By Jack Veltri
Correspondent
YORK – On his first drive of the night, Laurens quarterback Nick Fowler was facing serious trouble.
Laurens just had two false starts and a bad snap to face third and long at the one-yard line.
As Fowler rolled out to his right and threw the ball to his receiver, Fort Mill defensive back Josh Welch read the play perfectly. As a result, he picked him off and found his way into the endzone for a pick six. It was just the momentum boost the Yellow Jackets needed to start their night.
“It’s what we needed,” said Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely. “Obviously, we’ll take those any way we can get them.”
But as the game wore on, the momentum slowly faded. And Laurens took advantage as it pulled away to a 17-7 win in the Bill Pate White Rose Football Classic at York Comprehensive High School.
After the interception, Fort Mill’s defense was right back on the field and was faced with the task of making a second straight stop to open the game. And it got the job done. Laurens was set up with first and goal but failed to reach the end zone and settled to kick a field goal instead.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s big,” McNeely said. “We had some big plays defensively and they gave us a few with some bad snaps. But that’s what you’ve got to do. You’ve got to take advantage of those things.”
Following six minutes of defense, the Yellow Jackets offense finally started their first drive of the game. But they immediately went three-and-out, a common theme throughout the night.
Fort Mill managed to cross the 50-yard line twice in the game. The defense continued to play strongly, forcing two turnovers on downs, but it wouldn’t be enough for any successful drives to be put together.
With the Jackets offense struggling, Laurens eventually took advantage and connected for a 50-yard touchdown pass to take the lead with 3:06 left in the first half.
Fort Mill’s secondary would get beaten again as Fowler threw for a 31-yard touchdown without much trouble to take a 10-point lead.
With one final drive to put something together, quarterback Quinn Kelly connected with Jackson Smith to move right outside the Laurens 20-yard line. But just like the rest of the game, Fort Mill failed to move any further and turned the ball over on downs.
“Obviously, we’ve got to protect up front,” McNeely said. “That’s the name of the game. Just for Quinn and some of those younger offensive players, the game has just got to slow down for them a little bit. And that comes with reps and practice and knowledge of the system. But as the game slows down for them, hopefully they start playing faster.”
Up next, Fort Mill will open the regular season on the road at Catawba Ridge. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 18.
