By Jed Blackwell

Special to Fort Mill Prep Sports

SPARTANBURG – The Fort Mill Yellow Jackets went on the road and got a crucial Region 2-5A victory knocking off Spartanburg 31-7 at Viking Stadium.

The Yellow Jackets led 10-0 early, scored in the final seconds of the second quarter to lead 17-7 at the half, and scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to put the game away.

Broden Mitcheson got Fort Mill on the board with a 24-yard touchdown from quarterback Harper Love with 5:29 in the first quarter remaining.

In the second quarter, Noah Hardy hit a 53-yard field goal just after the start of the quarter to give Fort Mill a 10-0 lead.

Spartanburg would comeback to make it close before the half on a 42-yard run by Trenton Lynch to make it 10-7 with 5:21 left in the second quarter. But that comeback was short lived as Love hit Kieran McCormack for a 4-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left in the first half to make it 17-7 at the break.

The second half was all Fort Mill as they scored 14 more points, both coming in the fourth quarter. Mitcheson had a 35-yard scoring run with 10:49 in the fourth quarter and then with about three minutes remaining in the game, Aiden O’Hara scored on a 1-yard run.

Love threw for 151 yards on 14-of-26 passing, tossing touchdowns to Mitcheson and McCormack in the victory. Love completed at least two passes to four different receivers, with Jameson Terrell leading the way with four catches for 51 yards.

O’Hara paced the Yellow Jackets on the ground with 106 yards on 11 carries, while Mitcheson added 85 yards on 16 carries. Each ran for a touchdown for Fort Mill.

Hardy continued his stellar season, finishing a perfect 4-for-4 on extra points and booting a 53-yard field goal.

The Yellow Jackets did a great job defensively, limiting the Vikings to just 139 yards on the ground. That included holding Shrine Bowl running back Trenton Lynch, Spartanburg’s newly-minted all-time leading rusher, to just 131 yards on the ground. That total was 50 below Lynch’s average for the season, with 42 coming on one play.

Fort Mill improved to 6-1 overall on the season and 1-1 in the region. They will host Rock Hill next Friday, Oct. 16 at Bob Jones Stadium.