ROCK HILL – The Blythewood football team ran into the locker room trailing Rock Hill 13-7.
The Bengals struggled offensively, but Harrison Collins’ connection with Kaleb Kelly for a 76-yard touchdown pass play in the waning minutes of the second quarter gave the team a good feeling for the second half.
That 15-minute half stretched to more than an hour as lightning from a storm cell flashed overhead forcing a game delay until the the mass of lightning flashes lighting up the blackened sky finally passed and headed east.
When the Blythewood and Rock Hill took the field again, the Bearcats were the storm.
Bearcats quarterback Matthew Wilson connected with three different receivers for touchdowns, and Daylen Boulware rushed for another score in the third quarter as Rock Hill defeated Blythewood 41-7 on Senior Night.
“The one who came out here after this weather delay, the one that was most mentally ready to go play was going to win, and we weren’t,” Blythewood head coach James Martin said. “Our coaching staff did a really good job of trying to keep them where we needed to be, and it didn’t happen.”
Instead, Rock Hill took charge in a 28-point second quarter that put the game out of reach.
Wilson connected with Kaiden Watkins first for a 10-yard touchdown pass to make it 19-7 at the 9:22 mark of the third.
Two minutes later Wilson found Clark for a 59-yard catch-and-run TD to make it 27-7. Two minutes after that, Wilson tossed the ball to Ray Barber on third-and-long. Barber barrelled into the end zone to complete the 19-yard play to give the Bearcats (6-3, 4-0) a 34-7 lead.
In the final two minutes of the third, Boulware scored on a 9-yard touchdown run.
“I was really proud of our kids. It was a battle in the first half, they (Blythewood) came out with a good game plan,” Rock Hill head coach Bubba Pittman said. “We got into some three-and-outs and couldn’t really get things going. I thought our kids handled the break really well. We came out on fire, came out excited to play the second half and had an explosive third quarter.”
Wilson finished 10-for-27 for 255 yards, with most of that yardage coming on chunk plays to receivers Malik Clark, Ray Barber, and Duncan Stockunas. Clark had three catches for 132 yards.
The Bearcats defense did its part in breaking up many of Collins’ passes, but the Bengals struggled to move the ball throughout the night, gaining just 10 first downs—and just three in the second half.
Rock Hill took a 6-0 lead on its first play from scrimmage.
Blythewood (3-6, 1-3) went 3-and-out on the opening possession, punted to midfield, and the Bearcats returned it to the Blythewood 34-yard line. Wilson threw a high fade to the left of the goalpost and Duncan Stockunas pulled it in and pushed his way into the end zone one minute and 25 seconds into the game.
The rest of the first quarter was 3-and-outs for both teams.
Rock Hill added to its lead after Wilson’s 54-yard connection to Ray Barber set the Bearcats up at the Blythewood 25-yard line. Seven plays later Boulware burst into the end zone from two yards out to give Rock Hill a 13-0 lead with 5:25 left in the first half.
The Bengals’ one and only big play came when Collins passed to Kelley from the Blythewood 24-yard line. Kelly caught the ball close to midfield and ran the rest of the way for the score at the 4:23 mark of the second quarter.
The teams headed into the locker room looking to adjust their offenses. Rock Hill and Blythewood combined for 10 punts in the first half.
Once the weather cleared, Rock Hill caught lightning in a bottle with their first four possessions ending in touchdowns. There would have been a fifth, but a penalty knocked them outside the 20-yard line and had to settle for a field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter, which missed.
Rock Hill’s plays for their first region championship since 2018 Friday. The Bearcats play host to Clover (7-2, 4-0).
“Clover’s a really good football team and we’ve got our work cut out for us for sure against those guys,” Pittman said. “They’re a big, physical football team and we’re going to have a great week of practice and get healed up from some bumps and bruises to be able to compete on Friday.”
Blythewood can fight for a fourth-place finish and a 5A playoff spot Friday at Spring Valley (0-8).
Rock Hill – 6-7-28-0 – 41
Blythewood – 0-7-0 -0 – 7
First Quarter
R – Duncan Stockunas 34 pass from Matthew Wilson (kick failed) 10:35
Second Quarter
R – Daylen Boulware 2 run (Jackson Grant kick) 5:25
B– Kaleb Kelly 76 pass from Harrison Collins (Kyle Whisenant kick) 4:23
Third Quarter
R– Kaiden Watkins 10 pass from Wilson (pass failed) 9:22
R – Malik Clark 59 pass from Wilson (Boulware run) 7:12
R – Ray Barber 19 pass from Wilson (Grant kick) 5:15
R – Boulware 9 run (Grant kick) 1:46
RHHS BHS
First downs 17 10
Rushes-Yards 33-168 32-152
Passing yards 255 114
Att-Com-Int 27-10-0 26-8-1
Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-1
Penalties-yards 12-110 9-72
Punts-Avg 6-36.8 7-36.0
INDIVIDUAL
RUSHING
R-Daylen Boulware 17-61, Ray Barber 7-77, Matthew Wilson 7-26, Malik Clark 1-(-6), E.J. Railey 1-(-2). B-Harrison Collins 8-42, Desmond Macklin 6-29, Quenton Solomon 6-10, Zahir Jones 5-26, Kaleb Kelly 2-26, Chase Brown 2-11, Kanye Reed 1-2, Alonzo Kyles 1-(-6), Team 1-0.
PASSING
R-Matthew Wilson 10-25-0, Dante’ Reid 0-2-0. B-Harrison Collins 8-25-1, John Henry Collins 0-1-0.
RECEIVING R-Malik Clark 3-132, Ray Barber 1-54, Duncan Stockunas 1-34, Kaiden Watkins 1-10, E.J. Railey 1-5, Team 1-6. B-Kaleb Kelly 3-87, Trent Lewis 2-24, Tyler Kahle 2-8, Quinton Solomon 1-(-5).
