The Camden Bulldogs took a bite out of Fort Mill as they kept the Yellow Jackets out of the win column with a 28-16 victory.

The meeting was the first between the two in nearly a quarter century and was the best chance so far in the season for Fort Mill (0-4) to get a win, as they have given up nearly 500 yards a game defensively.

The Jackets, who struggled offensively the week before for the first time this season, are down a receiver in Alan Stevens, who broke his collarbone against Lancaster. Stevens is out for the season.

“I am proud of the kids for overcoming the adversity,” said Fort Mill head coach Rob McNeely. “I was proud of their fight. We have 11 or 12 guys out, but it has to be next man up. We will learn from this.”

Camden (3-1) tried some trickery to open the game with an onside kick, but it was recovered by Fort Mill near midfield. Fort Mill took advantage of the good field position to start and moved the ball well on their first drive as Jackets’ quarterback Dylan Helms completed his first four passes to get his team into field goal range. Ben Rich drilled a 37-yard field goal to put Fort Mill up 3-0.

Fort Mill has struggled to stop the run early in the game leading to their opponents jumping out to big leads.

Camden was no different as they took the fight right to the Jackets, but Fort Mill knew what was coming and still struggled to stop the Bulldogs. The Jackets were able to keep the Bulldogs backs from going around the ends, but gave up a lot of space up the middle of the field. The Jackets fumbled on its second drive in the first half and Camden took advantage again as Shymeik Corbett ran 55 yards to get the Bulldogs down to the four-yard line.

Fort Mill’s Justin Crimm saved a touchdown with an end zone interception to give the Jackets the ball back. Crimm also recovered a punt later in the game for Fort Mill. Turning point In the second quarter, Camden did a good job of eating time off the clock by marching the ball down the field. Their initial drive in the second quarter took 7:08, going 75 yards as Bulldogs quarterback Bryce Jeffcoat scored on a 27-yard run.

Fort Mill had them on the drive facing a fourth and 10, but gave up the touchdown from Jeffcoat on the next play.

Fort Mill took advantage of their first drive in the second half as Helms had two big plays on the drive going 83 yards resulting in a 39-yard touchdown pass to Cam Saunders to get the Jackets back in the game.

Critical

The Jackets offense struggled for the second straight game as they couldn’t get their running game moving, nor did their passing result in much yardage either in the first half. In the second quarter, Fort Mill had an offensive possession of just 40 seconds at one point and struggled to do anything on offense in the first half, despite getting the ball in the red zone with about 20 second left in the half.

Star contributions

Fort Mill’s Sebastian Lach rushed for 49 yards and Helms passed for 182 yards, with two TD passes to Saunders. Ben Kellam caught seven passes for 61 yards for Fort Mill as well. For Camden, Corbett rushed for 166 yards on 10 carries. Willis Lane rushed for 135 yards for Camden as well.

On deck

The Jackets head south to Lugoff-Elgin this Friday night.

Camden 7 7 0 14 – 28

Fort Mill 3 0 7 6 – 16

First quarter

FM – Ben Rich 37-yard field goal, 8:09

C – Shymeik Corbett 40 run (Bennett Caldwell kick), 5:02.

Second quarter

C – Bryce Jeffcoat 27 run (Caldwell kick), 4:52.

Third quarter

FM – Cam Saunders 39 pass from Cam Saunders (Ben Rich kick), 7:53

Fourth quarter

C – Javaris Holliday 1 run (Caldwell kick), 11:49

C – Willis Lane 71 run (Caldwell kick), 5:46

FM – Saunders 3 pass from Helms (conversion failed), 1:37

C FM

First downs 18 16

Rushes/yards 45-373 30-108

Passing 8-11-1 18-35-0

Passing yards 99 182

Fumbles/lost 4-3 1-1

Penalties/yards 14-105 11-99

Caption:

Jeff Sochko Special to The Herald

Fort Mill quarterback Dylan Helms dropped back to pass in the first half as the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets hosted the Camden Bulldogs.

Jeff Sochko Special to The Herald

Fort Mill’s Justin Crimm celebrated a first half interception as the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets hosted the Camden Bulldogs in a non-conference Friday night football matchup at Bob Jones Stadium.

Jeff Sochko Special to The Herald

Fort Mill’s Jacob Kendall ran down Camden’s Shymeik Corbett on Friday night.

September 12, 2018 | Fort Mill Times (SC)

Author/Byline: Mac Banks; Staff Writer | Page: 1B | Section: Community