CLOVER – The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets football team gave up four turnovers and struggled to maintain much momentum on offense in a 33-3 road loss at region rival Clover Monday night.
Four different Blue Eagles scored touchdowns in the one-sided matchup.
It had been a long road to gameday. Both Fort Mill and Clover had waited four days to play the game, which was originally scheduled for Friday, but was postponed until Saturday and then Monday due to a lack of power at Memorial Stadium because of Tropical Storm Helene in the York County area.
Fort Mill quarterbacks Broden Mitcheson and Quinn Kelly combined for a stat line of 9-of-20 for 92 passing yards and two interceptions.
With the loss, Fort Mill drops to 1-4 on the season, including an 0-2 start to Region 3-5A play. Clover improves to 4-2, 1-1 in region.
Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely said both Mitcheson and Kelly bring something different to the Yellow Jackets’ offense, but he’ll focus on strengthening the offensive line to give them more protection. The Yellow Jackets suffered seven sacks throughout the night.
“We’ve got to be better up front,” McNeely said. “Whether we change the snap counts, we’ve got to do anything we need to help the offensive line. It doesn’t matter how well the quarterback throws it, how good the route of the receiver is, we’ve got to have the protection up front.”
Clover was rolling from the start, thanks to a couple of Stones: brothers Landon and Grady. The running back duo paced the Blue Eagles on the ground, while quarterbacks Aaron Shealey and Brody Woolbright took turns under center.
Landon Stone took advantage of a 34-yard chunk play on Clover’s first drive to set up Shealey to push his way into the end zone from 4-yards out and earn a quick 6-0 lead.
Sophomore backup quarterback Broden Mitcheson started for Fort Mill but struggled to gain momentum against a strong Clover pass defense.
Clover scored a 34-yard field goal to extend its lead to 9-0. On Fort Mill’s second drive of the night, Mitcheson reached the Clover 36, but fumbled a pitch pass backward to a running back, leading to a fumble. Mitcheson left the field with an injury and did not return for the rest of the first half.
Three plays later, Clover’s Landon Stone dashed in to score from 23 yards out to give the Blue Eagles a 16-0 advantage.
Kelly took control under center for Fort Mill, quickly finding wide receiver Tanner Mays, who had 50 yards on three catches, streaking down the far sideline, but the wide receiver fumbled deep in Clover territory, negating what would have been the Yellow Jackets’ best play so far of the night.
“We were behind the sticks a lot to begin with,” McNeely said. “That’s on me and the coaching staff to handle that. We’ve got to have more self-discipline, more mental toughness.”
Clover penned in Fort Mill deep in its own territory when Kelly was sacked for a 14-yard loss. Returner TJ McCluney broke a tackle on a punt return and helped set the Blue Eagles up on Fort Mill’s 34 with about four minutes left.
And it only took a few plays before Shealey found Cameron James for a 32-yard rainbow pass that fell into James’ hands despite a Fort Mill defensive double-team. The Blue Eagles took a 26-0 lead into halftime.
Kelly was picked off on Fort Mill’s first drive of the second half by Clover’s Jatavis Byrd. The Blue Eagles took control of the ball deep in Fort Mill territory, leading Maddox to attempt a 26-yard field goal, but the effort missed wide.
Mitcheson then re-entered the game on the next drive, but his second play was picked off when his pass hit Mays and popped up into a Clover defender’s hands.
The Blue Eagles orchestrated an 11-play, 61-yard drive that lasted nearly four minutes before running back Grady Stone scored Clover’s final touchdown of the night from a yard out.
Fort Mill had its best field position of the night when a Yellow Jackets’ punt hit a Clover defender, giving Fort Mill a chance to start from the Clover 30 with 2:49 left in the third quarter.
With Mitcheson back under center, the sophomore used his legs to pick up important plays. On fourth and 4 at the Clover 9, Mitcheson rolled right before reversing field to find Mays wide open on the far end of the end zone, but a holding call negated what would have been the lone Fort Mill touchdown. That led to kicker Noah Hardy converted a 34-yard field goal as a consolation to make it 33-3.
Mitcheson kept using his feet on Fort Mill’s lone fourth-quarter drive. He employed several quarterback keepers to lead the Yellow Jackets from their own 24 down to the Clover 29, but a combination of Kelly and Mitcheson couldn’t connect with receivers, and Fort Mill turned the ball over on downs with about four minutes left to play.
McNeely said he would focus the short week on getting better.
“Learning heart,” he said. “We’ve got heart and effort, that’s never not going to be the case. Our kids just have to learn and be ready to play.”
Fort Mill will next host Rock Hill on Friday, Oct. 4 at home with the game slated for a 7:30 p.m. kick.
