Growing pains for Ballantyne Ridge: New Charlotte school falls in first football game

Chris Redding had the entire Ballantyne Ridge football team glance at the scoreboard after the team’s opening game.

He didn’t want to sugarcoat the Wolves’ 56-0 loss to Fort Mill on Friday night in the first football game in school history. The head coach of the first-year program explained how he hopes that one day, scores like this will be flipped, and he emphasized the need to start somewhere.

“What’s exciting is to see the effort and energy they had all night long,” Redding said. “It means something to them. And the way we played football tonight showed that we have a couple of things in store. We wanted to make sure we could have a little momentum going into the first drive, and the big thing was trying to get into the end zone tonight to celebrate a little bit and validate all our hard work.

“You can see tonight how much it meant to these kids. We fought all the way till the end, which is the best thing about tonight. Watching the fight level and seeing the home fans cheer us on. Being able to do this as a group. Win or lose, these guys stay together, and now they’re supporting one another. That’s the start of something beautiful.”

The Wolves (0-1), donning Carolina blue uniforms with bright orange accents from their helmets down, entered their new field to a tune of waving cowbells emblazoned with the new “BR” logo and a host of cellphone cameras. Students from the school’s new junior ROTC program led the flag salute and national anthem.

Ballantyne Ridge came out of the gates with energy but fell behind early. Still, it forced several penalties that hindered offensive sequences from Fort Mill (1-0) and put itself in positions to shine. And it created some highlights of its own — including a nifty flea flicker in which junior running back Caleb Owens completed a deep pass to sophomore receiver Luke Parkes.

The Wolves marched all the way downfield on their final possession with several big runs from freshman quarterback Ryder Polston and nearly found the end zone — until a fumble gave the ball back to the Yellow Jackets for the final time.

Three who made a difference

Quinn Kelly, Fort Mill: A year after throwing for seven touchdowns on 1,022 passing yards, the junior quarterback opened another season behind center for the Yellow Jackets. He had a clear connection with top target Tanner Mays on Friday night and used his weapons effectively.

Caleb Owens, Ballantyne Ridge: In addition to tossing a completed pass on a flea flicker, the junior running back and linebacker made a big stop on third down for the Wolves during the second quarter.

Jayden Krause, Ballantyne Ridge: After the Wolves forced and recovered a fumble late in the game, the freshman tight end hauled in a fine 30-yard catch from Polston in traffic as the team moved downfield.

Notable

▪ Ballantyne Ridge, which will have full ninth and tenth grades and roughly half a junior class, has its first day of school Monday.

▪ There was a palpable buzz at the brand-new facility Friday night. Wolves t-shirts and other gear were being sold on the newly constructed concourse, which has a host of concessions, including Chick-fil-A.

▪ Fort Mill, in control of Friday night’s game from the start, begins the season 1-0 for the first time since 2015.

They said it

“I think we found ourselves a guy (Polston) who can go play football at a high level. We’ve gotta protect him a little bit this year. Between him and all the other freshmen, sophomores and juniors who we have, we’re going to find some guys who really can make plays on Friday nights. And we threw him to the fire tonight. We saw some guys who can play football at a high level.” — Chris Redding

Game summary

Fort Mill 21 21 14 0 — 56

Ballantyne Ridge 0 0 0 0 — 0

FIRST QUARTER

F: Tanner Mays 15-yard touchdown

F: Josef Anderson three-yard touchdown rush

F: Mays 65-yard touchdown reception

SECOND QUARTER

F: Anderson 14-yard touchdown rush

F: Thomas Mabry 12-yard touchdown rush

F: 35-yard touchdown rush

THIRD QUARTER

F: Maurice Lawrence six-yard touchdown rush

F: Fumble recovery in end zone on muffed punt attempt

Up next?

Ballantyne Ridge hits the road for the first time, traveling to Corvian Community School next Friday, before returning to its new home field against South Pointe on Sept. 6.

Fort Mill will play its first home game of the season next week as it hosts the Chester (S.C.) Cyclones next Friday.