Rock Hill Bearcats took motivation from one of the program’s late legends Friday
The Rock Hill Bearcats took a 7-0 lead over Indian Land to the locker room Friday night, then didn’t return to the field until just 35 seconds remained on the halftime clock.
A million thoughts probably raced through everyone’s mind about what was being said inside those walls. Bearcat coach Bubba Pittman challenged his players to remember one of Rock Hill’s athletic legends.
The Bearcats responded.
Rock Hill piled up more than 500 yards of offense Friday night, riding a 95-yard touchdown sprint from Narii Gaither that sparked a second-half outburst and guided the Bearcats to a 34-7 win over Indian Land at District 3 Stadium.
“I challenged the guys, and told them, hey, let’s make this second half for Rev (Reverend Frances McCrae, the Rock Hill team chaplain) and for Mitchell Jeter,” said Pittman. Jeter was a former Bearcat star athlete who was killed in an automobile accident one year ago this weekend. “The guys really took to that, and came out and played really, really hard.”
The first half was choppy and chippy, as the Bearcats tallied 12 penalties for 125 yards. Three of those infractions nullified long gains for Rock Hill, with two kick returns and a 74-yard Narii Gaither sprint falling victim.
As the second quarter neared its end, a long Indian Land pass attempt drew both a pass interference penalty and an unsportsmanlike conduct flag on the Rock Hill sideline. A field goal attempt for the visitors at the final horn was not to be as the officials ruled the clock did not start on time and waved the teams off the field.
The Bearcats came out of the locker room looking much more like what Pittman expected in the first half.
Gaither took the first play of the first Bearcat possession of the second half, cleared the left side and ran 95 yards to pay dirt. Only one Rock Hill play elapsed on the next possession before another huge connection, as Hayden Jackson found Antonio Barber on a slant route that the Tennessee commit took 65 yards to the house.
Indian Land (2-2) found a bit of a break on offense late in the third quarter, getting a 75-yard pass from Greyson Barber to Tyree Sistare that moved the Warriors inside the five. Jaquese Tinsley then took the next handoff and rumbled four yards to the end zone to cut the margin to 20-7.
Rock Hill (2-2) put away the game from there. Barber took a wildcat snap early in the fourth quarter, rolled left, found an Indian Land roadblock, then reversed course and went 23 yards to the paint. A one-yard sneak from Jackson capped the scoring, putting the finishing touches on a huge night.
Pittman spoke proudly of his team regaining focus after last week’s loss at Chester.
“We had a really good week of practice,” said Pittman. “We adjusted some things this week in our practice schedule, and got back to more normalcy, and I think the kids played better.”
Turning point
The Gaither run just over two minutes into the second half really set the tone for the result. Gaither got a strong seal block on the left side of the line that freed the Bearcats’ home run hitter, and he went virtually untouched to the end zone.
“Those guys did a good job right there, sealing that edge off on that side,” said Pittman of his line. We had A.J. Johnson over there on that side and Tyrek Banks was on that side, and those guys sealed the edge off and allowed us to get down the sideline.”
Critical
Noah Thompson turned in a workmanlike performance for the Bearcats, going for over 130 yards on 16 carries, and gaining a lot of traction between the tackles. Pittman praised the senior for his tough running.
“Noah’s a workhorse, man. You put that ball in his hands, and he just finds yards that aren’t there,” stated Pittman. “Noah’s our 1-2 punch. Narii’s our number one punch, and he’s our number two punch, and he runs just as hard.”
Star contributors
Gaither and Thompson combined for over 330 rushing yards in the victory. The two nearly equally split carries, with Gaither eclipsing the 200-yard mark, thanks to the long touchdown run. Hayden Jackson threw for over 130 yards and a score, adding another on the ground. Barber hauled in four passes for 88 yards, to go with the rushing score. Cornerback/safety Anthony Jackson picked off two Indian Land throws. Jacob Cooley caught four balls for 50 yards for the Warriors, with Sistare’s 75-yard snag and run setting up the lone Indian Land score.
On deck
Indian Land travels to Nation Ford next Friday; Rock Hill is at York. Both games are slated for a 7:30 start.
Box score
Rock Hill 34, Indian Land 7
Indian Land 0;0;7;0;-;7
Rock Hill 7;0;13;14;-;34
SCORING SUMMARY
First quarter
RH – Tay Anthony 35 pass from Hayden Jackson (Ethan Dutton kick) 8:52.
Second quarter
N/A
Third quarter
RH – Narii Gaither 95 run (conversion failed) 9:54
RH – Antonio Barber 65 pass from Jackson (Dutton kick) 3:24
IL – Jaquese Tinsley 4 run (Brandon Dickerson kick) 2:17.
Fourth quarter
RH – Barber 23 run (Dutton kick) 11:03
RH – Jackson 1 run (Dutton kick) 3:35.
TEAM STATISTICS
IL;RH
First downs;6;16
Rushes-yards;24-51;41-354
Passing;8-17-2;9-21-0
Passing yards;127;158
Fumbles-lost;0-0;2-1
Penalties-yards;1-10;14-145
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Indian Land: Tyree Sistare 3-2; Brandon Britton 11-32; Greyson Barber 3-(minus) 1; T.J. Thomas 4-12; Jaquese Tinsley 3-6. Rock Hill: Narii Gaither 17-202; Hayden Jackson 6-(minus) 3; Noah Thompson 16-135; CJ Ellerbe 1-(minus) 3; Antonio Barber 1-23.
PASSING: Indian Land: Barber 8-17-2-127 yards. Rock Hill: Jackson 8-18-0-136 yards; Jordan Thurman 1-3-0-22 yards.
RECEIVING: Indian Land: Britton 2-(minus) 5; Caleb Wallace 1-7; Jacob Cooley 4-50; Tyree Sistare 1-75. Rock Hill: Tay Anthony 2-48; Barber 4-88; Thompson 1-(minus) 3; Ellerbe 1-3; Tavin Jackson 1-22.
RECORDS Indian Land 2-2, Rock Hill 2-2.
This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 10:33 PM.