Roger Carter (88) takes a Jordy Adams pass and lunges for the first down. (Photo/Kristy Kimball Massey)
BLYTHEWOOD (Aug. 22, 2016) – Both the Rock Hill and Blythewood football teams had their share of mistakes in the season opener Saturday afternoon.
Two interceptions. Seven fumbles – two of them lost. Two blocked field goals. Twenty-one penalties for a total loss of 180 yards.
Rock Hill’s no-huddle offense eventually came to life with two straight touchdown passes in the second quarter to rally to a 17-13 halftime lead.
But in the final two minutes, the Bengals put a playoff-quality scoring drive together. Jordyn Adams capped the 6-play, 91-yard effort with a 9-yard touchdown scamper that gave Blythewood a 27-20 victory at District 2 Stadium.
“It was fun,” Blythewood head coach Dan Morgan said. “We had a lot of fun today, and let me tell you, Rock Hill is a heck of a ball club. They came here to play and they got after it and we got after it. It was a fun game to play.”
Adams, who was 14-for-18 for 239 yards and a touchdown in passing and led all rushers with 107 yards and a score on 18 carries, sparked the Bengals. On the final scoring drive, he made connections of 24 and 35 yards to Kameron Riley and Kenny Benton, respectively.
With the Bengals at the Rock Hill 19-yard line with 1:24 to go, Adams rushed for a first down, then burst in for the game-winning score at the 1:05 mark.
Rock Hill took the ball from their own 35-yard line, and with just over a minute to go had a chance to tie things up again. The Bearcats moved across the 50-yard line, but sputtered with a holding penalty that put them back at their own 37. Two incomplete passes, a sack and Jayden Brunson’s interception secured the victory for the Bengals.
“I’m so proud of our defense stepping up,” Morgan said. “They were spent, they had too many times when they had third downs but couldn’t get off the field, and they stayed out a little bit too long today with the sun beating down.”
Jaylon Boyd provided ample running support, generating 106 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. Riley had four catches for 84 yards and a score.
“It was a hard day for two hard-nosed football teams,” Boyd said. “It started going our way in the third and fourth quarter, the momentum. I know I’ve got a lot of things to work on but I ran it hard and tried to contribute.”
The Bengals’ defense had their hands full with the Rock Hill offense, which had 321 total yards compared with Blythewood’s 444 yards. Micah Byrd led all tacklers with 10. Brunson and Cassius Garner each came down with an interception.
Both teams kept each other scoreless in the third quarter, but Blythewood took a 20-17 lead with 10:18 left in the game when Adams delivered a screen pass to Riley on the left sideline. Riley dodged a defender around the 20-yard line and made it to the end zone untouched.
Rock Hill’s Zhenya Deller made good on a 27-yard field goal at the 6:30 mark, after the Blythewood defense kept the Bearcats out of the end zone for the third time in five trips inside the 20-yard line.
After that score, Rock Hill kicked a bouncing liner to Blythewood, which rolled dead at the 9-yard line. Adams and the offense drove on in quickly and cleanly for the win.
Lightning and thunderstorms moving into the Blythewood area Friday night forced the game’s postponement. When the teams met at 11 a.m., the cool breeze under a partly cloudy sky helped make a lively season opener.
Blythewood jumped out to a 6-0 lead on a quick 7-play, 72-yard scoring drive that was kept alive with a fake punt that resulted in a 24-yard Adams-to-Sekwan Jenkins connection. Three plays later, Boyd rumbled in from 12 yards out for the score.
From that point, early season miscues dotted the play.
Rock Hill fumbled on its first possession of the game and set Blythewood up at the Bearcats’ 23-yard line. The Bengals couldn’t put any points on the board, as Rock Hill’s Jordan Morris got a piece of Ben Kline’s 30-yard field goal attempt.
The Bearcats second possession ended up with an interception. Garner came down with a Tre’ Robinson pass that set Blythewood up at their own 40-yard line. From there, however, the Bengals marched backwards on an offensive pass interference penalty, a sack and a personal foul.
Rock Hill finally got points on the board with Zhenya Deller’s 25-yard field goal at the first-quarter gun.
The Bengals took a 13-3 lead when a 26-yard Adams-to-Roger Carter fourth-down connection set up a 1-yard Boyd TD run at the 8:25 mark of the second.
The Bearcats got their offense rolling, albeit briefly. Robinson threw TD passes of 11 and 13 yards late in the second quarter to take a 17-13 lead at the half.
Rock Hill looked like it could have locked the game away by then, but Blythewood refused to let go of the Bearcats.
“They got in synch, they got into a rhythm,” Morgan said. “I think the best thing that happened for us was getting to the half. I wish we had some oxygen for our kids then, because Rock Hill wore us out up and down that field.”
Once they stopped making mistakes on offense, noting the final scoring drive, Morgan said it was nice to take control offensively.
“Coach Morgan’s always telling us, finish, finish,” Riley said. “Whether it’s sprints, whether it’s conditioning, he’s telling us to finish. When we got out here we knew we were physically ready. We cramped up a little bit, some of us did, but we came in here and rallied around the defense, the defense rallied around us, and we got the job done.”
RH: 3-14-0-3 — 20
BHS: 6-7-0-14 – 27
First Quarter
B – Jaylon Boyd 12 run (kick failed). 9:41.
R – Zhenya Deller 25 field goal. 0:00.
Second Quarter
B – Boyd 1 run (Ben Kline kick). 8:25.
R – Tay Marks 11 pass from Dre’ Robinson (Zeller kick). 4:33.
R – Kenny Agurs 13 pass from Robinson. (Zeller kick) 0:29.
Fourth Quarter
B – Kameron Riley 31 pass from Adams (Kline kick). 10:18.
R – Deller 27 field goal. 6:30.
B – Adams 9 run (Kline kick). 1:06.
RH BH
First Downs 21 23
Rushes-Yards 34-98 38-205
Passing Yards 223 239
C-A-I 25-39-2 14-18-0
Fumbles-Lost 4-1 3-1
Penalties-Yards 9-65 12-115
Punts-Avg. 2-32.0 3-34.7
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: RH – Narii Gaither 9-54, Desmond Buchanan 11-56, Dre’ Robinson 11-13, Quay Brice 1-1. BH – Jaylon Boyd 17-106, Jordyn Adams 18-107, Jeffrey Watkins 1-0, Kenny Benton 1-(-4).
PASSSING: RH – Dre’ Robinson 39-25-2. BH – Jordyn Adams 18-14-0.
RECEIVING: RH – Tay Marks 5-39, Eric Stroud 5-18, Kenny Agurs 8-133, Quay Brice 4-23. BH – Roger Carter 4-67, Kameron Riley 4-84, Kenny Benton 4-56, Sekwan Jenkins 1-24.
