Rock Hill football falls short against Greenville after late penalty on special teams
The Rock Hill Bearcats led one of the top teams in South Carolina into the fourth quarter Friday night in Rock Hill, but fell victim to some misfortune when it looked like they were about to put the game away.
The result was a 42-yard field goal by Thomas Guerrero with 1:40 left that let the Greenville Red Raiders escape District Three Stadium with a 31-28 win.
The Bearcats led 28-21 and had just forced a three-and-out from Greenville at the Red Raiders’ nine-yard-line with 10:31 left. It was a jailbreak on the punt rush, and it looked like Rock Hill blocked the punt in the end zone as the ball fluttered ten yards down the field. The Bearcats, however, were whistled for roughing the punter.
Rock Hill coach Bubba Pittman said he was told his Bearcats didn’t touch the ball.
“He said we didn’t block it,” Pittman said. “He said we didn’t touch it. I told him that just turned the whole momentum of this football game.”
Instead of having a chance to salt the game away, Rock Hill had to send their defense back onto the field, and the momentum shifted. Greenville drove down and tied the score with 6:31 left, and then won it on the late field goal.
“We’ve got to figure out a way to quit having these close ones,” Pittman said. “We’ve got to put people away. We had opportunities to put them away.”
Sophomore quarterback Matthew Wilson threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers for the Bearcats. Chandler Hayes got the home team on the scoreboard with a four-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter.
The Rock Hill defense forced three turnovers as Isaac Gilmore and Cam Laymon had interceptions and Caleb Myers had a big fumble recovery on a fourth-and-one stop in the third quarter.
Prometheus Franklin had two touchdown passes for the Red Raiders. His scrambling proved elusive, and he was tough to bring down all night.
The Bearcats will travel to play South Pointe next week.
This story was originally published August 21, 2021 at 12:19 AM.