There’s an old children’s song that says that three is a magic number.  

The River Bluff Gators were looking for some of that magic when they opened their season in Rock Hill on Friday night.  

For the third time in less than a year, River Bluff and the Rock Hill Bearcats faced off on the football field. Each of the previous two meetings were hard-fought Gator wins, and they hoped to kick off the Perry Parks era with a third one.  

Parks is the third coach in River Bluff program history.  However, the magic was not there, as the Bearcats took advantage of Gator mistakes in all three facets of the game to claim a 31-18 victory.   

The mistakes started early for River Bluff.  On the second play of the game, Braydon Moore overthrew his receiver and had his pass picked off by Donovan Franklin.  Franklin returned it 25 yards for a score, and less than thirty seconds into the game, the Gators trailed 7-0.

“We just gotta start off stronger.  We came out really flat.  We can’t give away points early in the game and climb that hill all game and try to come back.” Moore said afterwards.

The Gator offense would struggle for the entire first half.  Moore, who only recently recovered from an offseason injury, finished the half with only 5 completions in 23 attempts for 54 yards.  He also lost a fumble just before half that resulted in a Bearcat field goal.  

Running Back Hayden Myers, who averaged over 100 yards rushing per game last season, struggled to get going as well.  He rushed for only 38 yards on 15 carries, often being met in the backfield by a Rock Hill defense that was quicker than the Gator offensive line all game.

“We’re not fast as a ball team, period.”, Coach Parks said after the game.  “We've got to get faster in the weight room. We have to play faster to start with. We’re not good enough as a team to give up 21 points and then lose by 13.”

The Gator defense and special teams spent most of the first half keeping Rock Hill in check.  However, they gave up two big plays, both of which were a result of Rock Hill’s superior speed.  

First, late in the first quarter on third down and eleven, Bearcat quarterback Jonah Young hit Kameron Wilson on a slant pass.  Wilson outran the Gators' secondary and scored a 91-yard touchdown.  

Then, midway through the second quarter, just after a Liam Flynn 38-yard field goal got the Gators on the board, the Bearcats returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown, giving Rock Hill a 21-3 lead.  The Bearcat field goal resulting from Moore’s fumble made the halftime score 24-3.

The Gators' offense warmed up in the second half.  River Bluff put together a thirteen-play drive that saw them get inside the Rock Hill ten-yard line.  However, they failed to convert on a fourth and seven and turned the ball back over to the Bearcats.  On the first play of the Rock Hill drive, Marvin Randolph beat the Gators' defense to the sideline and ran the ball 92 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bearcats a 31-3  lead.

River Bluff did not give up though.  On the ensuing drive, Moore finally found his rhythm.   He went three for four, including hitting Darius Carter on a thirty-yard touchdown pass to narrow the score to 31-10.  

After the Gators held the Bearcats to a three-and-out, Moore and company went back to work.  River Bluff covered 42 yards in three plays, including another 25-yard touchdown pass to Carter.  A two-point conversion run by Myers made the score 31-18, Rock Hill, with just over eight minutes left.  

Rock Hill chewed up some clock, but could not put the game away, giving the Gators the ball with four minutes left and a chance to narrow the gap again.  River Bluff put together a sixteen-play drive, but after two penalties and a sack were not able to convert a fourth and 23. 

They turned the ball over on downs with 49 seconds left, letting the Bearcats run out the clock on a 31-18 win.

Although it was not the result he was looking for, after the game Coach Parks said he saw points to build on.  

“We’re going to fight to the end, and I’m proud of that.  We got it going in the second half, we just got to settle down.  We gotta block for them up front, we definitely got to shore that up for next week. We gotta do some soul searching up front and get ready next week to bounce back.”

River Bluff is back on the road next week, travelling to Cayce, to take on Brookland-Cayce.

Week 0 Scoreboard

Lexington: 23, Gilbert: 7

Rock Hill: 31, River Bluff: 18

Camden: 20, White Knoll: 7

Irmo: 35, Oceanside: 28

Catawba Ridge: 30, Chapin: 0

Gray Collegiate vs. James Island (delayed) 

May River: 37, Airport: 8

Swansea: 49, Mid-Carolina: 7

Pelion: 35, Williston-Elko: 0

American Leadership Academy: 43, Thornwell: 6

Calhoun Academy: 35, Northside Christian: 6