The Region 5-3A title face will come down to the final week of the season.

Both Gilbert and Strom Thurmond were victorious at home Friday. The two teams are tied with Orangeburg-Wilkinson for first place at 3-1 with  game left.

The Bearcats and Bruins face each other next week at Fort Knox, while the Indians travel to Swansea. B-C wins the region outright with a win, while a loss will give Gilbert the top seed should it defeat the Tigers.

Gilbert 21, Strom Thurmond 7

Jaden Allen-Hendrix rushed for two touchdowns, and Jackson Caulder was responsible for two of the Indians’ three turnovers forced in the first half. 

Gilbert (7-2, 3-1) took a 7-0 lead with 38 seconds left in the first quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass by Chance Jennings to Touchstone Cooperatives Energy selection Gray Leaphart. 

Jaden Allen-Hendrix accounted for the Indians’ final two scores on touchdown runs of four and nine yards in the second and third quarters to make it 21-0.

Strom Thurmond’s Chris Barnes scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 2:09 left to snap his team’s scoreless streak of nine quarters. The Rebels were held to 7 rushing yards. 

Brookland-Cayce 44, Swansea 0 

Skylar King was a one-man scoring machine in the Bearcats’ victory.

He opened the game with a 80-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. He then caught two touchdown passes from quarterback Tanner Staton and threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Will Young with 39 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.

Chapin 47, River Bluff 21

Jayden Bradford threw five touchdowns, three to Appalachian State commit Zavier Short, and the defense forced five turnovers to lead the Eagles to the Region 5-5A win.

Bennett Galloway had a 25-yard touchdown reception and rushed for a 24-yard score to lead Chapin (7-2, 2-1), which visits Lexington next week to decide second place in Region 5-5A. 

Dutch Fork 49, Lexington 3

Since Tom Knotts arrived at Dutch Fork High School in 2010, the Silver Foxes have ended every regular season with a share of a region title.

Another five-touchdown game by Jarvis Green and a defensive effort which allowed just 133 total yards lifted Dutch Fork to the Region 5-5A title. It also extended their ongoing winning streaks to end the regular season:

58 consecutive games without a loss
57 consecutive wins over in-state teams
30 consecutive home games without a loss
29 consecutive home wins over in-state teams
28 consecutive region wins
Green finished with 133 rushing yards and had four rushing touchdowns in the first half. He had one of the two touchdown pass from quarterback Davin Patterson, who finished with 236 passing yards.

Under Armour and Touchstone Cooperative Energy North-South Bowl selection wide receiver Antonio Williams had 10 receptions for 169 yards. 

Lexington (6-2, 2-1),  which had its six-game winning streak snapped, got a 33-yard field goal by Tyler Chavis. 

Westwood 42, Irmo 37

The seventh-ranked Yellow Jackets were minutes away from their first region title since 2009.

Instead, the Redhawks marched downfield and got a touchdown pass with 11 seconds left for the victory.

The victory creates a three-way tie for 1st place in Region 4-4A with Irmo, Westwood and defending state champion AC Flora. The Yellow Jackets (4-3, 3-1) close out the regular season at Lugoff-Elgin needing a win and a Westwood loss to Richland Northeast to claim a share of the region title.

Newberry 20, Batesburg-Leesville 14

The final home game for coaching legend Phil Strickland ended with the Bulldogs prevailing over his former team. 

The victory also kept Newberry’s region title hopes alive entering next week’s game versus Gray Collegiate. The War Eagles earned a forfeit win over Eau Claire. 

The loss clinched fourth place in Region 3-2A for the Panthers 

WW King Academy 56, Newberry Academy 6

The Knights (6-2, 3-1) won their fifth consecutive game of the season Friday and close out the regular season Friday at Jefferson Davis Academy. 

Laurens 19, White Knoll 14

Landon Sharpe threw for 188 yards and two touchdowns, one to Austin Cunningham, in the loss by the Timberwolves.

The Raiders trailed 14-10 before scoring nine unanswered points in the fourth quarter. 

White Knoll (1-8, 0-3) can still clinch a playoff berth with a victory next week at River Bluff. 

South Aiken 50, Airport 12

Ridge Spring-Monetta 50, Wagener-Salley 8 

THURSDAY’S GAME

By Robert White

Pelion 39, Barnwell 34 

The Panthers rallied in the 4th quarter at home Thursday night to upset the third-ranked Warhorses in a Region 5-2A clash.

The scoring started with Barnwell in the 1st quarter on a long pass for a touchdown at the eight-minute mark to take the early lead 7-0.

Pelion’s first score came off a fumble recovery on their own 32. It ended up with a touchdown run by Jacob Osmanski with under a minute to go in the first quarter. 

With the score tied at 7, Barnwell's Tyler Smith scored a touchdown at the second-minute mark of the second quarter. 

Pelion answered with a touchdown of their own with under a minute left in the half. The PAT failed, leaving the score at 14-13. 

The Warhorses completed a long touchdown pass to increase their lead to 20-13 before halftime.

The third quarter saw Barnwell extend their lead to 27-13 on a 74-yard rushing touchdown by Barnwell's Smith. 

Now the game became fun. 

Pelion's Peyton Whitten started off the scoring on a one-yard run for a touchdown. The Panthers’ Colin Williams recovered an onside kick on the Barnwell 45. A few plays later, Whitten scored again from nine yards to tie the game at 27-27.

Smith answered for Barnwell with a 4-yard touchdown with seven minutes left to regain the lead at 34-27. Pelion answered right back with a Whitten to Osmanski touchdown. 

The PAT failed, so Barnwell still had the lead 34 - 33.

The Panthers recovered another onside kick at Barnwell 48. Whiiten threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Lucas New for the game-winner. 

Whitten sealed the victory on defense, intercepting a Barnwell pass at the 26-yard line. 

Pelion (3-5, 1-2) is currently third in the region and closes out the regular season at Edisto.