What We Saw: Fort Mill Surges In Second Half To Beat Lugoff-Elgin

Brandon Stockdale September 15, 2023 @ 11:22 PM

FORT MILL | Fort Mill came in trying to snap an 18-game losing streak. A second half surge helped the Yellow Jackets get their first win since September 17, 2021 over Lugoff-Elgin, 25-15 on Friday night.   The play of Fort Mill quarterback Quinn Kelly (pictured above) was the story of the night for the Jackets' offense.   “He's tough, man. He's tough. We don't always protect the best, block the best but he had some big plays and he's a sophomore. The kids are rallying behind him, so that's a good thing,” Fort Mill coach Rob McNeely said.   Kelly did a good job of stepping up and making throws on the run throughout the contest, including a play action pass to Grayson Diehl. The Yellow Jackets would cap off the drive with their first score of the night, a 15-yard TD pass from Kelly to Jackson Smith with 2:42 in the first quarter to go up 7-0.   An interception by Jaylin Chambers after an offside penalty for Fort Mill would end the first quarter.   The play of the first half for Lugoff-Elgin came as David Miller got a strip sack of Kelly and [player_tooltip player_id='1639661' first='Fernando' last='Simuel'] recovered with 9:20 to play before the half. The Demons could only manage to get a field goal as Eli Branham knocked through a 29-yard field goal to cut the Yellow Jacket lead to 7-3 with 8 minutes to play before the half.   The second half was mostly all Fort Mill.   [player_tooltip player_id='1246944' first='Tanner' last='Mays'] set up a Yellow Jacket score on a perfect slant route where he got up field quickly for a 50 yard gain. Diehl would get in the end zone with a 1-yard run to make it 13-3 Fort Mill with 9:52 to play in the third quarter.   Kelly would connect with Smith again on a 26-yard TD reception where he caught the shallow route and did the rest. Fort Mill extended the lead to 19-3 with 6 minutes to play in the third quarter. That would conclude a 13-point swing for the home team.   Lugoff-Elgin would not go away quietly as Aidan Fitzgerald connected for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, the first to Caleb Castles for a 4-yard reception to make it 19-9 with 9:26 to play in the contest.   Kelly would put the game on ice on a  41-yard run on the QB draw with 3:46 to play in the contest before the Demons scored on a 50-yard Fitzgerald to Myles Hamilton with 2:55 remaining.   Landon Kurtz sealed the deal with an interception with 48 seconds left.   “(This win) just shows me that we can stop beating Fort Mill and beat other teams. We can't beat ourselves first. And we were playing two teams before a lot of the times and hopefully this shows the kids what it takes to prepare to win and if we do things the right way and not beat ourselves, then we've always got a chance," McNeely said.

FORT MILL | Fort Mill came in trying to snap an 18-game losing streak. A second half surge helped the Yellow Jackets get their first win since September 17, 2021 over Lugoff-Elgin, 25-15 on Friday night.