Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PEDRO — Once the Chesapeake Panthers got going, they were hard to stop.

After a slow start, the Panthers got their running game in gear as they ran past the Rock Hill Redmen 41-12 Friday in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

“We played well in the first half, the second quarter in particular,” said Panthers’ coach Andy Clark. “We ran the ball well. McComas had a nice game. He reads the defense well and he can find the seam.”

Quarterback Casey McComas ran 14 times for 215 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Panthers’ ground game that racked up 404 yards on 41 total carries. Nate Smith added 80 yards on 13 tries and Cecil Fletcher had 62 yards on seven attempts.

Rock Hill had 213 yards rushing with Danny Long running 10 times for 79 yards. Drew McClaskey had 40 yards on eight attempts. Brady Knipp had 38 yards and Jordan Blagg 37.

Brad Meadows had 21 tackles to lead the Chesapeake defense. It was his second straight 21-tackle game. Dakota Clark had 12 tackles.

“Rock Hill drove the ball on us a few times. They’ve done that on everybody they’ve played,” said Clark. “But overall we played pretty well defensively.”

Chesapeake is 6-3 overall and finish 3-1 in the OVC. Rock Hill falls to 2-7 and 1-2 in the OVC.

The Panthers took a 7-0 lead on a 19-yard run by J.W. Bartrum with 5:07 left in the first quarter. Wesley Stephens added the first of four extra point kicks.

McComas broke free on a 25-yard run less than two minutes into the second quarter and it was 14-0.

Rock Hill answered with a scoring drive capped by Long’s 4-yard run and it was 14-6 at the 5:47 mark.

But McComas raced 24 yards for a touchdown less than two minutes later and it was 21-6.

With time running out in the half, McComas hit Will Scott on a play-action pass for 3 yards and the lead was 27-6 with 13 seconds on the clock.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, but McComas found Austin Oldaker in the back of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown pass and it was 34-6.

Fletcher had a 12-yard scoring run with 7:44 left and Dalton Nida’s first career extra point kick extended the lead to 41-6.

Rock Hill capped the scoring when Tanner Martin threw a 3-yard scoring pass to Knipp with 24 seconds to play. It was the first career touchdown pass and reception for the duo.

Chesapeake 7 20 0 14 = 41

Rock Hill 0 6 0 6 = 12

First Quarter

Ch — J.W. Bartrum 19 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 5:07

Second Quarter

Ch — Casey McComas 25 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 10:31

RH — Danny Long 4 run (kick blocked) 5:47

Ch — Casey McComas 24 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 3:55

Ch — Will Scott 3 pass from Casey McComas (kick failed) 0:13

Fourth Quarter

Ch — Austin Oldaker 4 pass from Casey McComas (Wesley Stephens kick) 11:09

Ch — Cecil Fletcher 12 run (Dalton Nida kick) 7:44

RH — Brady Knipp 3 pass from Tanner Martin (kick failed) 0:24

——

Ch RH

First downs 18 14

Rushes-yards 41-404 51-213

Passing yards 9 29

Total yards 413 242

Cmp-Att-Int 3-5-0 2-9-0

Fumbles-lost 0-0 0-0

Penalties-yards 4-39 2-15

Punts-average 2-38.5 3-28.0

——

Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Chesapeake: Casey McComas 14-215, Maccoy Brown 3-22, J.W. Bartrum 4-25, Nate Smith 13-80, Cecil Fletcher 7-62; Rock Hill: Jordan Blagg 11-37, Brady Knipp 15-38, Gabe Marzicola 3-minus 1, Drew McClaskey 8-40, Danny Long 10-79, Tanner Martin 4-20.

PASSING — Chesapeake: Casey McComas 3-5-0 9; Rock Hill: Gabe Marzicola 0-4-0, Tanner Martin 2-5-0 29.

RECEIVING — Chesapeake: Will Scott 1-3 TD, Austin Oldaker 1-4 TD, Nate Smith 1-2; Rock Hill: Brady Knipp 1-3 TD, McClaskey 1-26.