What We Saw: WRHI Football City USA Kickoff
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While the fourth annual WRHI Football City USA Kickoff held at District 3 Stadium in Rock Hill on Friday night was a dress rehearsal for the official start of the season next week, it provided everyone in York County a…
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Continue ReadingWhile the fourth annual WRHI Football City USA Kickoff held at District 3 Stadium in Rock Hill on Friday night was a dress rehearsal for the official start of the season next week, it provided everyone in York County a chance to see strong defensive play and names you didn’t know on offense, but you will know in 2021.
Let’s jump into a few of our standouts and observations for each of the four teams that played:
South Pointe 22, Cox Mill (NC) 7
The defensive front for the Stallions was dominant for most of the evening as the trio of Anquerrious Davis Anquerrious Davis 6'0" | 225 lbs | DL South Pointe | 2022 State SC (@AnquerriousD), A.J. Miller (@Ajmiller92) and Chris Dixon Chris Dixon 6'2" | 260 lbs | DL South Pointe | 2024 State SC Jr. (@Cjdixon_417) clogged up run lanes and got into the backfield often, not allowing the rushing attack of their opponent from Cabarrus County, N.C. to get going. It seemed like every time the Chargers would try to get something going, someone on the defensive front was in their face.
QB Zay McCrorey (@ZayMccrorey1) and the Stallion offense did a good job of executing the quick passing game. Get ready to see the name wide receiver Khyre Rawlinson (@KhyreRawlinson4) in future articles because he is elusive and can make plays in space.
South Pointe opens the season next Saturday against Northwestern on the road. Read our full preview of the Stallions here.
Northwestern 31, York 14
The level of skill player talent for Page Wofford’s offense was on display in their scrimmage against York. Quarterback Will Mattison Will Mattison 6'4" | 190 lbs | QB Northwestern | 2022 State SC (@Will1Mattison) overcame an early pick-six and commanded the offense the rest of the night. Running back Nate Sullivan (@natesullivann13) did a nice job of running in between the tackles and he explodes once he gets out into the open field. Junior wide receiver Elijah Caldwell Elijah Caldwell 6'1" | 190 lbs | WR Northwestern | 2023 State SC Peele (@7Caldwell) made the highlight play of the night as he high pointed a deep ball before sprinting to the end zone for a touchdown in the first quarter.
The defensive line which included Isaac McClellan (@isaac_mclellan), who recorded a sack during the first half, helped the Trojan defense come up with 3 turnovers and really created pressure and stayed in their rush lanes throughout the night.
Coach Dean Boyd’s Cougars are still ironing out their quarterback battle but the Cougars’ have a trio of running backs in Frank Thompson Frank Thompson 5'9" | 185 lbs | RB York | 2022 State SC (@FrankThompsonJ1), RJ Glasgow RJ Glasgow 6'0" | 195 lbs | RB York | 2022 State SC (@RivilisG) and Javarus Gutherie (@javarusguthrie) that will take pressure off the eventual starter against Mauldin next Friday night. The best drive of the night for the Cougars was where they mixed in the run with Gutherie, capping it off with a touchdown.
The Trojans open the season against South Pointe next Saturday night. York opens the season next Friday night against Mauldin at home. Here’s our full preview of the Trojans here. And our preview of the Cougars here.
Rock Hill 10, Providence (NC) 7
The nightcap pitted Bubba Pittman’s squad against Providence out of Charlotte, N.C., a team who made a deep run in the playoffs in 2020. Ian Gomez (@IanGomez2004) aided by long snapper Noah Summers (@Noah7Summers) knocked through a field goal in the final seconds.
@RHHSBearcatsFB beats Providence with a walk off field goal to cap off Game 3 of the @WRHI Football City USA kickoff. Full recap of the night coming soon for @PrepRedzoneSC #schsfb pic.twitter.com/CtVirBMOPv
— Brandon Stockdale (@1BStockdale) August 14, 2021
We had a chance to see quarterback Matthew Wilson Matthew Wilson 6'1" | 200 lbs | QB Rock Hill | 2024 State SC (@matthew76905115) for the first time in person and he can make plays on the run in scrambling and with the designed quarterback runs. He threw a laser for a touchdown in the third quarter, really displaying the velocity on the throw.
The Bearcats’ defensive line caused problems for Providence all night in chasing down players in the quick passing game or when guys like Maurice Bonneau (@MauriceB55) affected the quarterback and Zay Robinson (@zayrobb) stuffed the run on a 4th down play where he got penetration in the backfield.
Rock Hill opens the season against Greenville at home next Friday. Read our full preview of the Bearcats here.