Dorman holds off Rock Hill fight-back

The only thing that really stopped Tyrek Long was a loose shoelace.

Dorman’s defense caused turnovers that set up a couple of short-field touchdowns in the first half Friday night and the Cavaliers held on to beat Rock Hill, 24-17.

Long made an interception on the first possession, deep in the Bearcats’ territory. He went down in the open field at the 15-yard line.

“I should’ve scored,” Long said. “I tripped on my shoestring.”

Dorman quarterback Collin Hill connected with Diquan Green for a 16-yard touchdown, however, and the Cavaliers were off to a good start.

“It was important,” Long said. “We wanted to get the offense close to the end zone so we could score.”

Just before halftime, Wesley Robinson of Dorman caused a fumble that was recovered by Quincy Nash with about three minutes left until the break. The Cavaliers had time for two touchdowns, in fact. Hill connected with Long on a 40-yarder and after the Cavaliers forced a quick three-and-out, Hill was at it again, throwing a 13-yard score to Eli Buckley for a 21-7 lead at the break.

Dorman improved to 4-0, while Rock Hill dropped to 1-3. The Bearcats, though, came back and made it 21-14 with 9:18 on the second touchdown pass from Brandon Banks to John McCullough. They added a field goal by Hudson Gray with 2:21 left to cut the lead to three.

“Going into the game, we knew it was going to be tough,” Dorman head coach David Gutshall said. “…This is the kind of game we thought it would be.”

Long was not only key on defense but also had seven catches for 163 yards and the score. He also returned punts and kickoffs.

“Right now, he’s our weapon,” Gutshall said. “We’ve got to get somebody else to step up. …It’s almost child abuse. We don’t take him off the field. I don’t think people realize what a special player he is.”

Shanard Bain rushed for 101 yards and 26 carries for Dorman. Davis Rogers had a 27-yard field goal to give the Cavaliers a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter.

This story was originally published September 11, 2015 at 11:29 PM with the headline "Dorman holds off Rock Hill fight-back."