White Knoll earns first win of season with 28-6 victory over Sumter
By Tim Leible
Posted 8/31/25
The Sumter High football team isn’t used to suffering losses in the regular season under head coach Mark Barnes, but that’s exactly what happened on Friday night against White Knoll.
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White Knoll earns first win of season with 28-6 victory over Sumter
Tim Leible | The Item
Tim Leible | The Item
Tim Leible | The Item
Tim Leible | The Item
Tim Leible | The Item
Tim Leible | The Item
Tim Leible | The Item
Tim Leible | The Item
Tim Leible | The Item
Posted
The Sumter High football team isn’t used to suffering losses in the regular season under head coach Mark Barnes, but that’s exactly what happened on Friday night against White Knoll.
After an interception set up a short touchdown to take a 6-0 lead in the first quarter, the Gamecocks struggled to find consistency on offense for the rest of the night.
The Timberwolves went on to score 28 unanswered points to leave both teams with a 1-1 record.
“We struggled tonight. We’ve got to give Coach (Nick) Pelham and their group credit, they did a good job defensively. We’ve played them two or three times now, and I didn’t predict that he was going to get into certain looks he got into and it caused us problems,” Barnes said. “I thought they played a lot better than they played last week. ... They whipped our tail tonight."
Both defenses dominated out of the gate, as Sumter and White Knoll exchanged punts on the first two possessions.
Jayden Drayton nearly took an interception back for six points. He was pushed out at the white Knoll nine-yard line, and Reggie Shannon quickly punched in the first score of the night.
A false start on the extra point pushed Sumter back, and a flubbed kick left them with a 6-0 lead.
The Gamecock defense forced another quick punt, aided by a fumbled snap. Their offense started to put a drive together before an early snap on the first play of the drive.
After one first down, a penalty sent Sumter backwards, and they eventually failed to convert on fourth-and-two.
The Gamecocks' defense did its job again on the next drive, as Bryce Allen nearly snagged a second Sumter interception.
Instead, the Gamecocks forced a punt, but Allen felt a little pressured by the White Knoll coverage team and muffed the return.
White Knoll recovered and immediately marched down the field for a touchdown, capping off the drive with a pass from Jhais McKiever to JJ Keith from 20 yards out on third-and-18.
“The game really turned when we fumbled the punt,” Barnes said. “We kinda had momentum, and then we gave it to them. Give them credit, they took advantage of a mistake we made, and we paid for it. Then we started gambling a little bit defensively, and they popped some runs on us.”
The Gamecocks stalled out again on offense, and White Knoll pushed the ball into the red zone.
McKiever had a nice scramble where he pump-faked a throw before pulling down and scampering down to the Sumter two.
The Gamecock defense made a tackle in the backfield to set up third-and-goal, but Caleb Geronomi was able to find room for a three-yard touchdown run to push the White Knoll lead to 14-6 with just over two minutes to play in the opening half.
Coming out of the break, Sumter quarterback Franklin Richardson ran for a first down, only for a flag to negate the play.
The Gamecocks punted two plays later. White Knoll punted it right back after their own penalty and pinned Sumter High inside their own 10.
The Gamecocks got out of the shadow of their end zone, but not much further, punting the ball away to end a scoreless third quarter.
White Knoll didn’t take long to find the end zone, however, as the first play of the fourth quarter was a 55-yard score.
McKiever found Geronomi on a swing pass, and the senior handled the rest.
Sumter High started to respond with a 22-yard run from Richardson and another first down completion to Joseph Chapman to flip the field, but a pass batted at the line and two short runs stalled out the drive.
Richardson’s fourth-down pass fell incomplete, giving White Knoll the ball at their 28. Geronomi then got loose for a 48-yard run and McKiever ran in for a 20-yard score two plays later to put the dagger in the Gamecocks.
“A game like this comes down to who makes the most mistakes, and it looked a lot worse than it really was at the end," Barnes said. "We just gave up a couple of bust-out plays."
“Offensively, we have to find a way to make the option work.
Sumter High heads to 2-0 Myrtle Beach next, while White Knoll returns home to face Brookland-Cayce.
Keywords
White Knoll football, Sumter football
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