What We Saw: Wilson, Rock Hill Rout Spring Valley

Brandon Stockdale September 29, 2023 @ 10:37 PM

ROCK HILL | [player_tooltip player_id='139293' first='Matthew' last='Wilson'] was selected for the Shrine Bowl a few weeks ago and is committed to App State.   Friday night's contest against Spring Valley was a solid night for the senior as he connected on three touchdowns in the first half as part of a five touchdown performance as Rock Hill routed Spring Valley, 44-7.   “Real proud of our kids, man. Offensively, we started out kind of slow out of the chute right there. We've got to get better and then we went on four straight drives that all ended in touchdowns. (The) defense battled, kept zero on the board for a long time. We've got to tackle a little bit better but for the most part, I thought our kids played really, really well. All around, a lot of good play out there but a lot of things we can get better at,” Rock Hill coach Bubba Pittman said.   The first few possessions in the first quarter both teams were trying to feel each other out. Terrance Merill made a nice catch on a hitch route for a first down for the Vikings, while Daniel Range's jump on the ball nearly gave the Bearcats a takeaway.   Z'Mori Thompson nabbed the game's first interception with 3:40 to play in the first quarter, which led to Wilson's first touchdown to [player_tooltip player_id='1012834' first='Malik' last='Clark'] (pictured above) with 3:09 to play, giving Rock Hill a 7-0 lead.   Speaking of Clark, he got involved on defense with great one-on-one coverage in the second quarter. After a Viking 3-and-out, Kamari Moore faked everyone at District 3 Stadium out and went down the sidelines for a huge gain. Wilson and Clark connected again for a 6-yard reception to the left corner to increase the lead to 14-0 with 9:11 to play before the half.    Clark told Prep Redzone SC after the game that the key to the connection between him and his quarterback goes back to the offseason where he says they caught 1000 balls.   “It really comes from a lot of hard work in the offseason. We're really on the same page,” Clark said.   Clark wasn't done making plays. He was wide open on a 21-yard reception to make it 21-0 with 6:05 to play before the half.   The Bearcats defense got into the backfield multiple times throughout the evening, but one particular highlight was a 4th down stop by [player_tooltip player_id='997363' first='Landon' last='Armstrong'] and [player_tooltip player_id='649189' first='Justice' last='Foster'] amongst others. Wilson and the Bearcats took advantage of the short field with a touchdown run as they took a 28-0 lead to the halftime locker room.   The second half was much of the same as Wesley Chitwood connected on a 35-yard field goal with 7:36 to play in the third quarter before Wilson and Ray Barber scored on touchdown runs in the fourth quarter.   SPRING VALLEY STANDOUTS [player_tooltip player_id='477819' first='Dylan' last='Redden'] | QB – Redden ran hard throughout the evening on the zone read and scored on a 4-yard run in the third quarter along with Ahmir Creer. Redden also picked up a first down on a rollout.

ROCK HILL | Matthew Wilson Matthew Wilson 6'1" | 200 lbs | QB Rock Hill | 2024 State SC was selected for the Shrine Bowl a few weeks ago and is committed to App State.