What We Saw: Indian Land 20, Fort Mill 6

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>INDIAN LAND </strong>| A tale of two halves was the overarching theme off Highway 521.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indian Land's defense won the night mostly while the offense pulled away in the second half as the Warriors defeated Fort Mill, 20-6 on Friday night.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1422617' first='Jackson' last='Conner'] </strong>picked off <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1266099' first='Broden' last='Mitcheson'] </strong>on third down on Fort Mill's first possession of the ball game for a 45-yard INT for a touchdown with 10:25 to play in the opening quarter, giving Indian Land a 7-0 lead.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Penalties also hurt Indian Land in spots as they had a neutral zone infraction and personal foul for unnecessary roughness. But Conner would come through again, this time with a sack to force a <strong>Noah Hardy </strong>field goal as the Warriors' lead was cut to 7-3 with 2:09 to play in the opening quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indian Land came up with a big fourth down stop with under 8 minutes to play before the half as the Jackets tried to move the pocket with Mitcheson. Indian Land head coach Adam Hastings told Prep Redzone SC that those defensive stops in the clutch come from one thing – practice.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We dressed 38 guys today and those 38 guys are practicing against each other and it's intense. And I think they practice that way, they have that intensity in practice and I think it translates over to the game,” Indian Land head coach Adam Hastings said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Yellow Jackets would make another big stop to get the ball back after that fourth down stop.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fort Mill's best drive of the half came courtesy of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1246944' first='Tanner' last='Mays'], </strong>who had a catch and run on a screen near midfield before a diving catch in front of the Jackets' bench. Hardy would come on for another field goal as Indian Land went into the halftime locker room with a 7-6 lead. Mays was the go-to guy for the Jackets when they needed a play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We played complimentary football in the first half, and that's what we have to do. We've got such a small margin for error. When the offense controls the ball and keeps our defense off the field, our guys can play. And we played complimentary football in the first half and couldn't keep it going in the second half,” Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Could the offenses get anything going in the second half?</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Indian Land came out and ran the football with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592288' first='Jamol' last='Horton'] </strong>to open the second half. And then there was <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036748' first='Sequel' last='Patterson'] </strong>(pictured above).</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Matt Kuica </strong>connected with Patterson for two touchdowns of 5 and 28 yards to close the scoring in the third quarter. Patterson also got involved on a pass breakup on 4th down when it looked like the Jackets were in position to score in the fourth quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We're very much a get going offense. When we can run the football, we can be balanced and use guys like Sequel …. To create some separation and explosive plays, it's really good for us offensively so I thought we did a really good job for two or three series. The mistake bug bit us a little bit late in the fourth quarter,” Hastings said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>INDIAN LAND STANDOUTS</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Mike Johnson </strong>| DL – Johnson pressured the quarter on 4th down to get the Yellow Jackets off the field late in the fourth quarter. He was in the backfield throughout the evening.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Noah Terry </strong>| DB – Terry had a key pass breakup on third down to keep the Yellow Jackets out of the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>FORT MILL STANDOUTS</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Preston Kuzan </strong>| DL – Kuzan made a nice tackle for a loss as the defense flew around for the Jackets.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jeremiah McNeil </strong>| DB – McNeil had impressive closing speed on the ball on a play on 3rd down in the third quarter. He almost made the interception</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Thomas Mabry</strong> | RB -- Mabry had some tough, hard running to help get the Jackets in scoring position.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->