At long last! Rock Hill earns first victory since 2019 with dramatic win over Clover

Six hundred and 94 days is a long time.

The horn sounded Friday night at Memorial Stadium in Clover. The crowd roared. Players rushed the field. One even did a cartwheel.

As the postgame huddle formed, though, one exclamation told the story.

“It’s over with!” the player exclaimed.

Rock Hill scored to take the lead with 24 seconds remaining Friday night at Clover Memorial Stadium, putting an emphatic period on the nearly 23 months the Bearcats spent without a win. The final: Rock Hill 23, Clover 20.

“It’s huge,” said Rock Hill coach Bubba Pittman after the game. “For them to get a win and to get it in that fashion, where so many times their backs have been against the wall — they’ve fought and fought and fought ...”

Pittman then stopped to compose himself, clearly overcome with emotion.

“To come back with a long drive right there to win it ... it was a total team effort. The kids just keep believing and keep playing. I’m so proud of them.”

Clover (1-3) struck first on offense, with Elijah Farmer scampering into the end zone from six yards away to give the Blue Eagles a 6-0 edge just shy of five minutes into the game. The visiting Bearcats equalized just over six minutes later, as Jyierre Edwards scooped a blocked punt and went untouched for 16 yards down the right sideline into the end zone.

Rock Hill (1-3, 0-1 Region 4-5A) cracked the tied game on its first series of the second quarter, with Luke Bracey pulling in an acrobatic 10-yard touchdown throw from Matthew Wilson in the right corner to afford his side a 13-6 margin. The Bearcats extended the lead four minutes later when Mateo Mayon knocked through a 34-yard field goal try to push the score to 16-6.

Clover knifed the deficit to two as the game neared halftime. DeMarco Evans grabbed an option pitch and sprinted 12 yards to the paint. A successful two-point conversion try provided the halftime score.

The Blue Eagles presented the lone serious offensive challenge in the third period, driving all the way to the Bearcat 6. Clover tried a field goal but was unable to get the attempt in the air as Rock Hill stopped the try and forced a turnover on downs.

“To stop them right there — they had the ball first-and-goal. To get in there and make those plays, it was huge,” Pittman said. “We’ve got really good defensive players over there and they just stepped up in that moment and made the play that we all knew they could make.”

Clover found its biggest offensive play of the night with just under nine minutes remaining, as Joe Boyd stepped up through a crowded pocket and hit a streaking Jy Martin down the right sideline for a 66-yard score. The sudden change reinvigorated the Blue Eagles.

How did Pittman address the change on his sideline?

“I didn’t really say anything to them,” Pittman said. “It’s not what I said. It’s what they went out there and did. They went out there and played hard.”

The final Bearcat drive of the night proved to be arguably the most fruitful.

Rock Hill marched down the field methodically and worked their way inside the 10. A run play got the Bearcats to the 2, then another a yard closer. Then, on fourth down, sophomore quarterback Matthew Wilson lined up under center, took the snap, followed his line and made the cathartic winning plunge into the end zone.

“Those guys up front — all of them up there, those guys up there played their tails off. I’m so proud of the whole offensive line. They played together as a unit,” Pittman said. “They kept Matt off the ground, and gave us a chance to win the football game. We knew going into it we were gonna ride them and run the football, and they answered the call.”

“Hats off to them. They got a big fourth down right there, going in on the scoring drive. That kind of sealed the deal,” commented Clover head coach Brian Lane. “We were expecting a quarterback keeper. We got a good push up front. He didn’t go anywhere, he just bounced and didn’t go down. He bounced it outside where nobody was. Everybody was pinching.

“He’s a great athlete. He bounced outside and got in there.”

Wilson finished the game with 12 carries for 17 yards, including the game-winning score. The Bearcats rushed nearly 35 times in the contest, with sophomore Damion Fee tallying 50 yards on 10 carries to pace the visitors. Bracey grabbed two passes for 20 yards and the touchdown.

Boyd threw for 281 yards in the defeat, hitting on 22 of 36 tries and recording the touchdown to Martin. Martin led the Blue Eagles with 97 receiving yards on four grabs, helping to fill in for star receiver Darius Bowser, who missed the game with a minor injury.

Rock Hill snapped a 10-game losing streak that dated back to 2019.

Both sides will continue on to region play. Clover will be off next week, then host Fort Mill to begin Region 3-5A play on Oct. 8. Rock Hill travels to Spring Valley next Friday in Region 4-5A play. Both contests will kick off at 7:30 p.m.

This story was originally published September 25, 2021 at 12:00 AM.