The Blitz

It's always fun when Sumter School District meets in any field of play, and Friday's matchup between Sumter High and Crestwood on the gridiron should be no different.
The unbeaten Gamecocks, who currently rank No. 3 in 5A in the latest S.C. Prep Football Media Poll, welcome a 2-1 Crestwood team whose only loss was one of the most thrilling games of the season, a 62-60 scoring explosion with Gray Collegiate.
Listen anywhere you get your podcasts or read the full story here: Sumter High welcomes Crestwood for rivalry matchup full of high-flying offense - The Sumter Item (theitem.com)

The Sumter baseball community lost a legend recently with the passing of Sam Crawford, the longtime soundtrack of the Sumter P-15's and USC Sumter Fire Ants.

We brought in Wallie Jones, the longtime head coach of the P-15's and Tim Medlin, the head coach at USC Sumter, to reminisce about the voice of Riley Park.

For the first time in program history, the Crestwood Knights will make an appearance in the South Carolina High School League Basketball finals. As of this post, the team will have already made their trip down to the University of South Carolina Aiken where they'll face upper state challenger Wren High School Friday afternoon at 2 p.m.

Crestwood head coach Aric Samuel isn't a stranger to this pressure. In his last two coaching positions with Hunter-Kinard-Tyler and Hartsville he earned program first state titles as well. Friday should be another day in the office.

For a championship week a double header we had Scott's Branch head coach Kevin Miller in the studio as well.

This week on The Blitz we've got an over-the-phone chat with Manning's head wrestling coach Spencer Thomas.
Participation in the sport has been a rollercoaster. Over the past two years they've gone from 13 members to 2, then back up and back down to 6 as they head into next week's region meet.
In addition to battling low numbers, the Monarchs fought illness early this season, stripping them of practice time before heading to a tough first opponent in Airport High School.
Head coach Thomas said these were all crucial lessons that've given the kids a great outlook and mentality as they navigate the rest of the season.

Four years after Josh Williams came to Lakewood to reboot its wrestling program, only two of its inaugural members remain.

An already niche sport area, it the wrestlers at Lakewood were impacted heavily by the pandemic.
Coach Williams stressed the power and benefits of wrestling on young athletes and wants to continue building the program long into the future.
Tune in to The Blitz anywhere you get your podcasts to keep in the loop on Sumter, Lee, and Clarendon County sports. Happy New Year!