A decade of gridiron dominance by the Nation Ford Falcons ended on a one-yard touchdown run by Fort Mill’s Broden Mitcheson.
Mitcheson led the Jackets to a 42-35 win over Nation Ford on Halloween for their first win over their rival since 2014. The Falcons had won the past 10 games in the series.
Mitcheson rushed for 213 yards on 39 carries and two touchdowns. He also went over 1,000 yards on the season, the first Fort Mill player in two decades to do so.
“I’m so happy for them,” said Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely. “The first half didn’t look like we could do anything. Broden just kept running. He is an animal. He is a warrior.”
Mitcheson scored with 55 seconds left in the game to break a tie at 35.
The two teams came out like an old Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns fight trading haymakers as they combined for 63 first half points.
The Falcons got the ball to open the game and took advantage quickly.
Nation Ford came out swinging as Kason Canupp hit Jayden Scott in stride for an 80-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game to go up 7-0 just 10 seconds into the game.
Fort Mill came back and scored, but took a little longer to do so. On the Jackets first possession, they went 70-yards in six plays as Jameson Terrell caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Quinn Kelly with 9:29 left in the first quarter. Broden Mitcheson aided the Jackets in the drive with several big runs.
Nation Ford fumbled on their second drive, but was able to recover deep in their own territory which hurt the drive and ended up having to punt.
The punt gave the Jackets the ball at the Falcons’ 39. The short field was aided by Parker DeWolfe’s 31-yard catch getting Fort Mill to the four. Mitcheson scored one play later to give Fort Mill the lead.
Canupp again came out firing as he hit Jamari Gore for a 55-yard pass. That set up a 28-yard touchdown pass to Scott.
Fort Mill kept topping each score by Nation Ford as Kelly found DeWolfe on a 27-yard touchdown pass on just three plays on the Jackets next drive.
Nation Ford opened the second quarter with another touchdown. Canupp hit Scott for a 40-yard pass and then went right back to him for a 5-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
The Falcons forced a Fort Mill punt in their next series and took the ball at their own 27. Nation Ford was able to march back down the field and take the lead on a 7-yard touchdown run by Canupp.
That lead didn’t last long as Kelly found Joseph Duey for a 6-yard catch with 1:09 left in the first half to tie the game at 28. That ended a 12-play drive for the Jackets.
The scoring marathon continued as Canupp threw his fourth touchdown of the first half on a 21-yard strike to Max Sharp with 30 seconds left in the first half.
Nation Ford led at the half 35-28, as Canupp had four first half touchdowns passing and one running. He unofficially accounted for 333 passing yards in the first half alone.
Fort Mill for the ball to open the second half. They took the ball and again put together a long drive going 70-yards to cap it off with a Mitcheson 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 35 after a Noah Hardy extra point with 7:16 left in the third quarter.
Defensively, Fort Mill came away with a stop of Nation Ford leading to a punt by the Falcons.
Fort Mill was forced to punt on their next series, but Nation Ford fumbled and gave the ball back to the Jackets inside the red zone. The Jackets’ got to the one-yard line, but two consecutive bad snaps allowed the Falcons to escape without Fort Mill scoring.
Both teams went into the fourth quarter tied at 35.
Fort Mill drove down to the one-yard line but a penalty and then an interception by Jamison Valentine for the Falcons killed the Jackets drive. The Falcons weren’t able to take advantage of the turnover and punted back to Fort Mill. That would result in the game winning drive for the Jackets by Mitcheson.
Nation Ford struggled in the second half as its offense was not as fluid as it was in the first half.
“We have to execute better,” said Nation Ford head coach Jake Bentley. “We didn’t execute when we needed to.”
Canupp finished going 22-for-31 for 443 yards with four passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown. He also rushed for 54 yards on seven carries. Canupp’s main target in Scott caught nine passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns.
For Fort Mill, Kelly went 13-for-19 for 196 yards and three touchdowns. DeWolfe caught five passes for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Fort Mill improved to 5-5, while the Falcons dropped to 4-6. Both teams finished the region at 1-5. Both teams should make the playoffs, as seedings come out this weekend.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
