BLYTHEWOOD – Yes, the Blythewood football team’s home opener at Richland District Two Stadium happened. The Bengals may well let that description stand for their 33-7 defeat Friday night to a resurgent Fort Mill team that won the most games in a season in eight years.
Blythewood’s offense, which had scored 70 points in their first two games, misfired for more than three quarters before James Veasey connected with Chance Johnson for a 33-yard touchdown pass in the final two minutes of the game.
On defense, the Bengals (1-2) pestered Yellow Jackets quarterback Quinn Kelly, sacking him six times. They forced two lost fumbles and intercepted a pass, but Kelly stayed on his feet enough to complete 13 of 20 passes for 170 yards.
Junior running back Broden Mitcheson powered the Fort Mill offense with 134 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries.
“We didn’t take care of our jobs tonight,” third-year Blythewood head coach James Martin said. “First half special teams really hurt us but we still fought the whole time. I’m proud for that. We had ourselves in good positions defensively, but we also put ourselves in bad positions defensively just by some field-position issues.”
Veasey finished the night 12-for-29 in passing for 111 yards, with two interceptions. Blythewood rushers had 86 net yards on 22 carries.
Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets are off to their best start since 2017 (when they started 4-1 and finished 4-8). At 3-0 with the win over the Bengals, Fort Mill has surpassed their yearly win total dating back to 2018.
In getting the win the Yellow Jackets made plays in all facets of the game, including two blocked punts, one of which was returned for a touchdown, a defense that snagged two Veasey interceptions, and an offense that grinded it out and scored when it needed to.
“Damn I’m proud of this team,” eighth-year head coach Rob McNeely said. “Defense was hell tonight, Special teams, I knew we could get to a kick, we practice it every freaking Wednesday, and the dudes, they executed.”
Fort Mill took the opening kickoff and drove 52 yards down the field before the Blythewood defense held on fourth and four. Noah Hardy’s first field goal of the game, a 45-yarder, went through with room to spare and put the Yellow Jackets on the scoreboard.
After that score, Blythewood clamped down on the Fort Mill offense, sacking Kelly four times and forcing two fumbles by the half.
The Bengals offense, on the other hand, had its own struggles.
Blythewood put together an 11-play, 61-yard drive before failing to convert on a third-and-10 at the Fort Mill 20. Ashton Davis came in for a 37-yard field goal attempt to tie it at the end of the first quarter, but the holder muffed the snap and the resulting kick sailed lazily to the right, well short of the goal posts.
Blythewood went three-and-out on a possession halfway through the second quarter and Davis came on to punt. Fort Mill defender Brett Scales shot through the line and slapped Davis’s kick to the ground. Scales then scooped up the football around the 30-yard line and ran it in easily to put the Yellow Jackets up 10-0.
“Brett Scales is the heart and soul of our team,” McNeely said. “He’s a coach out on the field. He comes hard every day. He runs defensive scout team for us to get a look. That’s the kind of kid he is, and those kids are better players (because of him). They’re great kids and I love them.”
After threw an interception, Fort Mill drove to the Bengals’ 7-yard line. The Blythewood defense held, but Hardy knocked in a chip shot from 24 yards out with 12 seconds left in the half to give the Yellow Jackets a 13-0 lead at the half.
Mitcheson capped a mid-third quarter drive with a one-yard touchdown run that put Fort Mill up 20-0. The Yellow Jackets added two more 1-yard touchdown runs from Terrell Robinson and Andrew Kowalski in the fourth quarter to take a 33-0 lead.
Veasey’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Johnson with 1:32 left in the game enabled Blythewood to avoid a home-opening shutout.
Fort Mill plays host to Lancaster (0-3) and Blythewood plays host to Keenan (2-1) Friday.
The Yellow Jackets have seven more games this season, but McNeely said the team’s success is grounded on his players’ belief in themselves.
“None of the previous years should affect this year’s outcome. End of story,” he said. “These kids believe in themselves and each other, and I’m just proud of them.”
Blythewood looks to the Keenan game to get the offense on track and have the defense continue to play dominant football.
“We have to keep playing and keep fighting,” Martin said. “We have nonregion games for a reason, and we’ve got one more to get it right.”
Fort Mill – 3-10-7-13 – 33
Blythewood – 0-0-0-7 – 7
First Quarter
F – Noah Hardy 45 field goal 7:24
Second Quarter
F – Brett Scales 30 blocked punt return (Hardy kick) 5:56
F – Hardy 24 field goal :12
Third Quarter
F – Broden Mitcheson 1 run (Hardy kick) 6:32
Fourth Quarter
F – Terrell Robinson 1 run (Hardy Kick) 10:10
F – Andrew Kowalski 1 run (kick failed) 4:49
B – Chance Johnson 33 pass from James Veasey (Ashton Davis kick) 1:32
FM BHS
First downs 17 12
Rushes-yds 38-87 22-86
Passing yds 170 111
Att-Com-Int 20-13-1 29-12-2
Fumbles-lost 2-2 0-0
Penalties-yds 8-65 5-60
Punts-avg 3-46.0 4-29.5
Individual Statistics
RUSHING
F – Broden Mitcheson 22-134, Quinn Kelly 11-(-50), Andrew Kowalski 2-2, Terrell Robinson 1-1, Team 2-5. B – Landon Strong 9-60, James Veasey 9-8, Brandon Mayre 4-18.
PASSING
F – Quinn Kelly 13-20-1. B – James Veasey 12-29-2.
RECEIVING
F – Jameson Terrell 5-64, Henry Crocker 3-35, Deveian Southward 2-32, Keenan McCormack 1-22, Joseph Duey 1-20, Broden Mitcheson 1-7. B – Chance Johnson 5-62, Ryan Hall 2-29, Tay’Shon Johnson 2-13, Ben Hendrix 1-10, Team 2-(-3).
