Union Academy comes to town as a wild card with a 6-4 overall record. The Cardinals, from Monroe, finished 4th in the Southern Piedmont Conference behind Mountain Island Charter, Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy and Bessemer City. They make their living with the ground game, having gained 2806 yards and scored 30 touchdowns rushing. Union Academy is led by junior running back Isaac King (#2) who has rushed for 1766 yards on 145 carries with 21 touchdowns. King averages 176 yards rushing per game.
For the Cardinals, their high water mark came in 2017 when they finished with the most wins in their history and an 8-5 record. They average 26 points per game while giving up an average of 28 points per game.
It will mark the first ever meeting between the two schools.
For Swain, it is business as usual. They have made the 1st round of the playoffs, and some would say the playoffs, their own since 1977. Including the impressive 59-4 mark all time at Swain County Memorial Stadium, the Maroon Devils are a staggering 35-2 in 1st round playoff games, and have never lost a 1st round home playoff game.
Overall Swain is shooting for it’s 91st playoff win since 1977, that is the 2nd most in the state during that time (all classifications), trailing only Shelby who has 98.
The Maroon Devils enter this game with 2752 rushing yards and 3470 combined yards, which is roughly 250 rushing yards per game. On the defensive side the Devils are limiting opponents to only 128 yards per game rushing.
Swain is averaging 35 points per game, while averaging 14 on the defensive side.
What a fantastic program the Maroon Devils have! I am extremely proud of what has been accomplished and feel honored to be an alumni of such such an accomplished program.
GO DEVILS!!