Redmen Clip Eagles; Move On To Next Round

PEDRO — Anthony Stamper ran again into the history books, quarterback Dallin Cox scored twice and the Rock Hill Redmen fought off an upset bid to defeat the Madison-Plains Golden Eagles for a 30-21 win on Friday night in the opening round of the Division VI playoffs.

The win gave the Redmen their third playoff win in school history. The last coming in a home victory over Crooksville in the 2020 season.

Rock Hill will now travel to the Queen City next Friday to take on the Cincinnati Country Day. The Nighthawks advanced with a 39-14 win over Cincinnati Deer Park.

Stamper broke the school record for most rushing yards in a playoff game, registering 223 yards on 25 carries. The record had been previously been held by fullback Hayden Harper, who set the record in 2020. The senior also had a team-high 71 receiving yards.

Rock Hill's Brody Simpkins (26) follows the block of Sam Rusk (5) for his 31-yard touchdown run during Friday's Division VI playoff game against the Madison Plains Golden Eagles. (Tim Gearhart)

Cox found the end zone for Rock Hill's first points. The junior kept the ball off a fake and beat the defense to the pylon on the far sideline for a 5-yard score. Barker added the point after to make it 7-0 with just 80 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

Cox would later find the end zone on a 1-yard score to give the Redmen a 14-7 lead.

The Golden Eagles got two second quarter touchdowns from Colby Sloughton to keep pace with the Redmen.

Slougton's first score capped off a quick 6-play drive and the senior quarterback scored on a 3-yard run. The key play in the drive came on a second down play-action pass by Sloughton to Brayden Evans in front of the Madison bench for a 42-yard gain.

After Cox's second score of the game, Sloughton followed up with a 91-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff to tie the game back up at 14-all.

Stamper would put the Redmen back ahead just three plays later on a 67-yard dash by breaking through an arm-tackle and out-running two defenders to give Rock Hill a 20-14 lead.

The Golden Eagles dipped into their bag of tricks on the ensuing possession, pulling off a hook-and-ladder on first down for a 15-yard gain. Then Sloughton followed wth a 26-yard run. Two plays later, Logan Gumm caught a 5-yard pass from his quarterback for the score. Layne White added the extra point and the Golden Eagles had their first lead of the game at 21-20 with 1:06 left before halftime.

Cox completed 5-straight passes on Rock Hill's next possession — 3 of those targeted at Stamper for 35 yards — to help lead the Redmen down the field to the Madison 15 and set up a 32-yard field goal attempt by Barker. The kick sailed between the uprights to give the Redmen a 23-21 lead at the break.

Rock Hill's defense controlled the second half, allowing Madison just 4 first downs and 51 total yards.

After forcing a three-and-out on Madison's first possession, the Redmen drove 82 yards in 9 plays to get a two-score cushion. The scoring play came on a second down run by Brody Simpkins, who bounced outside and raced up the sidelines. Barker's extra point made it 30-21 with 1:35 left in the third stanza.

The Eagles best chance to cut into the lead came in the late stages of the third following a short kickoff. But the drive stalled out at the Rock Hill 30.

Sloughton finished the night 9 of 22 passing for 128 yards and ran for another 49 yards. His top target was Brayden Evans with 6 catches for a game-high 96 yards.

Madison-Plains 0 21 0 0 = 21

Rock Hill 7 16 7 0 = 30

First Quarter

RH — Dallin Cox 5 run (Rylan Barker kick), 1:20.

Second Quarter

MP — Colby Sloughton 3 run (Layne White kick), 6:47.

RH — Dallin Cox 1 run (Rylan Barker kick), 5:01. MP — Colby Sloughton 91 kickoff return (Layne White kick), 4:45.

RH — Anthony Stamper 67 run (kick no good), 3:34.

MP — Logan Gumm 5 pass from Colby Sloughton (Layne White kick), 1:06.

RH — Rylan Barker 32 field goal, 0:00.

Third Quarter

Team — Brody Simpkins 31 run (Rylan Barker kick), 1:35.

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MP RH

First downs 9 21

Rushes-yards 17-62 54-334

Passing yards 128 116

Total yards 190 450

Cmp-Att-Int 9-22-1 10-11-1

Fumbles-lost 2-2 2-2

Punts-average 2-42.5 1-19.0

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Individual Leaders

RUSHING–Madison-Plains: Brayden Evans 1-5, Colby Sloughton 13-49 TD, Maverick Webb 2-6, Team 1-2; Rock Hill Sam Rusk 1-2, Bryson Kerns 2-minus 3, Dallin Cox 10-7 2TD, Anthony Stamper 25-223 TD, Logan Hopper 2-11, Brody Simpkins 14-94.

PASSING–Madison-Plains: Colby Sloughton 9-22-1 128 TD; Rock Hill: Dallin Cox 10-11-1 116.

RECEIVING–Madison-Plains: Brayden Evans 6-96, Logan Gumm 2-17 TD, Brody George 1-15; Rock Hill: Bryson Kerns 3-40, Same Rusk 1-5, Anthony Stamper 6-71.

MISSED FIELD GOALS–Madison-Plains: Layne White, 46.