The game came down to one play. 

River Bluff led 14-7 as Gilbert marched 99 yards downfield and scored a touchdown with 30 seconds left on the clock. Instead of lining up for the PAT kick, the Indians kept their offense out to go for two and the win. 

“I'm aggressive by nature,” Gilbert head coach Ozzie Exume said on his decision to attempt the two-point conversion.  “I trusted our guys, and we had a good play call, a good setup.”

Gilbert quarterback Cooper James took the snap and looked through his reads before firing a ball to receiver Chandler Guthrie. But before the ball hit Guthrie’s hands, River Bluff linebacker Blaine Fender jumped the route and swatted the ball to the ground, sealing the win for his team. 

“I saw a lot of just weird passing routes, and I saw a (Guthrie) coming across, and I knew I had to stop him,” Fender said. 

The Gators recovered the ensuing onside kick and kneeled the clock out to clinch a 14-13 win over their cross-county foe and improve to 4-0. 

River Bluff quarterback Parker Murray completed 75 percent of his passes for over 120 yards and connected on a touchdown pass with Stephen Collier in the second quarter. Collier finished with seven catches in the game. 

Hayden Myers led the Gators rushing attack, totaling over 80 yards on 12 attempts. Lathan Smalls made an impact in the run game as well, punching in the go-ahead touchdown from one yard out in the third quarter. 

It was a much lower-scoring game than the Gators are used to. Entering the contest, River Bluff was averaging just over 41 points per game. 

“They had a good plan to stop a few things,” Gator head coach Blair Hardin said. “We just didn't make the routine plays. We were about a block away a lot of times, and we just got to finish better.” 

With region play starting soon, Hardin said his team needs to improve. They will have to battle powerhouse Dutch Fork, 5A runner-up White Knoll, former 4A semifinalist Irmo, undefeated Chapin and a good Lexington team. 

“We just need to get better because our region is about as tough as it gets,” Hardin said. “We talked all week about trust and just getting better.”

The Gators have one more non-region game against Cheraw before jumping into conference play with a home game versus White Knoll. Last year, the Gators had a promising start before hitting region play and ending the season on a five-game losing streak. 

The Indians dropped to 1-2 with the loss to River Bluff. Exume said despite this game not counting in the grand scheme, it still stung. 

“This one sucks man,” Exume said. “Our guys fought hard, they played well too. Our defense was great tonight, our offense had our chances and had a great drive, so we had great moments but just needed more of them.”

Gilbert will jump into region play next week with a game against North Augusta. It will be the Indians' first game in their new 4A region. 

“Take us from where we were week zero against Lexington, we're far better now,” Exume said. “The goal is to continue to push that way.” 

Week 3 area scoreboard 

Chapin: 42, Newberry: 37

Dutch Fork: 35, Gray Collegiate: 0

Irmo: 55, Carolina Forest: 7

Greenwood: 14, Lexington: 0  

Westwood: 31, Airport: 7 

May River: 35, Brookland-Cayce: 13

Swansea: 28, Pelion: 18

Ridge Spring-Monetta: 21, American Leadership Academy: 6

Batesburg-Leesville: 21, Lower Richland: 7 

Northside Christian: 22, Andrew Jackson Academy: 7