Why and how Fort Mill football is focusing on winning before the 2021 season starts

Football is a sport of wins and losses. For Fort Mill High School, wins need to come before the team ever takes the field in the fall.

The Yellow Jackets finished the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign 0-7 (0-3 Region 3-5A), surrendering 211 points over their final four games. With a new season, though, comes new focus — and new opportunity.

“It’s incremental. It’s just trying to win every day,” said Fort Mill coach Rob McNeely after a recent morning workout. “It’s just breaking it down into every rep in the weight room, every rep out here in inside run, 7-on-7, every drill … We’re trying to get into our players’ heads that all this hard work they’re doing right now is not for nothing. The future is watching them in everything they do.”

As McNeely looks out from under his bucket hat at his team, he sees plenty of potential. The ability to take the next step — or “one more,” as one of McNeely’s assistants used as a teaching session to close that recent practice — and conquer challenges is what he needs to see.

“We’ve just gotta learn how to fight through everything. Adversity, every team’s gonna experience it,” said McNeely, adding, “It’s gonna happen. We don’t want it to — knock on wood — but every team’s gonna experience that somehow. It’s just how you respond.”

Lineman Marcus Boston Brinkley epitomizes how McNeely hopes his Yellow Jackets will respond to challenges. The senior captain has a 4.5-plus GPA and holds collegiate offers from Brown, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Dartmouth, Furman, Howard and Pennsylvania. A fellow standout senior, Miller Shouse, joins Boston Brinkley to form a formidable front wall on defense.

“We’ve gotta have a win mentality. No matter what the score is or no matter what the challenge is, you’ve just gotta have that mindset that you can do it and that you’re gonna work to be able to get there and achieve the goal,” said Boston Brinkley.

Boston Brinkley joins returning quarterback Kyle Neibch and wide receiver/defensive back JJ Ogwal as McNeely’s appointed leaders. The seniors are clear on what is expected of them in helping to set a winning culture in Bob Jones Stadium.

“We’ve just gotta be more vocal,” Ogwal said. “They expect more from you, so you’ve gotta step up, and whatever comes with it, you’ve gotta be able to handle it.”

Neibch added: “We’re a pretty young team, so obviously, with us being seniors, we’ve gotta take a voice at the top and get people motivated and buying into the program. This year, we can be great, and for years in the future, we’ve gotta set the example, as well.”

Key pieces for Fort Mill football in 2021

Part of the example the Yellow Jackets will look to set will come on the offensive side of the ball. The team will feature a new look on offense, with Neibch’s arm and feet serving as a catalyst. (Running back Will Alvarado, who was an All-Region selection as a freshman last season, is now at cross-town Nation Ford.)

“It’s a big change, but I think all of us are really getting used to it and understanding it. We’ve got more time to work on it, so we should be fine.” Neibch said. “It’s probably more in-depth than last year’s (offense). There’s a lot more different actions going on at a time, and it’s going to be hard for opponents to really grasp onto that concept, so that’s what we’re looking forward to.”

The new offense won’t be the only change for the Jackets in the 2021 season. In fact, “finish” might be the key word.

“I think it’s just buying in. There were a few games (last year) where we were up early, and the second half came and we just fell apart,” Neibch said. “If we can just stick with it for four quarters, we’ll be fine.”

‘There’s no magic formula’

Senior Joe Schepler will provide the punts and placements for the Yellow Jackets, another nod to detail. Schepler was a finalist for last season’s Tri-County 5A Special Teams Player of the Year award and is drawing interest from several FBS programs.

The Yellow Jackets’ first opportunity to right the ship in the 2021 season comes August 20, just a few miles down the Fort Mill Bypass at Catawba Ridge. The Copperheads aren’t getting any special attention due to proximity and familiarity — rather, the Yellow Jackets have another foe in mind: themselves.

“We’re gonna lean on those guys, our upperclassmen, to be tired of losing. This new crop of guys coming up from our JV team, those guys aren’t used to losing a lot. We’ve gotta bring a winning mentality to this program,” McNeely said.

“It’s based on us executing what we need to do. It’s about Fort Mill not beating Fort Mill, being the best team we can be, focusing up on every play, and having a next-play mentality. We can’t beat ourselves. There’s no luck in it. There’s no magic formula. It is just to work harder and care more.”

This story was originally published August 2, 2021 at 7:00 AM.