A walk-off FG, a first career TD pass: Special moments from Rock Hill football jamboree

Football is (pretty much!) back.

All three high schools in Rock Hill were in preseason action in District Three Stadium on Friday night — a night that saw three exciting games, including one that ended in a whole team storming the field.

Here are a few special moments from the 2021 WRHI Kickoff jamboree.

South Pointe quarterback a great teammate

South Pointe, a 4A power with particular promise in 2021, handled Cox Mill in the first game of the WHRI Kickoff jamboree. The Stallions won, 22-7, by virtue of a first-half deep connection between senior quarterback Zay McCrorey and senior receiver Waymond Jenerrette; a touchdown reception from junior everything-man Khyre Rawlinson; and a deep pass-and-catch between QB Jayce LeFlore and WR Jakhari Webb.

Said quarterback Zay McCrorey on the most memorable moment of the scrimmage for him: “Jayce threw his first touchdown,” the quarterback said with a smile. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound D1 prospect gave his backup QB a hug and Jakhari a chest bump after the score. “You gotta love when your teammates score, man.”

Full postgame comments from head coach DeVonte Holloman: “We’re trying to work on getting off to a faster start. I don’t know what we gotta do to get them going, but we gotta get going faster. … (Khyre Rawlinson) is small in size but big in heart. That kid plays hard. He blocks well. I know everyone sees the pass catches, but he does everything we ask him to do. I think he’s going to have a good season. … We got a lot of long bodies and a lot of size on our defensive line, a place where we took our lumps a little bit last year. … Again we still gotta get better. Northwestern has a solid OL, that’s where its strength is. And we just gotta generally gear up for next week.”

The Stallions open the season against 5A power Northwestern on Saturday, Aug. 21.

Northwestern Will Mattison, Elijah Caldwell connection

Northwestern defeated York, 31-14, in a game otherwise considered highlights galore.

It started with a player of the game QB Will Mattison toss to junior Elijah Caldwell, who ran a fly route and rose up, caught the ball at its peak, was hit mid-air and yet still maintained enough balance to stay on his feet and run it in for six. (Caldwell should add to an already stacked Northwestern receiving corps with seniors Calique Cunningham and Gerrell Watkins.)

Scores poured in from there: There was a Northwestern Kanoah Vinesett kick to push it 10-0; then a York Cougars 96-yard pick six — the play of the night — from Avery Crowder to make it 10-7; then a fumble recovery and score from Tay McCrorey; then a receiving TD from Northwestern’s Jalen Logan; and then, finally, a four-yard punch-in from York running back Javarus Guthrie, who was part of a three-headed monster at running back alongside Frank Thompson and RJ Glasgow on Friday night.

The Trojans also notched three turnovers on the night.

Said York coach Dean Boyd postgame: “We had a great scrimmage last week, kinda were flat today. And it’s not even that flat, it’s just that (Northwestern is) pretty good. You got three turnovers, you have two selfish plays when we had them backed up — you’re looking at a 17-14 game if we play the game we’re supposed to play. So we gotta build off that. Now, the reality is it was 31-14. We got a week to get this right before we play a 5A school.”

York opens the season against Mauldin and then faces archrival Clover.

Said Northwestern coach Page Wofford postgame: “Will (QB) has improved since last year, and it’s good to see. You know he’s a better player… It says a lot about him and about the other guys who are improving around and with him.”

Rock Hill has catharsis after game winner

In the jamboree nightcap, Rock Hill scored 10 unanswered points to defeat Providence. After a winless season — a year of COVID and separation and relative misery — 2021 started with a storm-the-field celebration for the Bearcats.

After starting in a 7-0 deficit after a Providence score in the first half, Rock Hill sophomore quarterback Matthew White found senior receiver Chase Gibson on a crossing route in the red zone to even the score. 7-7.

And then — after a bad punt with less than a minute remaining set the Bearcats up in field goal range — Rock Hill took advantage, scoring via the right leg of Ian Gomez. Players ran after Gomez in celebration and lifted him up on their shoulders for the world to see.

Said Rock Hill head coach Bubba Pittman: “This is just a team win, and so happy for the kids just to overcome some adversity and leave with a good feeling.”

Other scores from York County teams

Four more games were played at Nation Ford in the Battle at the Ford.

Porter Ridge 21, Phillip O‘Berry 7

Cuthbertson 30, Fort Mill 7

Catawba Ridge 7, Charlotte Christian 0

Nation Ford 7, Marvin Ridge 6

Check back for updates with other scores from schools around the Rock Hill area.

This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 11:39 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.