the rest of the game,” Rafferty said.
Summerville answered on their next possession as Green gained 43 yards on the ground on an 80-yard drive, capping the drive with a four-yard run. The extra point was no good, leaving Summerville with a 7-6 deficit.
Fort Dorchester struggled offensively for the remainder of the first, punting on five consecutive possessions. Summerville took a 13-7 lead on Green’s two-yard run with 3:05 left in the second quarter.
The Green Wave added another score when Cummings snuck in from a yard out, pushing the lead to 21-7 with :38 seconds left in the half.
The Patriots grabbed late momentum with Ryan Campbell’s 85-yard kick return for a touchdown with :24 seconds remaining.
Fort Dorchester managed only 80 yards in the first half while the Green Wave totaled more than 220 yards.
The Patriots opened the third quarter with their best drive of the game, reaching the Summerville 17-yard line before failing on fourth down.
Summerville took possession for nearly seven minutes on their first drive with Green capping the 13-play, 83-yard drive with a 15-yard run, pushing Summerville to a 28-14 lead with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter.
Bennett Riffer’s 41-yard bomb to Snider put the Patriots at the Green Wave 16 as play entered the final quarter. The drive, however, ended on fourth down with an interception in the end zone by Smith.
The final period would have five touchdowns and numerous big plays.
After the interception, Summerville proceeded on a 90-yard drive with Smith taking the snap as a wildcat and racing 39 yards for a 34-14 lead.
Fort Dorchester quickly answered as Watson scrambled and threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Marquis Muhammad with 6:29 remaining in the game, bringing the score to 34-21.
Green ripped off a 66-yard run to the Fort Dorchester 12-yard line and the Green Wave capped the scoring with a touchdown, giving Summerville a 40-21 lead with 4:08 remaining in the game.
Summerville appeared to have the game sealed with an interception but the ball was fumbled and scooped up for a touchdown by Monte Johnson, cutting Summerville’s lead to 40-28 with 3:43 remaining.
After recovering an onside kick, Cummings hit Smith over the middle. Smith broke two tackles, reversed field and scampered to the end zone for a 48-28 lead with 3:26 left.
“Lot of craziness there in the fourth but our guys kept making plays,” Rafferty said. “I thought our coaches did a great job tonight. They had this team ready to play.”
Fort Dorchester's Snider caught 10 passes for 94 yards. Watson threw for 137 yards and Davian Brown had 74 yards on the ground,
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