White Knoll looked great in the first half but slipped in the second, allowing the Sumter Gamecocks to come from behind and steal a win over the Timberwolves 43-40

The Gamecocks saw that they would make a trip to White Knoll on Aug. 30. The matchup was going to be significant no matter what. Both teams were ranked in the S.C. Prep Football Media Poll, but this game had a little extra. Sumter High was going to play in the very stadium they ended their season a year ago with a 35-7 loss to White Knoll.

Early on, it seemed like it was more likely that history would repeat. The Gamecocks trailed 33-13 at the half. White Knoll scored on every offensive possession, while Sumter couldn’t seem to catch a break.

After halftime, everything changed. After White Knoll was unstoppable in the first half, Sumter High held them without a point for the next two quarters. The Gamecocks inched their way back into the game, eventually knotting things at 33-33 with just over four minutes to play. One more stop on an interception by Tymaries Thompson-Durant sent the game to overtime. The Gamecocks had momentum.

After swapping scores on the first attempt, Sumter High’s Jeremiah Burson intercepted a pass to put the Gamecocks in prime position to win. Facing fourth-and-15, the Gamecocks turned to kicker Alex Krivejko, and the senior delivered, lifting Sumter High to a monumental victory.

“I didn’t know we had it, I’ll be honest,” Sumter High head coach Mark Barnes said of the mental fortitude required to win the game. “It needs to be reiterated how much character it takes to come to a place where we lost last year and they kinda got us at the end last year. Then to be down 33-13 at halftime and come back out and have enough belief. I’ll be honest, I was surprised. I knew we could do it, I didn’t know we would do it. As it went on, I just had the feeling it was going to happen.”

“I’ve been here for 10 years and I don’t know that I have another team that could’ve handled what happened tonight and come back and win. That’s to our players’ credit.”

The final kick wasn’t guaranteed. While the Gamecocks trusted their kicker, White Knoll brought relentless pressure on special teams all night long.

Sumter's first extra point of the night was blocked. Right after halftime, the Gamecocks drove down to the two but went backwards and were forced to kick, the Timberwolves got a hand on that attempt, too.

An errant snap cost Sumter a second extra point later in the game. Krivejko and the rest of the kicking unit worked relentlessly on the sideline to be perfect. At one point, the Gamecock kicker saw a great snap but said, “That would be great against anyone else, but not them.” When it came time for the final kick, he was confident.

“I just remembered them getting through a whole bunch, so it was just about being quick with the routine. I’ve just got to stick to the script and do what I do best,” Krivejko said. “I knew it was in. That was cash.”

White Knoll could do no wrong in the opening half. Even when the Gamecocks got in the backfield, quarterback Landon Sharpe was able to slip past defenders for key first downs time and time again.

Their first score came on a pass from Sharpe to Caleb Gernomi, a regular connection throughout the night. After a fumbled snap led to a Sumter punt, Sharpe scampered for a seven-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal to go up 13-0.

The Gamecocks got a spark when Jamirh Bey returned the ensuing kickoff to the White Knoll 31, setting up an easy seven-yard run for John Peeples to cut the score to 13-6.

White Knoll got their own long return in response, starting near midfield. Sharpe and Geronomi connected once again to set up a run from Tiyon Fanning that pushed the lead to 20-6. A flag and a sack sent Sumter backward and Geronomi returned the ensuing punt to the Sumter 31.

Fanning broke loose for a 14-yard score a couple of plays later, though a flag for unsportsmanlike conduct helped give the Gamecocks some great field position on their next drive.

Starting in plus territory, Sumter High quarterback Frank Richardson ripped off a couple of huge runs before tossing a pitch to Kam Fortune for a 22-yard touchdown, which brought the score to 26-13.

But White Knoll continued to be successful in the first half. On the next drive, Sharpe hit Javon Griffin for a huge first down on fourth-and-seven. On the next play, Fanning carried the ball up the middle and the ball was punched loose.

The White Knoll center then scooped up the ball and went all the way down to the one-yard line. On the next snap, Sharpe ran to his left and Anthony Addison jarred the ball loose. Once again, White Knoll jumped on top of it and Sharpe carried in a four-yard score on the next play, taking a 33-13 lead into the half.

So what changed after the break?

“When I went in at halftime, I didn’t talk to the players first, I talked to our defensive coaches,” Barnes said. “I asked what’s wrong and their words to me were, ‘They’re not doing what we’re asking them to do.’ So my halftime speech wasn’t a speech, it was that if you do something wrong, (White Knoll) will penalize your tail with big plays and they did that in the first half. To our guys credit, they came out in the second half and did what they were coached to do and they played with a great heart and they didn’t panic.”

Burson reiterated that point after the game.

“Lock in, that’s all,” said the senior linebacker who transferred back to SHS after a year at Laurence Manning with his brother, Josiah. “We weren’t doing our job in the first half. It was just locking in.”

Sumter High got the ball out of the half and seemed poised to grab some momentum away. Bey had another massive return just past midfield to kick things off. Peeples then broke down the sideline for a 44-yard run, but the play was called back for a hold. That didn’t stop the Gamecocks, as Richardson tucked the ball and ran to the 18.

Two plays later, the sophomore quarterback got the Gamecocks a first-and-goal at the two. Unfortunately, the drive stalled out there and a blocked field goal left the Gamecocks stuck at 13.

But the Sumter defense showed a different energy on the next drive. White Knoll got one first down before their first punt of the night, an errant kick that gave Sumter the ball at the White Knoll 35. Richardson eventually took a third-down carry 28 yards for a touchdown with 5:15 left in the quarter. Sumter knew they had a chance.

“I did tell them at halftime, they’re comfortable right now,” Barnes said. “I spelled it out, we’re going to score the first time we have the ball. We went down there and screwed it up, but I said if we can get it to where it’s a one-touchdown game, the mojo comes to our sideline, and we’ll see how they handle. We handled it better than they did tonight.”

After another quick White Knoll punt, Richardson completed his first two passes of the night, both to Phernette A’kye Workman. The first was an eight-yard gain on second-and-15. The second was a 14-yard strike over the middle of the field to cut the deficit down to 33-26.

Sumter High thought they were going to have a golden opportunity to immediately tie the game, jarring the ball loose on the ensuing kick. But White Knoll jumped on the loose ball. The Timberwolves eventually faced a third-and-five on their own 34 with less than 10 minutes to play and Sharpe found Geronomi for a huge first down, but Jamarkis McCutcheon lit up the receiver as Thompson-Durant tried to pull him down. The hit knocked the ball loose and Bryce Allen jumped on it at the Sumter 33.

After a few nice runs from Peeples, Richardson and Fortune, the Gamecocks stood 25 yards away from tying the game. Peeples then found a hole and got all 25 yards in one go. The extra point tied things up at 33-33 with 4:10 to play.

White Knoll was able to move down the field on their next drive. They sat at the Sumter 26 facing another third down. After a timeout, Sharpe looked for Devin Geronomi over the middle of the field, but the ball was just a touch too high for the leaping receiver. Facing fourth down, Sharpe found his favorite target, Caleb Geronomi, for five yards and a first down and spiked the ball to stop the clock.

Sharpe then found a hole and carried it down to the four, but it was called back for a critical hold, leaving White Knoll back at the 31.

There was some confusion with the clock, as Barnes tried to let the clock run before calling a timeout. Eventually, officials left 7.5 seconds on the clock as White Knoll tried to take the lead. Instead, Sharpe’s pass landed in the hands of Thompson-Durant and the game was headed to OT.

The Gamecocks got the ball first and Peeples strolled in for a five-yard score. Sharpe then slipped through a busy pile for an eight-yard score to tie things at 40.

After a short run, White Knoll jumped offside, facing a second-and-14. That’s when Burson snagged the pick and raced down the field. Unfortunately, overtime rules don’t allow for returns, so Sumter High was going to need to score on offense.

“They blew the whistle, I was going to crib that, I’m telling ya,” Burson said.

Sumter High also went backward with a negative run and a pitch to Bey. Krivejko faced a 32-yard field goal and buried it for the win.

“He’s the guy I’m not worried about, “Barnes said of Krivejko. “Everyone else needed to do their job. I think I walked up to Coach (Corey) Mitchell and I said, ‘He’ll make it if they just get it on the tee and it doesn’t get blocked. We did a good job tonight on special teams."

The biggest key for Sumter High is carrying this momentum forward. Barnes doesn’t want his team to deflate after such a momentous win. The Gamecocks will be back at home against Myrtle Beach, who fell to 1-1 after a 32-22 loss to West Florence.

“You keep preaching what we preach, one play at a time, one day at a time, one series at a time,” Barnes said of his message to the team. “You take every opportunity to build greatness on top of greatness and see where we are at the end of the year.”

White Knoll will try to get back in the win column next week on Sept. 6 for a road match against Brookland-Cayce.