Published: Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008 / Updated: Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008 12:57 AM

Bearcats welcome Fort Dorchester for first round of Class AAAA football playoffs

The last time Fort Dorchester came to Rock Hill was for a first-round playoff game against Northwestern in 2003.

The result was a shocker. Coach Steve LePrad and his Patriots silenced the home side of District Three Stadium with a 34-27 overtime victory.

The Patriots are back tonight, and the setup is much like 2003. They are the lower seeded team, No. 10, and face Rock Hill, No. 7 in their opener in the Class AAAA Division I playoffs.

"That was a miracle win,'' LePrad said. "I don't think anybody in the state thought we'd go up there and win that game against Northwestern.

"It's going to be that way again (tonight). Rock Hill is the clear favorite. I was sitting around last Saturday and popped in the Rock Hill-South Pointe video. Man, both teams were so quick it was taking them four seconds to run plays. And on defense, the same ol' Bearcats -- quick and aggressive. I've seen that mess before.''

LePrad has a long history with Bearcats followers. From 1986 to 1992, his Summerville Green Wave wrestling team battled Rock Hill eight times for state supremacy in Class AAAA. Rock Hill, the all-time winningest team in its classification, was 5-3 against LePrad and his grapplers.

Those who faithfully follow the Bearcats' football team remember well the 2003 playoff game at Summerville. The Bearcats won, 45-30, but freshman sensation Jonathan Hefney was ejected after he and LePrad's son, Brett, got into an altercation on the field.

"I remember that,'' said LePrad, who left as an assistant coach at Summerville to be Fort Dorchester's coach in 2003 after coach John Bagwell died in an auto accident. "Brett started it, and their kid got caught by the refs. The High School League reviewed it, and Hefney played the following week.

"Brett's helping us coach as a volunteer, our DBs. He had a wrestling scholarship after high school, but wanted to walk on at N.C. State and play football. We told him to go ahead, and he ended up earning a scholarship and playing in the secondary.''

All of that is history, and the only thing that counts tonight for the Bearcats is to win. Both teams are coming off regular-season losses -- Rock Hill 31-10 to South Pointe, Fort Dorchester 31-24 to Berkeley.

It's one of the better matchups of the first round. Rock Hill is 9-2. Fort Dorchester is 7-4.

Rock Hill coach Joe Montgomery said the Patriots are similar to his Bearcats. They are a zone-read team and run out of the one-back set, same as Rock Hill.

The teams are close as far as numbers go, but the Bearcats have a slight edge. Rock Hill has scored 344 points, Fort Dorchester 329. The Bearcats have allowed only 136 points, the Patriots 186.

"The difference is their size, and they have very good speed,'' Montgomery said. "They might be the second-best team we've played this season because they are a lot faster on defense than Northwestern.

"The good thing is that if we win, we're away from Byrnes and Dorman, the best teams in Division I. We see it as being four games away from playing for the state championship, but those four weeks will seem like an eternity.''

The Bearcats suffered a tough blow last Friday when junior starting tailback Jamal Tyler was injured. He pulled a quad muscle away from his hip.

Tyler has run for 1,218 yards and 14 touchdowns. Unless he makes a miraculous recovery, Tyler will not be back this season. The diagnosis was for him to be out four to six weeks.

"It's going to be tough without him,'' Montgomery said. "It's always tough when one of your best players is standing on the sideline watching.''

Tonight's game

Fort Dorchester at Rock Hill, 7:30 p.m.

Friday's games

W. Florence at South Pointe, 7:30 p.m.

York at Northwestern, 7:30 p.m.

Mauldin at Clover, 7:30 p.m.

Lancaster at Greenwood, 7:30 p.m.

Woodmont at Chester, 8 p.m.

Great Falls at Ware Shoals, 7:30 p.m.

• Scouting report • 2C