CAMDEN — Nearly a century of football history will add another chapter Friday night when the Camden Bulldogs welcome the Hartsville Red Foxes to historic Zemp Stadium.
Camden and Hartsville will square off for the 97th time in one of South Carolina’s oldest ongoing high school football rivalries, giving Friday night’s home opener much more meaning than an ordinary non-region contest.
The Bulldogs enter the rivalry game with a 1-1 record and will be looking to bounce back after a heartbreaking 28-25 loss to Lugoff-Elgin last Friday night.
Camden battled back from an early deficit against the Demons and eventually grabbed a 25-21 lead. But Lugoff-Elgin responded with a late touchdown before Camden’s potential game-tying field goal sailed wide right as time expired.
Now Camden turns its attention from one rivalry to another.
The Bulldogs opened the season with a 35-13 road victory over Dillon before falling to Lugoff-Elgin. Hartsville also enters Friday night at 1-1 after suffering a 49-38 loss to West Florence last week.
Recent history has favored Camden. The Bulldogs defeated Hartsville 41-31 in 2025 and 22-14 in 2024, giving Camden back-to-back victories over the Red Foxes. Hartsville’s most recent victory in the series came in 2023, when the Red Foxes defeated Camden 55-21.
But when Camden and Hartsville meet, the game represents much more than the records of the two teams.
Generations of Bulldogs and Red Foxes have taken part in the rivalry, and Friday night will continue that tradition with the 97th meeting between the two programs.
For Camden, it is also an opportunity to erase the disappointment of last week’s loss and pick up a major victory in front of the home crowd.
Hartsville and Camden kick off at 7:30 Friday night at historic Zemp Stadium in Camden. If you can’t make it to the game you can catch all the action starting at 7pm on Kool 102.7.
