By JIM WALKER

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 CINCINNATI — The Rock Hill Redmen looked very comparable to the Country Day Nighthawks until Lee Thomas stepped up his game.

Thomas ran 23 times for 242 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Nighthawks downed the Redmen 56-20 in the Division 6 Region 24 quarterfinals win Friday.

The Redmen (8-4) had 240 total yards including 203 on the ground as stellar senior running back Anthony Stamper ran 22 times for 123 yards and a touchdown. But the Nighthawks racked up 368 yards with 266 on the ground thanks to Thomas. Quarterback Elijah Guttman was 11-of-15 for 102 yards and 3 scores.

Country Day (11-1) also managed to intercept 3 passes to help stop Rock Hill drives. Guttman threw one interception.

The Nighthawks took the opening kickoff and went 66 yards in 11 plays as Ryan Coyle ran the final 4 yards for the score. Leon Hall’s conversion kick made it 7-0.

Rock Hill quickly got to the Nighthawks 39-yard line, but Brandon Proffitt came up with an interception and returned it 69 yards for the touchdown and it was 14-0.

The Redmen didn’t flinch as they answered with a 60-yard, 9-play march capped by Stamper’s 8-yard touchdown run.

Country Day began a drive at its own 41 and spilled over into the second quarter with Guttman hitting Bryce Snell for a 1-yard TD pass on third-and-goal and it was 21-7.

Rock Hill had a drive to the Nighthawks 42 but penalties pushed the Redmen back to their own 47 and forced them to punt.

Country Day got the ball at the 24 and a 5-yard penalty put the ball back on the 19. The slight setback proved to be no obstacle as Thomas slipped into the secondary and ran 81 yards for the touchdown and it was 28-7 with 4:25 left in the half.

Rock Hill came out strong to start the second half with a 66-yard, 8-play drive that culminated on a 6-yard TD pass from Dallin Cox to Stamper and it was 28-14.

The Nighthawks played copycat as they went 55 yards in 8 plays with Guttman throwing 11 yards to Snell and it was 35-14.

Hall came up with an interception and was pushed out of bounds at the 3-yard line. A penalty moved the ball closer and Thomas scored on a 1-yard run to make it 42-14.

Brycen Kerns got an interception for the Redmen but they turned the ball over on downs at the Country Day 47.

Country Day then went the distance in just 5 plays with Guttman hitting Brandon Proffitt with a 6-yard scoring strike. A bad snap on the extra point forced holder Pace Guido to scramble and he threw the ball to Proffitt for the conversion and a 50-14 lead.

Yaden Bailey grabbed a squib kickoff and ran it back 23 yards to the 27. It took 4 plays for the Redmen to score and Mason Hanners rambled into the end zone from 17 yards away. A bad snap on the conversion forced Stamper to run and he was stopped leaving the score at 50-20.

A 15-yard penalty on Rock Hill moved the ball to the Redmen 34 and Thomas got loose on a 28-yard run as time ran out.

Rock Hill     7 0 7 6 = 20

Country Day 14 14 14 14 = 56

First Quarter

CD — Ryan Coyle 4 run (Leon Hall kick)

CD — Brandon Proffitt 69 interception return (Leon Hall kick)

RH — Anthony Stamper 8 run (Rylan Barker kick)

Second Quarter

CD — Bryce Snell 1 pass from Elijah Guttman (Leon Hall kick)

CD — Lee Thomas 81 run (Leon Hall kick)

Third Quarter

RH — Anthony Stamper 6 pass from Dallin Cox (Rylan Barker kick)

CD — Bryce Snell 11 pass from Elijah Guttman (Leon Hall kick)

CD — Lee Thomas 1 run (Leon Hall kick)

Fourth Quarter

CD— Brandon Proffitt 6 pass from Elijah Guttman (Brandon Proffitt pass from Pace Guido)

RH — Mason Hanners 17 run (run failed)

CD — Lee Thomas 28 run (no attempt)

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RH CD

First downs  15 20

Rushes-yards 39-203 31-266

Passing yards 37 102

Total yards   240 368

Cmp-Att-Int 7-16-3 11-15-1

Fumbles-lost 0-0 1-0

Penalties-yards 7-62 4-40

Punts-average 2-33.5 1-26.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING—Rock Hill: Anthony Stamper 22-123 TD, Brody Simpkins 7-27, Brycen Kerns 1-3, Braylon McClelland 1-2, Dallin Cox 3-12, Mason Hanners 5-36 TD; Country Day: Lee Thomas 23-242 3-TD, Elijah Guttman 2-0, Thomas Huckleby 2-7, Ryan Coyle 7-18 TD, Brandon Proffitt 1-minus 1.

PASSING—Rock Hill: Dallin Cox 7-15-3 37 TD, Braylon McClelland 0-1-0; Country Day: Elijah Guttman 11-15-1 102 3-TD.

RECEIVING—Rock Hill: Brycen Kerns 4-23, Braylon McClelland 1-0, Anthony Stamper 1-6 TD, Sam Rusk 1-8; Country Day: Bryce Snell 10-82 2-TD, Thomas Huckleby 1-15, Brandon Proffitt 1-6 TD.

MISSED FIELD GOALS—None