Redmen power way past Vinton County

Published 12:00 am Sunday, September 1, 2002

PEDRO -- It really didn't matter who lined up in the backfield as the Rock Hill Redmen used a power running game to dominate Vinton County 26-0 and overcome a sloppy second half.

Junior tailback James Russell rushed for 192 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Fullback Dan Mullins, a junior, rushed 13 times for 104 yards and senior Aaron Hankins added 53 yards on 14 tough runs between the tackles.

Coach Bob McCollister said he was pleased with the overall result but hopes the team can execute better next week against Oak Hill.

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"We shot ourselves in the foot with silly penalties," he said. "We should have scored a few more times."

Rock Hill committed 11 penalties for 85 yards and fumbled the ball four times but only lost one.

The teams traded turnovers within the first three minutes. Vinton quarterback Chris Bethel was sacked by senior tackle Sean Primm on the Vikings' first play from scrimmage pushing them deep into their own territory.

After forcing a punt, the Redmen gave the ball right back by fumbling on their first offensive play. Two plays later, the Rock Hill defense picked off a Bethel pass. The resulting possession ended six plays later with a 4-yard Russell touchdown run.

Although they got the ball back with 6:46 remaining, the Vikings only managed six more plays during the rest of the first quarter.

The Redmen gained some momentum and ran well in the second quarter. Russell had a 58-yard sprint that set up his 4-yard touchdown run on the next play.

With two more rushing touchdowns and a goal line stand on the final play of the half, the Redmen took a 26-0 lead into the locker room. With the Vinson offense sputtering, the lead was all Rock Hill needed.

"The defense played pretty well," McCollister said. "Obviously, you can't do much better than a shutout."

After an emotional game to open the new stadium last week and with several big games in the upcoming weeks, McCollister said he was worried his team might have a let down.

"We did kind of let down a little," he said. "We made way too many mistakes inside the 20."

In the second half, neither team could muster any points despite several opportunities. The Redmen made it inside the Vinson 20-yard line twice but failed to put any points on the board.

"I was going to call the dogs off with a couple more scores in the second half, we just never could get them," McCollister said.

Coming in to the match up, he said his game plan was to open up the offense and throw the ball. After getting the lead, they opted to just pound it on the ground.

Vinton quarterback Chris Bethel finished 3 of 10 with 68 yards and two interceptions. The leading rusher was Curt Moore with 24 yards on nine carries.

Rock Hill hosts Oak Hill next Friday.

Vinton Co.0000--0

Rock Hill62000--26

First Quarter

RH – James Russell 4 run (kick failed) 6:46

Second Quarter

RH – Ken Elswick 1 run (run failed) 11:09

RH – Dan Mullins 2 run (Matt McFann kick) 7:02

RH – James Russell 4 run (Matt McFann kick) 3:45

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VCRH

First downs819

Rushes-yards25-6148-365

Passing yards6869

Total yards154434

Passes3-10-25-10-0

Fumbles-lost2-24-1

Penalties-yards3-1511-85

Punts-average4-37.01-33.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING -- Vinton County

Curt Moore 9-24, Shawn Avery 2-18, Dane Ramey 3-16. Rock Hill: James Russell 19-192, Dan Mullins 13-104, Aaron Hankins 14-53.

PASSING -- Vinton County: Chris Bethel 3-10-2

68. Rock Hill: Steven Daily 5-10-0

69.

RECEIVING -- Vinton County: Josh Ruckel 1-12, Shawn Avery 1-28, Chris Neal 1-25. Rock Hill: Robbie McClellan 1-24, Gabe Ruggles 1-16, David Schug 1-13, Ken Elswick 1-8. Michael Caldwell/The Ironton Tribune