Chapin edges White Knoll in Wild Ending

By WORTHY EVANS

Contributing Write

CHAPIN – While Region 4-5A contenders Dutch Fork and Irmo were battling for the region championship down I-26 Friday night, another region battle blew up in the fourth quarter at Cecil Woolbright Field. 

There, fourth-place White Knoll took a 21-7 lead on the Eagles early in the third quarter, but Chapin battled back and eventually defeated the Timberwolves 35-34.

Anthony Turnbow scored three touchdowns for Chapin in the second half—a receiving score, an interception return for a touchdown, and a kickoff return for another TD. He had 176 all-purpose yards on the night, from the pick-6, the kickoff return, the touchdown reception, and 37 rushing yards.

Besides Turnbow’s effort, Colione Martin rushed 21 times for 132 yards and a score, and quarterback Brady Albro had two interceptions but threw for 159 yards and a clutch TD pass to Turnbow.

“Our kids really played really hard, we talked about trusting the process in all phases of the game and they came in together and didn’t give up on each other, which is really good,” Chapin head coach Ryan Cole said. “We had a couple of turnovers we created on defense, which was great, Cole Martin had a really good second half, the linemen tightened down, and Brady led them. I was happy that everybody came together at a time when we needed them to.”

That need came after Turnbow’s TD reception and pick-6 tied the game at 21 by the one-minute mark into the fourth quarter. In a fantastic finish, both teams scored four touchdowns within one minute and 20 seconds late in the game.

Chapin made it 28-21 on Gavin Stam’s 3-yard TD run at the 4:28 mark. Fifty-five seconds later, Jh’Quez Montgomery broke free for a 62-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 28 at the 3:53 mark.

Special teams had a moment over the next minute. Turnbow broke free on his 76-yard return that gave Chapin a 35-28 lead with 3:40 to go. Then White Knoll’s Devin Geronomi took the Eagles kick to the end zone on an 85-yard romp with 3:28 left.

Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, the game came down to extra points. Johnny Aguilera, who was 4-for-4 up until that point, missed the point after.

Chapin took yet another kickoff, but this time ran out the clock and sealed its first region win of the year.

“I’ve told our kids from time to time that I’ve been waiting for them to put it all together,” Cole said. “White Knoll is a good football team and they do some great things, and I’ll be excited to play them again.”

Without senior staring quarterback Landon Sharpe, who did not play Friday, the White Knoll offense sputtered in the first quarter. The Timberwolves defense kept Chapin from capitalizing. Geronomi put White Knoll on the scoreboard with a 45-yard interception return at the 9:37 mark of the second quarter.

The Eagles answered that pick-6 soon afterward, recovering a Timberwolves fumble at the White Knoll 34-yard line. Six plays later Martin burst into the end zone from two yards out to tie the game at 7. 

White Knoll had just two first downs in the game with about two minutes left in the first half, but took over the ball at midfield after a Chapin punt. Jhais McKeiver, a sophomore filling in for Sharpe, seemed to find his stride, connecting with Griffin for 11 yards first, then a 38-yard touchdown connection with Griffin 40 seconds before intermission.

White Knoll took a 21-7 lead with McKeiver’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Griffin early in the second half, but Chapin awakened a Senior Night crowd with three Turnbow touchdowns and a wild ending.

Montgomery finished the game with 103 yards on 19 carries for the Timberwolves. McKeiver threw two interceptions, but the sophomore passed for 173 yards and two TDs.

The game’s result puts White Knoll, Chapin, and Lexington in a three-way tie at the bottom of the region standings. All three teams are 5-5 overall and 1-4 in the region.

As Dutch Fork (10-0, 5-0) snapped 9-1, 4-1 Irmo’s 21-game regular-season winning streak dating back to October 2022, River Bluff (8-2, 3-2) finished third in the region with a 24-10 victory over the Wildcats.

I’m hoping we’re in and I heard a rumor that we’re matching up with White Knoll again,” Cole said. “But we’re just excited to get the chance to play, and if we get the opportunity, we’ll be looking forward to it.”



White Knoll   0         14       7         13       –         34

Chapin           0         7         7         21       –         35

Second Quarter

W - Devin Geronomi 45 interception return (Johnny Aguilera kick) 9:37

C - Colione Martin 2 run (Cooper Derrick kick) 4:39

W - Javon Griffin 38 pass from Jhais McKeiver (Aguilera kick) :40

Third Quarter

W – Griffin 15 pass from McKeiver (Aguilera kick) 9:01

C – Anthony Turnbow 43 pass from Brady Albro (Derrick kick) 5:24

Fourth Quarter

C – Turnbow 20 interception return (Derrick kick) 11:06

C – Gavin Stam 3 run (Derrick kick) 4:48

W – Jh’Quez Montgomery 62 run (Aguilera kick) 3:53

C – Turnbow 76 kickoff return (Derrick kick) 3:40

W – Geronomi 85 kickoff return (kick failed) 3:28

WK    CHS

First Downs   9         17

Rushes-yds     29-122 38-195

Passing yds    173     159

Att-Com-Int   18-10-2          29-17-2

Fumbles-lost  1-1      1-1

Penalties-yds  7-60    4-20

Punts-avg       6-36.7 5-26.4

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING

W – Jh’Quez Montgomery 20-103, Jhais McKeiver 4-6, Caleb Miller 3-4, Javon Griffin 2-7, James Smith 1-2.

C – Colione Martin 21-132, Brady Albro 7-(-13), Anthony Turnbow 3-33, John Rossi 4-37, Gavin Stam 1-3, Team 2-3.

PASSING

W – Jhais McKeiver 10-18-2.

C – Brady Albro 17-29-2.

RECEIVING

W – Javon Griffin 6-140, Jaylin Prior 2-20, James Smith 1-8, Caleb Geronomi 1-5.

C – Khalen Bostic 7-45Stone Ferrey 3-17, Colione Martin 3-26, Connor Finney 2-24, Anthony Turnbow 1-43, Johnathan Sheppard 1-5.