Fort Mill, Nation Ford in annual Milltown Showdown. One side earned bragging rights
The Nation Ford Falcons struck early and often as they capitalized on mistakes by the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets to get a 42-20 win in the annual Milltown Showdown rivalry game.
Coming into the game the teams were trending in different directions.
Nation Ford (4-3, 2-0 Region 3-5A) started region play off by beating Clover 23-20 last week, while Fort Mill lost in one of its most lopsided games ever played to Rock Hill 71-0.
Injuries and the inability to stop the run has plagued Fort Mill (1-7, 0-2 Region 3-5A) most of the season. While they have had bright moments, consistency is something that has been lacking.
Nation Ford seems to be playing with a new purpose and wants to repeat as region champs, but this time do so outright without having to share the title with another team like they did last season.
“We wanted them to come with a lot of energy,” said Nation Ford head coach Michael Allen. “We made a lot of mistakes, but I think our kids continued to push forward. We are going to have to cut down on penalties.”
This particular game, known for its intensity, had a seven man officiating crew, which is normally reserved for playoff games.
Fort Mill got the ball first and gave Nation Ford a safety to open the game as they snapped the ball on fourth down over punter Kyle Romenick’s head and out the back of the end zone. Nation Ford was able to keep the momentum going in their direction as they moved the ball well on their first series, but could only get a 30-yard field goal out of it from Quinn Castner.
Fort Mill was able to move the ball better as the first quarter progressed and got into the red zone with a 25-yard run from Sebastian Lach, but was unable to get into the end zone settling for a 36-yard field goal from Ben Rich.
Nation Ford scored the first touchdown of the contest with about three minutes left in the first quarter as Nathan Mahaffey scored on a one-yard run, capping off a six play, 40-yard drive.
In the second half, the teams traded punts on their first series, but Nation Ford made the most of their second series as Mahaffey scored his second touchdown of the game on a 55-yard run up the middle to extend the lead on the first play from scrimmage.
“The atmosphere was great,” Mahaffey said. “I feel really good. I feel like we are going to do well the rest of the season.”
A bright spot for Fort Mill in the second half was a 52-yard pass play from quarterback Dylan Helms to D’Angelo Coit that got the Jackets into the red zone. The Jackets would score two plays later as Helms hit Cam Saunders for a 12-yard touchdown.
Turning point
A fumble by Fort Mill about midway through the second quarter gave the Falcons the ball on the Jackets 32-yard line. Nation Ford then proceeded to go seven plays scoring as quarterback Wayde Prince connected with Dewuan McCullum for a 19-yard touchdown to extend the Falcons lead to 16 over Fort Mill at that point making it 19-3.
Critical
Fort Mill shot themselves in the foot several times in the first quarter with three 10 plus yard penalties that allowed Nation Ford to advance their field position increasing the chances they would score. The Falcons would score on three separate occasions in the first quarter.
Nation Ford also benefited from a Fort Mill fumble in the second quarter, where they would eventually score as well. Fort Mill also ended up giving up a couple second half turnovers, which eventually led to Nation Ford scoring.
Star contributors
Nation Ford was led on offense by Mahaffey who rushed for 151 yards on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns. McCullum caught five passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns for the Falcons as well. Lach led Fort Mill’s offense rushing 81 yards and Helms passed for 144 yards in the loss for Fort Mill.
On deck
Fort Mill will have a bye next week, while Nation Ford will travel to District III stadium to play Northwestern and looks to beat them for the second consecutive season.
Box score
Nation Ford 42, Fort Mill 20
Fort Mill 3;0;7;10;-;20
Nation Ford 12;7;17;6;-;42
Scoring Summary
First quarter
NF - Safety, 10:43
NF- Quinn Castner 30 field goal, 7:53
FM - Ben Rich 36 field goal, 4:42
NF - Nathan Mahaffey 1 run (Castner kick), 3:03
Second quarter
NF- Dewuan McCullum 19 pass from Wayde Prince (Castner kick), 4:01
Third quarter
NF - Mahaffey 55 run (Castner kick), 8:36
FM - Cam Saunders 12 pass from Dylan Helms (Rich kick), 5:46
NF - Castner 25 field goal, 2:20
NF - Mahaffey 14 run (Castner kick), 1:02
Fourth quarter
FM - Rich 29 field goal, 11:03
NF - McCullum 58 pass from Prince (kick failed), 9:42
FM - Sebastian Lach 8 run (Rich kick), 6:12
Team Statistics
FM; NF
First downs 14;10
Rushes/yards 39-43;29-144
Passing 13-28-2;12-19-0
Passing yards 162;170
Fumbles/lost 1-1;1-1
Penalties/yards 10-57;15-139
Individual Statistics
RUSHING Fort Mill: Sebastian Lach 24-81, Dylan Helms 6-(-8), Ben Kellam 1-3, Cam Saunders 1-1, D’Angelo Coit 1-1, Connor Rasmussen 2-(-16), Caleb Smith 3-14, Team 1-(-23). Nation Ford: Nathan Mahaffey 19-151, Wayde Prince 6-(-3), Dewuan McCullum 3-3, Tyler Nelson 1-(-7).
PASSING Fort Mill: Helms 11-24-1 144, Rasmussen 2-4-1 18. Nation Ford: Prince 12-18-0 170, Nelson 0-1-0 0.
RECEIVING Fort Mill: Coit 2-64, Saunders 4-59, Kellam 3-20, Xavier Easterlin 2-12, Tearance Darby 1-5, Elijah Champagne 1-12. Nation Ford: McCullum 5-101, Mahaffey 1-3, Harrison Cohen 1-2, Petey Tuipulotu 2-40, Kaleb Starnes 1-9, Quinton Jackson 2-15.
RECORDS Fort Mill 1-7, 0-2 Region 3-5A; Nation Ford 4-3, 2-0 Region 3-5A.
This story was originally published October 5, 2018 at 11:18 PM.