Rock Hill takes care of business in playoff win vs Madison Plains
By: Andrew Rowan
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IRONTON, Ohio (WOUB) — The Rock Hill Redmen hosted the Madison Plains Golden Eagles for their first playoff appearance at home ever not counting 2020, where every team got a playoff game.
Rock Hill would start the game with an onside kick which put Madison Plains into good field position of the bat. Madison Plains decided to go for it on 4th down, Golden Eagles Senior quarterback #4 Colby Stroughton attempted to connect with his target but it would be intercepted by Sophomore defender #2 Bryson Kerns to get the Redmen offense on the field.
Rock Hill would start off looking shaky with a bobbled snap which pushed them back for a 3rd and long. They were able to wash away the mistake with a successful screen to #14 Anthony Stamper for the first down. They got caught in a 4th and 1 scenario but got the 1st down with a quarterback keep for Junior #9 Dallin Cox. With a read option inside the 5-yard line, Cox keeps it and runs to the left for the first score of the night giving Rock Hill the lead early at 7-0 to end the 1st quarter.
Madison Plains would start the quarter playing copycat by snagging their intercept to set up their offense. Long pass and catch by Senior #1 Brayden Evans to set up the Golden Eagles in the red zone. From the 2-yard line, Stroughton would keep it and dove in to put them on the board, 7-7.
Rock Hill would answer back with a big return by Kerns to put the Redmen into the red zone, which concluded with a Stamper touchdown to make the score 14-7. The Golden Eagles answered right back though with Stroughton who took the return for a score, which made it tied again at 14-14. The Redmen followed the trend by scoring again with a touchdown pass to Stamper with a missed kick, 20-14 Rockhill up. The scoring frenzy continued with a passing touchdown by the Golden Eagles caught by Sophomore #7 Logan Gumm giving them the lead at 21-20. The clock began to wind down and with their last timeout, Rock Hill looked to attempt a field goal and made it, 23-21 to end the first half.
The Redmen would start the half with the ball but did not capitalize and punted the ball away, giving the ball back to the Golden Eagles early on. Colby Stroughton attempted a pass deep down the right side of the field on 4th down but it was smacked incomplete. Rock Hill took advantage of their opportunity with another rushing touchdown by Sophomore Brody Simpkins which made the Redmens lead a bit bigger at 30-21 to end the third quarter.
The majority of the 4th quarter was plagued by both teams being unable to make anything out of their offensive drives, punting back and forth to each other. Rock Hill found themselves in the red zone yet again and almost had another Anthony Stamper score on 4th down but had the play called back with the ball being dead around the line of scrimmage. The Golden Eagles tried to march down the field with time ticking. Stroughton aired out the ball on 4 consecutive plays but had each patted down by Redmen defensive backs, who got the ball back and got a first down to then let the clock run out to secure their victory with a final score of 30-21. With this massive win for the program, Rock Hill looks to keep this momentum going into next week.