By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

PEDRO — It was senior night for the Rock Hill Redmen and Kordell French must have thought the senior spotlight was shining on him.

French ran 15 times for 227 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Redmen beat the Chesapeake Panthers 35-7 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Friday.

The Redmen as a team amassed 430 total yards — all on the ground — as fellow senior Chase Delong carried 8 times for 73 yards and a touchdown and Levi Jiles had 56 yards on 5 attempts.

The Panthers finished with 172 total yards with 167 on the ground led by Curtis Brandenburg with 104 yards on 12 carries and a score while Camron Shockley added 58 yards on 5 rushes.

Chesapeake drove to the Rock Hill 8-yard line to start the game only to be stopped for no gain on a fourth and 2.

The Redmen then went the length of the field in 10 plays sparked by a 31-yard run by Delong and a 21-yard carry by French. Senior Skyler Kidd ran the final 2 yards for the score and senior Hazley Matthews’ conversion kick made it 7-0.

Rock Hill opened up a 21-0 halftime lead with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter.

After forcing a punt that rolled dead at the 4-yard line, the Redmen went 96 yards in 9 plays for the touchdown. French gave the drive a huge start as he ran 56 yards on the first play to the Panthers’ 40. French also ran 8 yards to cap the drive and Matthews’ kick made it 14-0.

Another 3-and-out by the Panthers gave the ball back to the Redmen at their own 21.

Jiles ran 9 yards, Delong 20 and Jiles 22 more and it was first down at the Panthers’ 18. Four plays later, Delong finished off the drive with a 1-yard run and Matthews made it 21-0 just before the break.

French picked up where he left off in the first half as he sliced his way through the defense and bolted on a 6-yard scoring run on the first play of the third quarter and the lead went to 28-0.

The Panthers came up inches short on a fourth-and-1 and the Redmen took over at the Chesapeake 44.

It took just 6 plays this time to score and it was French doing the honors as he got free on a 17-yard scamper.

Chesapeake put together a quick 85-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter that was highlighted by Shockley’s 29-yard run that led to Brandenburg outrunning the defense into the end zone from 18 yards out.

Jacob Spears kicked the extra point to set the final score.

Rock Hill improved to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the OVC and close the regular season at Coal Grove on Friday while Chesapeake (2-7, 0-6) will visit rival Fairland.

Chesapeake    0     0     0     7     =     7

Rock Hill       7     14    14    0     =     35

First Quarter

RH— Skyler Kidd 2 run (Hazley Matthews kick)

Second Quarter

RH – Kordell French 8 run (Hazley Matthews kick)

RH — Chase Delong 1 run (Hazley Matthews kick)

Third Quarter

RH — Kordell French 63 run (Hazley Matthews kick)

RH — Kordell French 17 run (Hazley Matthews kick)

Fourth Quarter

Ch — Curtis Brandenburg 18 run (Jacob Spears kick)

———

Ch   RH

First downs     7     19

Rushes-yards  29-167    44-430

Passing yards  5     0

Total yards     172  430

Cmp-Att-Int    2-5-1       0-0-0

Fumbles-lost   0-0  2-2

Penalties-yards       5-40 9-50

Punts-average 3-40.3     0-00.0

———

Individual Leaders

RUSHING–Chesapeake: Curtis Brandenburg 12-104 TD, Camron Shockley 5-58, Ryan Martin 7-8, Jacob Harris 3-0, Phillip Thacker 2-minus 3; Rock Hill: Kordell French 15-227 3TD, Chase Delong 8-73 TD, Levi Jiles 5-56, Anthony Stamper 3-17, Brock Friend 1-2, Skyler Kidd 2-4 TD, Mason Hanners 3-12, Gage Clutters 4-21, Grant Bevins 1-3, Will Clement 1-2, Sgt. Preston Malone 2-13.

PASSING–Chesapeake: Jacob Harris 2-5-1 5; Rock Hill: None.

RECEIVING–Chesapeake: Mason Giles 1-4, Camron Shockley 1-1; Rock Hill: None

MISSED FIELD GOALS–None.