After holding a slim first half lead, the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets came out like a team possessed and worked their way to their first win in almost two years with a 25-15 win over the Lugoff-Elgin Demons.
Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely fought back tears after the game as the Jackets improved to 1-3 overall on the season.
“It is a long time coming,” he said. “I am happy for these guys and coaching staff. I was really proud of our defense. When you lose, you learn what it takes to win. Hopefully this shows us what it takes to win.”
Fort Mill owns the series against Lugoff-Elgin coming into the game with a 17-5 record against the Demons, but the teams have split the past four games, with the last win for Fort Mill coming in 2021 with a 21-13 victory on the road. It was also their last win in nearly two years for the Jackets before Friday. With the win Friday night for Fort Mill, it ends an 18-game losing streak.
Fort Mill was led by sophomore quarterback Quinn Kelly who picked up where he left off last week leading the Jackets. Kelly was 9-for-20 for 156 yards and two touchdowns. His main target was Jackson Smith who caught four passes for 59 yards and two touchdowns.
McNeely had high praise for his quarterback who was sacked multiple times in the game and rushed for 44 yards on 14 carries.
“He is tough,” McNeely said. “He had some big plays. He has heart.”
Lugoff Elgin received the opening kick starting at their own 16-yard line. On the first play of the game, Fort Mill got an unsportsmanlike penalty pushing the Demons across the 30. Despite the early penalty, the Fort Mill defense held strong and forced a punt.
Fort Mill got a first down on their first possession with a 15-yard penalty from Lugoff-Elgin putting them at midfield. Two plays later, Kelly rushed 48 yards for a touchdown, but had the play scratched on a holding penalty by the Jackets.
Fort Mill was aided on offense by the Demons penalties and started their second drive of the game at the Lugoff-Elgin 28-yard line. Despite the good starting position, Fort Mill struggled to get into the end zone as both teams moved back and forth up and down the field because of penalties. Kelly was finally able to make something happen lofting a pass to Smith for a 15-yard touchdown reception with about 2:42 left in the opening quarter.
The Jackets ended the first quarter with a Jaylin Chambers interception to get the ball back to open the second quarter.
After trading punts, Fort Mill fumbled giving the ball back to Lugoff-Elgin at the 22-yard line. Four plays later the Demons got on the board with a 29-yard field goal to cut into the Jackets lead with eight minutes left in the first half.
Lugoff-Elgin brought pressure on Kelly all night and got hit with two consecutive roughing the quarterback penalties. Kelly was knocked out of the game about midway through the second quarter and replaced by Collin Martin.
Fort Mill struggled with penalties in the first half with nine for 85 yards unofficially, but did better in the second half with only a handful.
Fort Mill came out fired up to start the second half as Kelly returned to go under center. Kelly hit Tanner Mays for a 59-yard gain to put Fort Mill into the red zone on the first play of the third quarter. Four plays later Grayson Diehl ran in from the one-yard line to extend the Jackets lead to 13-3.
The Jackets came up with an interception on the next Demons drive and started at the 44-yard line of Lugoff-Elgin. That set up Smith’s second touchdown catch for Fort Mill three plays later to put the Jackets up 19-3 with six minutes left in the third quarter.
As the offense surged for the Jackets, the defense did as well as they continued to put pressure on the Demons. Lugoff-Elgin got down to the one-yard line in the fourth quarter with about 10 minutes left and punched it in three plays later to keep things interesting.
Fort Mill went to the well one more time as Kelly called his own number and rushed in from 41-yards out with about 3:46 left in the game to put things out of reach for the Demons.
That didn’t stop Lugoff-Elgin from scoring one more time as they scored with about three minutes left in the game.
Fort Mill will try to keep things going in the right direction as they head to York Comprehensive High School to take on the Cougars Friday, Sept. 22.
Mac Banks: mac@fortmillprepsports.com, @fortprep
