WHAT WE SAW: Wilson, Rock Hill Come From Behind To Beat Fort Mill

Brandon Stockdale October 7, 2022 @ 11:28 PM

ROCK HILL | Entering Friday's contest, Rock Hill and Fort Mill entered with a combined record of 1-11. Something had to give.    A bad snap that went over the punter's head and out of the end zone with 4:27 to play in the fourth quarter was the difference as Rock Hill came from behind to beat Fort Mill, 35-28 on Friday night. Rock Hill coach Bubba Pittman was proud to see his team win the game in the fourth quarter.   “Our kids fought. They found some purpose there and figured out they wanted to win the football game in the fourth quarter,” Pittman said.   Rock Hill quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='139293' first='Matthew' last='Wilson'] showed off his athletic ability throughout the night on read option keepers. He has great vision and elusiveness. He credited his ability and his offensive line after the game.   “We knew they were going to try and stop our passing game so we just had to make sure we could run it down their throat the whole game. (The) o-line did their job, pounded them, gave me and the running backs good running lanes and we just took it to the house,” Wilson said.   Brandon Watson opened the scoring for the Bearcats with a 4-yard touchdown run with 9:01 to play in the opening quarter to take a 7-0 lead. Rock Hill's defense got involved early as Travis Wesley recovered a fumble and took it back 15 yards for a scoop and score to go up 14-0 with 7:40 to play in the first.    The Yellow Jackets caught a break thanks to a bad punt from Rock Hill, giving them a short field as Eli Craddock scored on a 6-yard run to cut the Bearcats' lead to 14-7 with 8:25 to play in the second.    Both teams would get quick scores right before the half – we'll start with the Bearcats. Watson scored his second touchdown of the night on a 16-yard TD run to take a 21-7 lead with 5:32 to play before the half. The Yellow Jackets countered with a huge catch and run over the middle from Dylan Schaffer, which led to a Cade Haley touchdown run from 1 yard out to cut Rock Hill's lead to 21-14 at the half.   Shaffer got involved in the option game in the second half. He's shifty and is hard to bring down in space. The Yellow Jackets tied the game at 21 with 7 minutes to play in the third quarter with a 9-yard TD pass from Isaiah Haynes to Haley again.   Haynes was also elusive in the run game making moves in space in the read option game. He capped off a drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Schaffer to take their first lead of the game at 28-21 with 3:12 to play in the third.    The quarter would end as Wilson rolled out to his left and found [player_tooltip player_id='1012834' first='Malik' last='Clark'] back in the right corner for a 28-yard touchdown reception to cut Fort Mill's lead to 28-27. The extra point was no good. Wilson's ability to keep plays alive also stood out to us.   “(That's) a talent that God blessed me with. Thanks to the good o-line I've got, blocking, giving me enough time to run out the pocket and still give me time to look down the field and make throws so that's a big help.”   Wilson would score another touchdown on the ground with a 19-yard run with 4:27 to play in the contest to close the scoring.   “(The win) keeps us alive, keeps our region hopes alive, keeps playoff hopes alive, keeps the spirit alive in our football program and you know, new season in the region and we dropped one last week and came back and won one this week and we just take them one at a time. 1-0 this week and we're really excited about that,” Pittman said.

ROCK HILL | Entering Friday's contest, Rock Hill and Fort Mill entered with a combined record of 1-11. Something had to give.