Rock Hill falls in home opener

The Blythewood Bengals spoiled the home opener for Rock Hill Friday night at District Three Stadium.

A 94-yard kick return by Derambez Drinkard answered a Rock Hill touchdown in the second quarter. And a 58-yard punt return by Jaydon Brunson set up a 3-yard Osei Thomas score as the Bengals opened the season with a 27-13 victory over the Bearcats.

The Bengals also converted a fake punt in the first quarter that led to their first score.

“Special teams was definitely the reason we were able to come out with a victory,” Blythewood coach Dan Morgan said. “Rock Hill’s defense just flat-out flies around the field. They do a great job. They really took it to us, and it was tough. The only real difference was special teams.”

Turning point

Blythewood, 5-7 last year, capitalized on a fake punt to score first. Following a 26-yard run by Jordyn Adams, Bengals quarterback David Israel found Kenny Benton down the seam for a 33-yard gain to the Rock Hill 7. Israel ran it in from there, flipping over Jordan Morris at the goal line.

Critical moment

The Bearcats, who went 4-7 last season, had a touchdown called back early in the second quarter because of a block in the back penalty. That negated what would have been a 59-yard touchdown for John McCullough, who broke a tackle around the 15-yard line. The penalty was especially punitive because the Blythewood defense was able to force an incomplete pass on fourth-and-3 from the 26 for a turnover on downs.

Star contributions

Following a touchdown from Thailand Adams, who caught four passes for 74 yards and two scores, the Bearcats celebration was short-lived. Drinkard took the ensuing kickoff 94 yards the other way to give the Bengals a 14-6 advantage with 2:59 remaining in the first half.

Overheard

“We made a bunch of mistakes,” Rock Hill coach Bubba Pittman said. “The kids fought hard and the senior leaders kept pushing guys, just too many missed opportunities. Not to take anything away from Coach Morgan and Blythewood, that’s a very good football team. We knew that coming in and knew that we couldn’t make mistakes and come out of here with a win. Unfortunately, we couldn’t overcome our mistakes.”

Box score

Blythewood 27, Rock Hill 13

Blythewood 7 7 3 10 – 27

Rock Hill 0 6 0 7 – 13

SCORING SUMMARY

First quarter

BHS – David Israel 7 run (Cody Turner kick) 1:35

Second quarter

RH – Thailand Adams 19 pass from Brandon Banks (PAT blocked) 3:14

BHS – Derambez Drinkard 94 kick return (Turner kick) 2:59

Third quarter

BHS – Turner 32-yard field goal 1:13

Fourth quarter

BHS – Osei Thomas 3 run (Turner kick) 8:34

RH – Adams 39 pass from Banks (Hudson Gray kick) 6:16

BHS – Turner 30-yard field goal 2:09

TEAM STATISTICS

BHS RH

First downs 17 12

Rushes-yards 36-117 28-90

Passing 11-17-0 22-35-0

Passing yards 146 280

Fumbles-lost 3-0 4-1

Penalties-yards 9-63 6-55

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Blythewood: Osei Thomas 22-74; David Israel 13-17; Jordyn Adams 1-26. Rock Hill: Timothy Sherer 13-68; Kadarius Baxter 3-11; Brandon Banks 10-9; JoJo Robinson 1-3; Thiland Adams 1-(minus) 1.

PASSING: Blythewood: Israel 11-17-0-0, 146 yards. Rock Hill: Banks 22-34-2-0, 280 yards; Dre Robinson 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING: Blythewood: Kenny Benton 5-66; J. Adams 1-18; Thomas 1-17; Daquan Patten 1-15; Eric Weber 1-13; Trae Churn 1-10; Derambez Drinkard 1-7. Rock Hill: John McCullough 7-88; T. Adams 4-74; Kenny Agurs 3-51; Sherer 3-43; Jonathan Muhammad 4-37; Robinson 1-0.

This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 1:13 AM with the headline "Rock Hill falls in home opener."