The one sport that seems the intensity is consistently ramped up when it comes to the Fort Mill-Nation Ford rivalry is boys lacrosse.
The physicality in that sport is almost second to none. That was no different Saturday as the game between the two schools was littered with penalties for both teams as Nation Ford came away with a 9-0 win.
“Today was about staying healthy,” said Nation Ford head coach Cory Turner. “Fort Mill is always a tough battle. We are starting to hit our stride.”
Nation Ford improved to 9-4 overall and 6-1 in Region 3-5A with the win, while Fort Mill dropped to 6-5 overall and 4-3 in region play.
“It’s a heated rivalry,” said Fort Mill associate head coach Alex Tindall. “The better team showed up today. At this point, we just have to look forward to Clover on Monday.”
In Saturday’s match up, Nation Ford started out strong as Hunter Nickola scored about midway through the first quarter to give the Falcons the lead breaking a scoreless tie.
Less than a minute later the Falcons’ Josh Ameo scored which opened the flood gates for Nation Ford.
Trevor Keaton scores with four minutes left in the opening quarter and Ameo scored with 61 second left before the period ended.
Nation Ford controlled possession a lot in the first quarter and led 4-0 to open the second quarter.
The tides shifted some as Fort Mill controlled possession more in the second quarter, but struggled to score.
Keaton added a second goal near the nine-minute mark in the second quarter, but that was all the Falcons could muster in the period as they went to the break leading 5-0.
The second half started slow for both teams. Fort Mill controlled possession again, but still came up empty in the scoring column.
Keaton added a third goal getting the hat trick with about five minutes left in the third quarter. Not to be topped, Ameo secured a hat trick of his own scoring at the buzzer to make it 7-0 entering the fourth quarter.
About three and half minutes into the final period, Ameo scored his fourth goal. Ameo and Nation Ford continued to control the fourth quarter as he picked up his fifth goal with 5:45 left in the game which closed out the scoring for the game.
Fort Mill will host Clover Monday, March 25, and Nation Ford heads to Spring Valley on the same day.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
