What We Saw: Clover 58, Rock Hill 21

Brandon Stockdale October 27, 2023 @ 10:45 PM

ROCK HILL | [player_tooltip player_id='1012627' first='Landon' last='Stone'] (pictured above) got into the end zone four times while the defense came up with two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.   That's a snapshot of how dominant the night was for Clover as they cruised over Rock Hill to win the region 3-5A championship, 58-21 on Friday night.   “We started off 0-2, came back and won 8 games in a row. (We're) region champs (for) only for the fifth time in school history and (the win) puts us in a great position for the playoffs,” Clover head coach Perry Woolbright said.   Neither team was sharp offensively in the early going. A Rock Hill touchdown was negated by an illegal receiver downfield penalty and the Blue Eagles had issues with the snaps as the first quarter was scoreless.   Clover found a spark on a 43-yard run, which led to Stone's first score of the night from one yard out to put them up 7-0. The defense responded immediately with a Jaylon Holmes pick six on the tip drill to go up 14-0 with 1:03 to play in the first quarter.    The Blue Eagles were opportunistic on defense throughout the evening, flying around to disrupt an offense that had been averaging 45 points in region play until tonight.   “We couldn't give up the big play. We were fortunate early on they had some chances but they missed them. We wanted to be physical, you know? The games they lost (against) Northwestern and South Pointe. And even York. Those are physical teams. We're a physical team and we wanted to come set that tone early on and be physical, especially defensively,” Woolbright said.   Deontae Starr came up with another pick six to put Clover up 21-0 in the second quarter. Stone scored two touchdowns, including a 20-yard run to put the Blue Eagles up 35-0 with 3:34 to play before the half.   The only negative outside of the slow start offensively for Clover came late in the first half as a muffed punt that was recovered by Rock Hill's Zy'on King, leading to a touchdown on a halfback pass as Kamari Moore connected with Dante Reid to cut into the lead at 35-7. Haven Maddox knocked through a 22-yard field goal as Clover took a 38-7 lead to the half.   The second half was much of the same as Stone punched it in one more time and [player_tooltip player_id='995603' first='Brody' last='Rowan'] recovered a fumble. [player_tooltip player_id='139293' first='Matthew' last='Wilson'] would connect with [player_tooltip player_id='1360412' first='EJ' last='Ratley'] for an 80-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to cut the lead to 48-14 with 2:46 to play. JoJo Gonzalez scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter and Maddox knocked through another field goal to close the scoring.

ROCK HILL | Landon Stone Landon Stone 6'0" | 200 lbs | RB Clover | 2025 State SC (pictured above) got into the end zone four times while the defense came up with two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns.