By Jack Veltri
Correspondent
The belief has been there all along. Even as the wins steadily piled up early in the season, it didn’t come as a surprise to Fort Mill football, which always knew it could do special things.
The Yellow Jackets ran through their first five games without much issue, averaging more than 42 points per game. But Friday was set up to be a much bigger, tougher test than anything they had faced all year.
Fort Mill proved to be up to the task but fell just short in a 28-24 loss to Dorman to open Region 2-5A play at Bob Jones Stadium on Oct. 2. The Yellow Jackets’ hopes of an undefeated season are now over as they fall to 5-1 overall and 0-1 in region play with four games remaining.
“These kids know that they’re good enough to beat good teams,” said Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely. “Belief is more than half the battle.”
After Jackets quarterback Harper Love threw an interception on the first play of the game, Fort Mill’s defense responded with an interception of its own, a 16-yard pick-six by senior linebacker Andrew Kowalski within the first 48 seconds of the first quarter.
Dorman responded late in the opening quarter with a 22-yard touchdown from quarterback Cooper Patterson to wide receiver Anthony Peaks to tie the game. But once the second quarter began, it would be all Fort Mill going up until halftime.
After some early offensive struggles, the Jackets found their footing and got into the red zone but couldn’t finish. However, senior kicker Noah Hardy gave them the lead back with a 33-yard field goal.
The Cavaliers then committed a costly fumble in their own territory to give Fort Mill the ball back at the 35-yard line. Love connected with sophomore receiver Greyson Love for a 15-yard touchdown.
Dorman looked primed to make it at worst a one-score game going into the locker room, setting up for a 23-yard field goal. But junior defensive lineman Laike Tolentino got a hand on the ball as time expired to send the Jackets into the half with a 10-point lead.
“That’s what we were supposed to do, right?” McNeely said. “Not really happy. Just 0-0 at halftime.”
But Dorman responded in a big way to open the third quarter, scoring a pair of touchdowns to take its first lead of the game. While Fort Mill’s defense held up well most of the night, one glaring problem was its inability to stop the run. The Cavaliers predominantly relied on their run game and finished with 363 yards on 55 carries.
“We can’t get any bigger before a game — and size does matter,” McNeely said. “But I thought we were physical enough. Just missed some run fits. Both of those backs are really good and slippery, but with the amount of injuries that we had, I know I’m not trying to use an excuse, but these kids just kept stepping up.”
After forcing another Dorman turnover, Fort Mill retook the lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Love to senior receiver Keiran McCormack with 27 seconds to go in the third quarter.
But when the Jackets needed a stop the most, they couldn’t get it. Dorman running back Nick Means, who ran for 269 yards on 36 carries, gave the Cavaliers for good with 6:24 to go in the game.
In the closing minutes, the Jackets managed to get back into the red zone and nearly reclaimed the lead. On a fumbled snap, Love recovered and threw a pass to a wide-open receiver for a touchdown, but the play was wiped out by an ineligible offensive lineman downfield.
Facing fourth-and-goal at the 14-yard line, Love rolled out to his left and fired one last heave into the end zone, but the pass was broken up, turning the ball over on downs to give Dorman a big road victory.
“They’ve been playing well all season. What everybody would say, our first real test of the season,” McNeely said. “But the kids just come to work every day, and we keep things simple for them. They’re not afraid of making any mistakes. We’ve just got to regroup, learn from it and move on.”
It was a gut punch for Fort Mill. Sad faces all around, some with tears in their eyes. Players and coaches all hugged one another after huddling up to break it down following McNeely’s speech.
As McNeely told the players, everything they want to accomplish is still in front of them. But now the Jackets must face something they haven’t encountered all season: real adversity.
“They’re special,” he said. “It is a special group. It takes a lot of courage to walk through the weight room door and definitely a lot of courage to walk through that locker room door every day. It’s what a lot of kids won’t do, right? And they do it every day. We’ll be all right.”
Fort Mill will travel to Spartanburg next Friday, Oct. 9 for a 7:30 p.m. kick looking to get their first region win.
