Inspirational visitor gives Rock Hill football some perspective ahead of first home playoff game since ‘09
Bubba Pittman’s Rock Hill football team gathered at the end of Wednesday’s practice and the coach called up a shy and slight visitor.
Sam came to the fore of the kneeling group of teenagers and stood next to Pittman. The coach didn’t have to tell his players all of the details about the tumor discovered on Sam’s lung in 2016 or the brutal fight his body went through to rid itself of the cancerous cells. Pittman did remind the players about the autographed helmet that they sent to the little boy, and how much that meant to him during the hardest time of his short life.
On the track behind Sam and the team, volunteers from Neely’s Creek Church set up a cookout buffet line. Pittman asked Sam to pick his favorite football position. Sam thought about it, really thought about it for more than a minute. He picked quarterback and he and the Bearcats QBs got to go first through the hot dog/hamburger line, with the offensive linemen hot on their tails.
Rock Hill’s football struggles the last few years pale greatly in comparison to the suffering that Sam has endured since the tumor was discovered. Pittman pointed out that Sam’s hair was growing back, a great relief to the little football fan who can now wear the Rock Hill Bearcat helmet without it wobbling around and falling over his eyes.
Sam’s visit Wednesday was positive symbolism for the Bearcats, who host their first playoff game in nine years on Friday when Mauldin comes visiting. Both Sam and Rock Hill’s football program are doing better these days.
Harry Cabaniss’ Mauldin Mavericks are a bit of a throwback to the days when Rock Hill football regularly hosted home playoff games. When asked what he’d seen from Mauldin on Hudl, Bearcats linebacking whiz Narii Gaither uttered an ancient and nearly-forgotten term: “I-formation.” Yes, Mauldin will line up in the I and try to smash the ball through Rock Hill Friday night.
“They’re good at what they do,” said Pittman. “It’s assignment football and everybody’s got to be where they’ve got to be. They present a challenge.”
The Mavericks’ backfield triple threat has not been easy to replicate in practice.
“We’ve been spending our week getting to know those guys,” said Pittman.
The first round matchup will be a great test for a Rock Hill program that’s only recently begun to rediscover solid footing. The Bearcats have been extremely good against the run in the last month, but only one of the four teams that they held under 100 yards was a true running team, Fort Mill. Still, it’s not an easy thing to accomplish and if Rock Hill can do anything similar against Mauldin a good result should follow.
“They’ve got a good two-back, I formation,” said Gaither. “We’ve got to get them out of that.”
This year’s playoff bracket may have been the first in four or five years where Bearcat players took a longer glance beyond the first round at possible future matchups. They weren’t disrespecting Mauldin, it just feels like this Rock Hill team has more of a chance, belongs more in this postseason than in the past few.
A win or loss Friday won’t undo the progress Pittman’s group has made this fall and if they need any reminder of that, any perspective, they just need to remember Sam, the little boy that is thrilled to merely be able to put on a Rock Hill High helmet.
This story was originally published November 2, 2017 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Inspirational visitor gives Rock Hill football some perspective ahead of first home playoff game since ‘09."