Nation Ford Falcons overcome mistakes to beat Rock Hill
It wasn’t pretty, but the Nation Ford Falcons closed out the regular season with a 21-7 win over the Rock Hill Bearcats.
After setting a school record with 506 passing yards last week against Clover, senior quarterback Cole Martin continued to lead the Falcons Friday night. Martin came into the game needing just 153 yards to hit the 4,000 mark for the season.
Helping Martin reach that mark was Alex Stennett, who returned this week after missing last week’s game against Clover with a concussion.
Martin hit both Hank Tuipulotu and Jordan Helms on the Falcons’ opening drive. However, several penalties and sacks for losses killed the Nation Ford drive.
Late in the first quarter a Rock Hill punt pinned Nation Ford at the one-yard line. The Falcons took the ball and moved it with ease as Martin hit Stennett for a 36-yard pick up on a 10-play, 99-yard drive setting up a one-yard touchdown run by Rayquwan Taylor to put Nation Ford on the board.
Turning point
In the second half, both the Bearcats and Falcons defense played well enough to stall the momentum of the offenses. Rock Hill’s defense kept Martin flushed from the pocket often in the game as he was picked off twice. Despite the interceptions, the Falcons’ defense was able to keep Rock Hill from taking advantage of turnovers.
About midway through the fourth quarter, Nation Ford was able to put together another scoring drive to go up by two touchdowns as Martin hit Josh Shade for a 20-yard gain, setting up Taylor’s second touchdown of the game.
Critical
Trailing 7-0, Rock Hill took the ball to open the second quarter and went 80-yards in 11 plays which was capped off with a 26-yard touchdown run from Tyler Hoyles.
Nation Ford bounced right back after the Bearcats tied the game and score in just two plays as Martin hit Stennett for a 27-yard touchdown pass after Shade returned the Rock Hill kickoff to the 31-yard line.
Star contributions
Martin passed for 301 yards as Stennett caught nine of those passes for 138 yards. Shade caught five passes for 69 yards and Tuipulotu caught five passes for 65 yards. Taylor rushed for two touchdowns on just five carries in the game.
Overheard
“It was a W,” said Nation Ford head coach Michael Allen. “Our defense played lights out. We found a way to fight through adversity. We found a way to win. This win was huge for us.”
Nation Ford 21, Rock Hill 7
Rock Hill | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | - | 7 |
Nation Ford | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | - | 21 |
Scoring Summary
First quarter
NF – Rayquwan Taylor one-yard run (Lexi Dressing kick), 24.4
Second quarter
RH – Tyler Hoyles 26-yard run (Hudson Gray kick), 8:13
NF – Cole Martin 27-yard pass to Alex Stennett (Dressing kick), 7:25
Fourth quarter
NF – Taylor two-yard run (Dressing kick), 7:19
Team Statistics
RH | NF | |
First downs | 15 | 17 |
Rushes-yards | 34-141 | 20-34 |
Passing | 16-28-0 | 24-40-2 |
Passing yards | 70 | 301 |
Fumbles-lost | 0-0 | 1-0 |
Penalties-yards | 6-40 | 8-64 |
Individual Statistics
RUSHING: Rock Hill: Timothy Sherer 3-6, Dre Robinson 6-23, Kadarrius Baxter 9-36, Tyler Hoyles 8-42, Jared Tucker 5-31, Daishaw King 1-1, Donavan Perryman 1-0, Trevor Pearson 1-2. Nation Ford: Tyree Chaplin 7-33, Cole Martin 7-(-16), Rayquwan Taylor 5-14, Jordan Helms 1-3.
PASSING: Rock Hill: Dre Robinson 12-22-0 67, Jared Tucker 3-5-0 0, Tyler Hoyles 1-1-0 3. Nation Ford: Cole Martin 24-40-2 301.
RECEIVING: Rock Hill: Thailand Adams 4-7, John McCullough 2-2, Cameron Long 1-6, Jared Tucker 4-35, Timothy Sherer 1-4, Trevor Pearson 1-3, Tyler Hoyles 2-16, Kadarrius Baxter 1-(-3). Nation Ford: Hank Tuipulotu 5-65, Alex Stennett 9-138, Jordan Helms 1-17, Josh Shade 5-69, Colby Ridge 2-12, Tyree Chaplin 2-9.
RECORDS: Rock Hill 2-9, 1-5 Region III-4A; Nation Ford 7-4, 4-2 Region III-4A.
On Deck: The regular season is over and the playoffs start Nov. 20 for the Falcons. They will find out who they will play next week.
This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 10:37 PM with the headline "Nation Ford Falcons overcome mistakes to beat Rock Hill."