Fort Mill Yellow Jackets fall in first-round playoff game
Lexington made sure its first home playoff game in four years wasn’t its last this season.
Slade Carroll ran for three touchdowns and the Wildcats scored 35 first-half points on their way to a 45-14 win over Fort Mill on Friday in the first round of the Class 4A Division II playoffs. Lexington will host Blythewood in the second round next week.
The Wildcats defeated Blythewood 21-20 on Sept. 4.
Carroll, Lexington’s senior running back, ran for 176 yards and went over 4,000 yards for his career. He ran for 153 yards in the first half as Lexington scored 28 consecutive points, capped off by Matthew Boring’s 20-yard interception return to lead 35-7.
Wildcats quarterback Brandon Blake was 12-of-15 for 120 yards and a touchdown in the first half. Blake didn’t play in the second half and Carroll only was in a few series before the starters were pulled for the rest of the game.
TURNING POINT
With score tied at 7 in the first quarter, Carroll scored on a 20-yard run to give Lexington a 14-7 lead. From there the Wildcats’ defense kept the Yellow Jackets at bay until late in the fourth quarter.
KEY PERFORMERS
Slade Carroll: Carried ball 22 times for 176 yards and three touchdowns.
Brett Ferguson: Fort Mill back led team with 96 yards rushing.
KEY NUMBERS
501: Total yards by Lexington
11: Consecutive wins by the Wildcats since the opening loss to Westside.
HOW THEY SCORED
First Quarter
L – Carroll 28 run (Tinsley kick), 7:35
FM – Ferguson 9 pass from Wells (Sheets kick), 5:31
L – Carroll 20 run (Tinsley kick), 2:23
Second Quarter
L – Carroll 20 run (Tinsley kick), 9:34
L – Wells 26 pass from Blake (Tinsley kick), 5:45
L – Boring 20 interception return (Tinsley kick), 1:56
Third quarter
L – Tinsley 34 FG, 7:38
Fourth quarter
L – McGee 17 run (Tinsley kick), 11:24
FM – Jarosz 1 pass from Wells (Sheets kick), 7:21 left
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: FM: Hughes 8-84, Ferguson 12-96, Wells 6-8, Helms 3-29. L: Carroll 22-176, Green 7-49, Davis 6-34, Baker 3-13.
Passing: FM: Wells 5-10-1 43, Helms 3-8-0 56. L: Blake 12-15-0 120, Baker 6-9-0 88
Receiving: FM: Helms 2-16, Hughes 2-39, Ferguson 1-9, Jarosz 2-29. L: Graves 3-37, Hopper 3-31, Wells 3-34, Rumph 3-51
This story was originally published November 21, 2015 at 12:57 AM with the headline "Fort Mill Yellow Jackets fall in first-round playoff game."