What We Saw: Bill Pate White Rose Classic

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>YORK | </strong>The final tune up before the 2026 season opener took place on Friday night on the campus of York Comprehensive High School.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After a short weather delay due to lightning nearby in the area, the action got going and there was plenty of news and nuggets to pass along as teams got a chance to get under the lights with their pads on and a solid crowd on a nice night in the Bill Pate White Rose Classic.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The teams scrimmaged for a half with two, twelve minute quarters.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>GAME 1: Fort Mill 21, Lake Wylie 3</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Yellow Jackets return running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1266099' first='Broden' last='Mitcheson'] </strong>and his impact was felt from the first play of scrimmage and ran hard with a 6-yard gain. He showed a great burst of speed with a run past midfield to the Lake Wylie 31 on a first down carry. It appears Fort Mill will lean on junior quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2075873' first='Harper' last='Love'] </strong>in the passing game, and he can get it to his receivers in the quick game, like on a completion near the sideline to star wide receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1820446' first='Jameson' last='Terrell']</strong>. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1816378' first='Terrell' last='Robinson'] </strong>came up with a 25-yard reception to set up first and goal before Mitcheson opened the scoring with a 7-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with 9:34 to play in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Mitcheson ran hard and showed off his hands in making a catch on a screen later. He would find the endzone again to make it 14-0 Jackets with 5:45 to play in the first quarter. Love would find Terrell for a 42-yard touchdown reception to make it 21-0 Jackets with 1:33 to play in the first half.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Jackets defense was swarming to the ball, like we saw with <strong>Keegan Heisler </strong>who did a great job of rallying to make the tackle on a swing pass or when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1825264' first='Laike' last='Tolentino'] </strong>forced the quarterback to step up in the pocket, and created pressure on a throw. <strong>Aiden Welch </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823025' first='Deveian' last='Southward'] </strong>both came up with pass breakups.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“The good thing about it is we got a lot of guys that don't normally get to play or are backups for a reason. We got some good stuff on film for them, so we've just got to look at it and grow from there,” Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The best drive for the new Lake Wylie Chargers, coached by Nick Pelham came in the second quarter when <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1827423' first='Rhyan' last='Watson'] </strong>made a nice catch and run to get up field towards the red zone and <strong>Beckett Rudrick </strong>had a good run to set up a <strong>Christian Schettler </strong>field goal with 4:11 remaining in the contest. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2069899' first='Aiden' last='O'Hara'] </strong>ran down the left sideline with a 47-yard run towards the end of the action for Fort Mill and <strong>CJ Kearney </strong>had a nice pass breakup on 4th down right at midfield.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fort Mill opens the season at home next week against Clover while Lake Wylie begins their inaugural season against Ballantyne Ridge.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>GAME 2: Clover 10, Gaffney 10</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The game of the night came between the Indians from the Upstate and the Blue Eagles, led by new coach Bennett Swygert. Swygert's group went right down the field on their initial series, thanks to some hard running from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1603816' first='Grady' last='Stone'] </strong>who would not go down easily. He bounced off a tackle to get a few yards on one play and then made a few people miss on a first down catch and run near midfield.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The long opening march for Clover ended with no points as they were stuffed on 4th and 1 to the Gaffney 6-yard line with 3:56 to play in the first quarter. The Blue Eagles defense bailed them out as <strong>KT Starr </strong>snuffed out a screen for a tackle for loss before <strong>Damien Talford </strong>tagged Indians' quarterback <strong>TJ Person </strong>for a safety on their second play from scrimmage to give the Blue Eagles the lead at 2-0 with 2:40 to play in the first quarter.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here's two names you'll want to keep your eye on for the Indians in 2026: Running backs <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='755890' first='Amire' last='White'] </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1604058' first='Kareem' last='Shaw'] </strong>(who also plays defensive back). White transferred in from Irmo, and he made one carry down to the Clover 36-yard line, where he was taking tacklers with him. He has a good vision and is fun to watch. Shaw did a nice job of running down the left sideline for a first down. Clover was there to make plays as <strong>Ashtin Feemster </strong>snuffed out a screen and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='2228817' first='Leo' last='Ferguson'] </strong>did a great job on the zone read to stop it for a short gain.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>GuGu Segura </strong>knocked through a 36-yard field goal to give the Indians the lead at 3-2 with 7:38 to play in the contest. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1790775' first='AJ' last='Logan'] </strong>would recover a Clover fumble which gave them a short field. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1793509' first='Quentis' last='Hines']</strong> would make a great catch while getting drilled by two Blue Eagle defenders, leading to a 1-yard touchdown run from White with 3:24 to play in the contest with the score at 10-2.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>And then things got interesting.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Blue Eagles' quarterback <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1407416' first='Aaron' last='Shealey'] </strong>engineered a drive highlighted by a great catch and run from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1827439' first='Rico' last='Hickman'] </strong>down to the Gaffney 25 inside two minutes left. On 4th and 5, Shealey found <strong>Braylan Thiveirge </strong>right up the pike for a touchdown with 54 seconds remaining. Stone would find his way into the end zone on the two point attempt to tie at 10 a piece.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>White came up with a huge run down to the Clover 2-yard line with 14 seconds left. Coach Donnie Littlejohn then called a timeout and sent his field goal unit out. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1696778' first='Najeh' last='Potts']</strong> (pictured above) would end the scoring threat as he blocked the field goal with 9 seconds left as the score ended in a tie.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I was thinking, let's send them home. Grady came through in the redzone, he scored. It's all because of him. I would like to thank my O-line, my quarterback and my team. We did a great job and we finished and we closed it out,” Potts said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clover opens the 2026 season next week against Fort Mill while Gaffney opens the season at home against Spartanburg.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>GAME 3: York 27, Mid-Carolina 0</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The final game of the night was one where the defenses took over. Outside of Mid Carolina's first drive with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823534' first='Ryker' last='Woolstenhulme']</strong>'s hard running, the Cougars dominated that side of the ball. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1819733' first='Jah'Maud' last='Moore'] </strong>made a great tackle off the edge to limit the run to a short gain on the Rebels' first drive. <strong>Braxton McKillip </strong>and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1818076' first='Aiden' last='Hughes'] </strong>combined to make a third down stop, before the ball fell incomplete on 4th down with 5:05 to play in the first quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='1818071' first='Imon' last='Mitchell'] got York off to a good start with a nice run, but the drive was ended on the next play as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1823537' first='Gavin' last='Mitchell'] </strong>picked off <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='379090' first='Ryan' last='Brochu']</strong>. After another fourth down stop for York, they got the ball back, and again, Brochu was picked off – this time by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1607131' first='Kayden' last='Trappier'] </strong>on a deep ball.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“The defense bailed us out. This is my first varsity start ever, and getting those nerves out, I feel so much better now,” Brochu said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1824661' first='TJ' last='Bratton'] </strong>played a bit on the defensive line tonight, and forced a strip sack at the Mid-Carolina 20-yard line right after the pick. This time the Cougars were able to take advantage as <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1692223' first='Aydin' last='Martin'] </strong>found the end zone from 12 yards out on a run play with 11:01 to play in the game for the first score. On the next series, Brochu connected with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1881803' first='Ta'Mir' last='Thrower'] </strong>on a deep throw down to the Rebel 3-yard line before Brochu connected with Bratton on a play-action throw as the Cougars created some distance, up 14-0 with 8:10 to play in the game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Collin Lowery </strong>found a wide open lane and raced 77 yards to make it 20-0 before<strong> Zee Isom </strong>closed the scoring with a leaping touchdown grab in the closing seconds.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“We've just got to continue to work, continue to do the things that we've got to do in practice each day, and try to get better each and every day. It's one step at a time for us. We're not going to be world beaters. If we're going to be good in the end, it's going to take every single day and every single rep between now and whenever,” York coach Dean Boyd said.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>York hosts Westwood to open the 2026 season next week while Mid-Carolina hosts Ninety Six.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em>UNSUNG PLAYER OF THE NIGHT</em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/evaluation-block {"name":"acf/evaluation-block","data":{"player_evaluations_0_player":["1648649"],"_player_evaluations_0_player":"field_62ab9d62ecf2c","player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":["override_image"],"_player_evaluations_0_override_profile_image":"override-player-profile-image","player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":2333487,"_player_evaluations_0_player_featured_image":"field_62f141137ead9","player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"","_player_evaluations_0_not_in_database":"field_62aba48cecf2d","player_evaluations":1,"_player_evaluations":"field_62aba7547dc44"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6a7ff9099f315"} --> <!-- wp:paragraph {"placeholder":"Add evaluation here...","className":"text-gray-700"} --> <p class="text-gray-700">Douglas has the athleticism you need to make plays on both sides of the ball. On offense, he found a way to get open and knows where to find the green grass. He went up and made a leaping catch which set up a touchdown. He has good size and can stay with the best of receivers and he doesn't allow them to get behind him and he keeps his eyes in the right place. He's a guy that will definitely keep our eye on as the season begins.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- /wp:acf/evaluation-block -->