Sumter makes quick work of Socastee in Region VI-5A tilt
It took all four quarters and then some for the Sumter High Gamecocks to come away with their first two Region VI-5A victories.
On Friday, they had their third one pretty much wrapped up by halftime.
Quarterback Zykiem Jackson accounted for 224 total yards, Da’Jon Butts had two touchdown runs and Sumter’s defense held Socastee to under 100 yards of offense in a dominant 37-0 victory at Sumter Memorial Stadium’s Freddie Solomon Field.
Sumter improved to 7-1 overall and 3-0 in the region while the Braves fell to 2-6 and 0-3. The Gamecocks will host West Florence next Friday in their final regular-season home game.
“Last week felt like the first game of the season again, so it was good to get to it two weeks in a row,” Gamecocks head coach Mark Barnes said. “I thought we did play better tonight. I didn’t think we played badly last week (against Conway), especially on defense. We were able to carry that over into this week.”
In a big way.
Socastee had just 57 yards of offense at the half and wound up going backward more often than not in the second half. Sumter came away with two fumbles, three sacks and forced 11 negative plays.
“They actually did a good job last week against South Florence throwing the ball in one-on-one situations,” Barnes said of Socastee. “So we wanted to eliminate the run game, and we did a good job of that, and then get them in passing situations and play zone. Our guys did a good job in coverage.”
The Braves finished with just 33 yards passing and made it inside the Gamecock 40-yard line only twice – including once following a turnover.
Meanwhile, the Sumter offense took advantage of Braves turnovers and short fields provided by the defense and Shrine Bowl punter Pressley Harvin. Jackson ran for 104 yards and a score – the first of the game – and also had a big day in the passing attack. He went 11-for-19 for 120 yards and another TD on a 6-yard strike to Jalen Rouse in the first quarter that put the Gamecocks up 14-0 at the time.
“On purpose, we wanted to throw the ball more tonight,” Barnes said. “Zykiem did a good job. We missed on a couple, but for the most part I thought we did a good job when our (starters) were on the field.
“We played well on both sides of the ball and were able to save some of our guys that have been banged up.”
The Gamecocks got another score in the second quarter on a 4-yard run by Butts. He added another in the third and finished with 50 yards on just nine carries. Hunter Ferebee also had a touchdown run in the third as Sumter built a 34-0 lead and took its starters out midway through the quarter.
Roman Childers’ 19-yard field goal in the fourth was the final score of the night. Socastee drove to the Sumter 35 on the last drive of the game, but missed a 38-yard field goal to preserve the shutout.
This story was originally published October 28, 2016 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Sumter makes quick work of Socastee in Region VI-5A tilt."