The Nation Ford Falcons quarterback Carson Black made the most of his debut in the red and black as he led his team to a 45-20 win over the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets.
Both teams started the COVID-19 era of high school football Friday night as Nation Ford and Fort Mill opened the 2020 season playing against each other. Their rivalry was the 14th game in the series with the Jackets coming in with a slight 7-6 edge over the Falcons. The rivalry usually is played in the middle of the season or towards the end, but with the coronavirus, the game opened Region 3-5A for both teams.
After a close first half, the Falcons scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to pull away from Fort Mill. Black led Nation Ford going 17-of-29 for 257 yards and four touchdowns. His main target was Jerrick Foster who caught four passes for 75 yards and two of those touchdowns.
“We had a lot of penalties in the first half and had a lot to clean up,” said Nation Ford head coach Michael Allen. “I was really proud of our guys energy. They fought through all that adversity and continued to play.”
Fort Mill won the toss and failed to do anything on their opening series of the game. Nation Ford was a little more productive getting a first down, but then again wasn’t able to do more than that.
Nation Ford got on the board first with a safety from Bryce Webb for the Falcons to put them up 2-0 with eight minutes left in the quarter.
The Falcons’ Dylan Fordham used a big rush on the next series to get Nation Ford into the red zone scrambling for 31 yards on the run. That set up an eight-yard touchdown pass from Black to Callan Sobas to put them up 9-0 with 6:35 left in the quarter. Black led the Falcons with three touchdown passes in the first half.
Fort Mill started getting their offense going toward the end of the opening quarter as penalties for Nation Ford aided the Jackets putting them at the 30-yard line. The Jackets drive stalled giving the ball back to Nation Ford on the 19-yard line.
The Falcons took the drive and moved the ball down the field in six plays going 81-yards to score a 28-yard touchdown from Black to Foster putting them up 15-0.
The Jackets offense started clicking in the second quarter as they went to Michael Threatt, who led Fort Mill on a 79-yard, 12-play drive ending in a one-yard touchdown to open the second quarter.
Both teams struggled in the second quarter with controlling the football as each had a turnover. Each team also had a handful of penalties throughout the first half as well. The penalties aided Nation Ford with about four minutes left in the first half as Black hit Quadier Hand for a 50-yard touchdown to put the Falcons up 21-7.
Fort Mill came right back going 92-yards in 14-plays to score and cut into the Falcons’ lead as quarterback Kyle Neibch found Gabe Tooper in the back of the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown with nine seconds left in the half.
Nation Ford opened the second half scoring on the third play of the half only to have the play reversed on a penalty. The penalty was just a stop-gap measure in the early going as the Falcons were able to regroup and move the ball down the field where Black threw his fourth touchdown of the game, this time to Foster to again put Nation Ford up by two scores.
Fordham would get in on the scoring as he would score on the next series for Nation Ford with a 16-yard run with about 5:30 left in the quarter. Fordham would rush the ball for 13 times for 101 yards and a touchdown.
In the fourth quarter, Nation Ford’s Evan Cox hit a 34-yard field goal for the Falcons and running back Will Alvarado scored for Fort Mill on a 25-yard run with about four minutes left in the game.
Leading the way for Fort Mill was Neibch, who threw for 202 yards on 22-of-36 passing and touchdown Alvarado rushed for 51 yards on six carries. Joshua Sturgeon was the leading receiver for the Jackets with 47 catches for eight yards.
“Offensively we can’t shoot ourselves in the foot,” said Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely. “They got the plays they needed too. We have got to know us, our offense and our defense. We have got to get good at what we do.”
Up next for Nation Ford is a road trip to Boiling Springs, while Fort Mill will host Clover in their first home game of the season.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QUARTER
NF – Bryce Webb Safety, 8:00
NF – Carson Black eight-yard pass to Callan Sobas, 6:35
NF – Black 28-yard pass to Jerrick Foster, 2:05
2nd QUARTER
FM – Michael Threatt one-yard run, 9:09
NF – Black 50-yard pass to Quadier Hand, 4:35
FM – Kyle Neibch 15-yard pass to Gabe Tooper, 0:09
3rd QUARTER
NF – Black 34-yard pass to Foster, 9:14
NF – Dylen Fordham 16-yard run, 5:30
NF – Steven McFadden one-yard run
4TH QUARTER
NF – Evan Cox 34-yard field goal, 11:46
FM – Will Alvarado 25-yard run, 3:53
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
