Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

CHESAPEAKE — The Rock Hill Redmen did what they wanted to do. The result was what they wanted.

The Redmen controlled the football with 52 running plays for 289 yards including a 14-yard touchdown run by Chance Blankenship in overtime that gave them a 27-20 upset win over the Chesapeake Panthers on Friday.

“We came out and executed our offensive and defensive game plan pretty well. We knew they were a big-play team and they were going to rip off some big plays. But our kids came back and responded well,” said Redmen coach Todd Knipp.

“Part of our game now is that our best defense is keeping the ball on offense and putting teams in bad situations. We try to be efficient with our seconds.”

Rock Hill improved to 3-1 with the win and is 1-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Chesapeake lost for the first time after three straight wins. A key factor in the loss was three lost fumbles, one that led to the game-tying score.

“They made plays at the end and we didn’t. That’s pretty much it,” said Panthers’ coach Andy Clark.

“Give them credit. They played a good game. They played pretty mistake free and we had three turnovers. Their backs ran hard and we missed a lot of tackles.”

Rock Hill’s running tandem of Chance Blankenship and Danny Long gained more than 100 yards each. Blankenship ran 14 times for 121 yards and Long 20 times for 107.

Brady Knipp added 45 yards on 12 attempts.

Chesapeake had 212 yards rushing and 283 total yards.

Casey McComas ran 15 times or 98 yards and a score and was 5-of-7 passing for 65 yards and a touchdown. J.W. Bartrum carried eight times for 51 yards.

Rock Hill took a 6-0 lead on a 20-yard scoring run by Long with 4:40 left in the first quarter.

Chesapeake rallied to take the lead with two scores in the second quarter.

McComas ran 27 yards at the 11:37 mark of the quarter and Wesley Stephens’ conversion kick gave the Panthers a 7-6 lead.

McComas then passed 6 yards to Austin Oldaker with just 58 seconds left in the half and the lead was 13-6.

A 27-yard run by McComas less than two minutes into the second half extended the lead to 20-6.

But the Redmen responded with a scoring drive capped by Long’s 18-yard run and it was 20-12.

Rock Hill got a big break when the Panthers fumbled deep in their own territory. The Redmen recovered and quarterback Mason Darby kept the ball for a 20-yard scoring run with 10:50 to play.

Darby then threw under pressure to Tim Adkins for the conversion and the game was tied.

“We’ve been able to capitalize on turnovers and get some points. We still left some points on the board because of self-inflicted mistakes,” said coach Knipp.

Chesapeake won the coin toss and elected to go on defense to start the overtime.

Blankenship scored on a short run but a holding penalty backed the ball up to the 14. It didn’t matter as Blankenship scored on the next play and Trystan Matney’s conversion kick gave the Redmen a 27-20 lead.

“I felt at that point of the game we had momentum. Obviously you want to go on defense first, but we got in rhythm on offense. We were able to punch one in quick and then we were able to be more aggressive,” said coach Knipp.

The defense held the Panthers on their possession to earn the win.

Rock Hill hosts Coal Grove next Friday in a league game while Chesapeake visit Vincent Warren on Saturday in a non-league contest.

Rock Hill 6 0 6 8 7 = 27

Chesapeake 0 13 7 0 0 = 20

First Quarter

RH — Danny Long 20 run (kick blocked) 4:40

Second Quarter

Ch — Casey McComas 1 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 11:37

Ch — Austin Oldaker 6 pass from Casey McComas (kick blocked) 0:58

Third Quarter

Ch — Casey McComas 27 run (Wesley Stephens kick) 10:27

RH — Danny Long 18 run (kick failed) 6:14

Fourth Quarter

RH — Mason Darby 20 run (Tim Adkins pass from Mason Darby) 10:50

Overtime

RH — Chance Blankenship 14 run (Trystan Matney kick)

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RH Ch

First downs 13 12

Rushes-yards 52-289 37-218

Passing yards 36 65

Total yards 325 283

Cmp-Att-Int 3-4-0 5-7-0

Fumbles-lost 2-1 3-3

Penalties-yards 4-30 2-15

Punts-average 4-31.8 3-27.3

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING —Rock Hill: Mason Darby 5-16, Chance Blankenship 14-121, Danny Long 20-107, Brady Knipp 12-45, Zach Harrison 1-5; Chesapeake: Casey McComas 15-98, Maccoy Brown 5-26, J.W. Bartrum 8-51, Ty Wilcoxon 5-19, Will Scott 4-24.

PASSING — Rock Hill: Mason Darby 3-4-0; Chesapeake: Casey McComas 5-7-0 65.

RECEIVING — Rock Hill: Brady Knipp 1-9, Trystan Matney 1-11, Chance Blankenship 1-16; Chesapeake: Austin Oldaker 4-57, Blake Ashworth 1-9.