Byrnes Defense Shines In Second Round Win Over Rock Hill

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>DUNCAN </strong>| One touchdown in the last four games.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>That's how dominant the Byrnes starting defense has been as of late.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And on Friday night, they overwhelmed a Rock Hill offense that couldn't find answers, beating the Bearcats 37-21 in the second round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We've just been locked in recently. We've just been trying to dominate and get better at our craft every week, working as a team, holding each other accountable knowing we've got tougher opponents ahead, knowing every game is not going to be like this. We're going to have to play lights out defense every week from now because it's not going to be easy,” senior defensive linemen <strong>Kelshard Harris </strong>(pictured above) said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The defenses shined for both teams early as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='618765' first='Katarius' last='Gill'] </strong>had a tackle for loss on the first play for the Bearcats before <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823452' first='Donovan' last='Franklin'] </strong>nearly had an interception on the Rebels' opening drive.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Franklin recovered a <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036721' first='Tre' last='Segarra'] </strong>fumble as he tried to line up for a first down on 4th down out of the wildcat formation with 5:07 to play in the opening quarter. Rock Hill would get nothing out of it, and settle for a punt. On the next drive, <strong>JoJo Brooks </strong>would jump a quick throw from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1822516' first='Caine' last='Rogers']</strong> for a pick six to give Rock Hill a 7-0 lead with 3:01 to play in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rock Hill's defense took the fight to Byrnes late in the first as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823377' first='Trenton' last='Strong'] </strong>showed excellent coverage skills on the out route on second down on the series following the pick six.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>On 4th-and-short, Byrnes opted to go for it and fumbled but a heads up play by Harris made up for it as he rumbled for a long touchdown run to tie the game at 7 with 51 seconds to play in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We came out there in (a) heavy (formation). I'm not going to say the play but we came out there, we ran it. I saw the ball on the ground, I just picked it up and I just ran. That's the only thing I could do. I just ran to the pylon and I ended up scoring. I helped my team and we just started building momentum off that.” Harris said of the 4th down play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Momentum shifted towards the home team to start the second quarter as a botched snap on a Rock Hill punt gave Byrnes the ball at the Bearcats 18. It took one play for Rogers to connect with Segarra on a wheel route to give the Rebels a 14-7 lead with 11:06 to play before the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Their defense is really fast and disruptive and they did a great job. Hats off to them, they had a great game plan and we got a lot to fix and clean up. Hopefully it wakes us up and gets us a little more locked in,” Byrnes head coach Reggie Shaw said on the Rebels' offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>More highlights defensively for the Rebels in the second quarter include <strong>Octavius Davis </strong>showing good coverage skills on the outside against a quick throw and <strong>DJ Torrence </strong>making an excellent pass breakup on a throw from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816896' first='Jonah' last='Young']. [player_tooltip player_id='1820013' first='Tyler' last='Clark'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1592388' first='Jonathan' last='Montgomery'] </strong>combined on a tackle to make a third down stop on an outside run play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604062' first='Jacobi' last='Fuller'] </strong>hit a long run for Byrnes down to the Rock Hill 8 on the next drive before scoring on the next play to make it 21-7 Byrnes with 8:57 to play before the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='797155' first='Justice' last='Hopkins'] </strong>brought pressure on a 4th and 11 inside Byrnes territory when it looked like the Bearcats were in position to score, forcing an incompletion with 3:12 to play as Rock Hill got nothing out of that drive before the half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The dominance for the Rebels defense continued as Clark read the eyes of Young on an interception to start the third quarter, and <strong>Zach Reinert </strong>connected on a 35-yard field goal to increase their lead to 24-7 with 9:35 to play in the quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We're just keeping our heads straight and we're just dominating. I just got to my depth and the ball came to me and I picked it,” Clark said of the defense and his third quarter interception.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rock Hill tried to keep things close late in the third quarter getting down to the Rebels 3-yard line, but they fumbled and <strong>Nas Angram </strong>recovered it, and took it near midfield with 4:34 to play.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Segarra and Fuller closed the scoring with a score respectively. Brooks and <strong>Corinthian Bowser </strong>found the end zone for the Bearcats as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>UP NEXT FOR BYRNES</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Rebels will travel to the Midlands to face No. 1 Dutch Fork in the third round.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->