The stakes are always high when rivals Lexington and White Knoll meet on the football field,

Friday night's contest in the Wolf Den was no different. 

The fourth ranked Wildcats arrived with a 48-21 win over their other main rival River Bluff, giving them a 2-0 region record, 6-1 overall. 

The Timberwolves have struggled in region play after six straight wins to open their season.  They returned to their home field 0-2 in region play after a 52-0 loss at top-ranked Dutch Fork. 

What followed was an exciting back and forth game that came down to the last moment. Lexington escaped the Wolf Den with a 36-33 overtime win.  

The win assured a first-round home playoff game for  Lexington (7-1, 3-0). 

The Wildcats began the night strong as they took a 20-3 lead at halftime on the strength of their passing attack and two touchdown runs from Jonah Norris. 

The second half started with both teams scoring on quick drives within the first 2 ½ minutes.  

White Knoll receiver Hasan Lee pulled in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Landon Sharpe on the first play of their drive to cut the Wildcats’ lead to 20-10. 

Lexington returned the ensuing kickoff to the White Knoll 40-yard line and a penalty took it down to the 15. In two plays, Norris ran it in for a touchdown to make it 27-10.

The Timberwolves went to the short passing game to set up their next score. A pass from Sharpe to Lee cut the lead back to 10 before the Wildcats answered again with another rushing touchdown from Norris, who finished with 199 rushing yards. 

A missed extra point left their lead at 33-17.

After a pass interference call on Lexington in the end zone extended a White Knoll drive in the red zone, Sharpe and Lee connected on a second touchdown pass on a third and 17 play at the Lexington 19 yard line. A two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving it 33-23 with 1:15 remaining in the third quarter.

Another White Knoll scoring drive early in the fourth quarter cut the lead to 33-30 after a quarterback keeper by Sharpe found the end zone. It was his fourth touchdown of the game and he finished with 376 passing yards. 

After the Timberwolves forced a punt, it started their drive at their own 8-yard line. 

A holding penalty negated a pass that would have put the Timberwolves inside the 15 with just over two minutes to go. Instead, they got backed up to their own 35 again.

Sharpe got the offense back to the Wildcat 15 yard line quickly, however, with consecutive passes to Henderson and Lee. The drive stalled out with 34 seconds remaining in the game and White Knoll elected to kick a field goal to send the game into overtime. 

After Lexington took its remaining timeouts twice in a row to ice the Timberwolves kicker Aden Brown, he was able to put the tying field goal through the uprights.

In overtime, White Knoll’s possession resulted in a missed field goal attempt. The Wildcats couldn’t put it in the end zone either, but were able to win the game on a Tyler Chavis field goal.  

“We took some deep breaths at halftime and calmed down,” Timberwolves head coach Nick Pelham said after the game of his team’s second half comeback run. “We started to have some good things happen for us in the second half and that helped us build from there and get some momentum.” 

Wildcats head coach Perry Woolbright gave the Timberwolves a nod afterwards for their second half play as well as noting his own players’ ability to react. 

“They did a great job at the half of making adjustments,” he said. “They are a heck of a team, they started getting big plays. When great teams play, they’re going to keep fighting. I was proud of our kids, the way we fought until the end tonight.” 

Lexington travels to Aiken Oct. 21, while White Knoll faces Chapin in a matchup which could determine the final playoff spot out of Region 5-5A. 

Dutch Fork 51, Chapin 0 

Jarvis Green rushed for 158 yards and three touchdowns and the Silver Foxes’ defense allowed just 45 total yards in posting their second straight shutout. 

Quarterback Aliam Appler threw for 127 yards for Dutch Fork (7-1, 2-0), which extended their regular-season winning streak against Palmetto State teams to 43 and region-winning streak to 30. It also marked the 19th shutout win for the Silver Foxes since 2016.

Dutch Fork travels to River Bluff next week, while Chapin faces White Knoll

Gilbert 38, Orangeburg-Wilkinson 7 

Jaden Allen-Hendrix rushed for 120 yards and three touchdowns and caught another as the sixth ranked Indians gave head coach Chad Leaphart his 63rd career win at his alma mater.

Gilbert (5-2, 3-0) jumped out to a 31-0 lead through three quarters. Quarterback Drake Braddock threw for 127 yards and a touchdown. 

The Indians next travel to Dreher Oct. 21. 

Batesburg-Leesville 21, Fox Creek 13 

The Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak and surpassed last year’s victory total in the Region 3-2A victory.

Batesburg-Leesville (3-5, 1-2) plays host to Pelion Oct. 21. 

Brookland-Cayce 42, Dreher 13 

Deshawn Washington, Tanner Staton and Evan Golden each accounted for two touchdowns in the Bearcats’ victory. 

Brookland-Cayce (5-3, 3-0) travels to Swansea Oct. 21. 

Gray Collegiate 54, Newberry 12 

Quarterback Riley Staton threw for 225 yards and five touchdowns, three to Jamarious Lockett, to lead the War Eagles to their fifth consecutive region title.

Devin Johnson caught two touchdowns and rushed for another and running backs BJ Montgomery and Caleb Ford combined for 260 rushing yards. Defensively, the War Eagles defense forced four turnovers.

Gray Collegiate (6-3, 5-0) closes out the regular season Oct. 28 versus W.J. Keenan at Midlands Sports Complex in West Columbia. 

OTHER WEEK EIGHT SCORES

South Aiken 62, Airport 21 

A.C. Flora 35, Irmo 21 

Bethesda Academy 32, Northside Christian Academy 15

Strom Thurmond 51, Peliion 7 

Lower Richland 42, Swansea 13 

W.W. King Academy 68, Laurens Academy 6