James Island rallies to beat Sumter 42-35 in double overtime
QB Connor Dantzler passes for 4 TDs, runs for 2 to lead Trojans to AAAAA DII quarterfinals
Sumter – When James Island High School went into the locker room at halftime of its AAAAA Division I second-round state playoff football game trailing Sumter 28-14, there was no panic. Instead, the Trojans got a simple message from head coach Jamar McKoy.
“Keep chipping away, that’s what he told us,” said JI senior quarterback Connor Dantzler. “We just had to do what we were supposed to do and get back in the game. Just keep chipping away.”
That’s what James Island did. The defense shut out the Gamecocks in the final two quarters, the offense scored twice to get the game into overtime, and the Trojans stopped SHS on fourth down from the 1-yard line in the second overtime to come away with a 42-35 victory on Friday on Memorial Stadium’s Freddie Solomon Field.
The victory improved JI to 11-1 on the season and sent into the quarterfinals. It will go on the road to face 10-1 Stratford on Friday. Stratford advanced with a 40-33 win over River Bluff.
Sumter saw its season end with a 9-2 record.
` “We needed a game like this,” McKoy said to his team in the postgame meeting. “I’m proud of you. We fought through adversity to win this.”
This was the second straight season the Trojans went on the road to face Sumter in the playoffs. The Gamecocks beat them 34-17 in the quarterfinals last year.
“It means a lot for our program to come in here and win this game,” McKoy said. “To go on the road and beat a storied program like this says a lot about us.”
The Gamecocks took the 14-point lead into the second half and received the second-half kickoff. A long return had them starting at midfield. However, James Island forced three downs and out and took over at its 20. It put together a 10-play scoring drive that ended with a 2-yard run by Dantzler. Sophomore placekicker Isaac Lorentz added the extra point to make it 28-21 with 5:58 remaining in the third quarter.
SHS fumbled the football away on its first play of the ensuing drive with senior defensive tackle Sinclair Wright recovering and setting the Trojans up at the Sumter 17. On fourth and two, Dantzler ran for three yards and a first down at the 6.
An illegal procedure penalty on first down pushed JI back to the 11. A 6-yard run by Dantzler on third down brought up fourth and goal from the 2. It tried to pass for the score, but the football fell incomplete.
Having weathered that storm, the Gamecocks went on the march again, driving to a first down at the JI 19. After a 1-yard run, SHS was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. That pushed it back to the 33 and killed the drive, forcing it to punt. A 33-yard punt by Cleveland Pinckney IV had James Island starting from its 4.
Sumter lost that field position and more on the first play as Dantzler hooked up with sophomore wide receiver Raphael Puiu for a 44-yard gain. Two plays later, the duo connected for 25 yards to the Gamecock 24. A pass interference penalty on the next play gave the Trojans a first down at the 12.
It appeared as though SHS might escape without points this time as well. Outside linebacker Tymarius Thompson-Durant came up with a 6-yard tackle for a loss on first down, and defensive end Ra’Sean Dickey followed with a 9-yard quarterback sack. A holding call against JI had it facing third down and 35 from its 37.
Sumter was penalized for being offsides before Dantzler connected with sophomore wide receiver Jordan Kendrick for a 22-yard gain to the 10. That brought up fourth and 8, but Dantzler threw a TD pass to senior wide receiver James Hurteau to tie the game at 28-28 with 2:29 left in the contest.
The Gamecocks were on the move again though, coming up with a first down at the James Island 32 with just under a minute to go. They fumbled the ball away on the next play. The Trojans managed to get to the SHS 24 before Lorentz missed a 41-yard field goal on the final play of regulation.
“If you want to win games like this, you can’t turn the ball over, you can’t give up a touchdown when you have someone third down and 30,” said Sumter head coach Mark Barnes. “We did those things and that’s why we lost.”
The four overtime possessions starting at the 10-yard line were about as intense as one could expect. Sumter got the ball first and kept it in the hands of junior quarterback Franklin Richardson for fourth down at the 1. However, a false start moved the ball back to the 6. The Gamecocks went for it with Richardson again keeping it. He willed himself into the end zone, barely breaking the plain for the score. Placekicker Connor Rivers added the extra point to make it 35-28.
` Dantzler threw incompletions on JI’s first three plays, bringing up fourth down from the 10. Dantzler went to Puiu for the 10-yard touchdown pass this time, and Lorentz added the PAT to tie the game and force the second OT.
James Island got it first this time. On third down at the 7, Dantzler connected with Huertu coming back across the middle for the TD pass to make it 42-35. SHS didn’t vary its offensive plan with Richardson running for two, three and four yards to bring up fourth down inside the 1. However, he couldn’t find the end zone, setting off a wild celebration by the Trojans and their faithful.
Dantzler completed 21 of 34 passes for 265 yards and four touchdowns. He was also the leading rusher, carrying the ball 13 times for 60 yards and the other two touchdowns.
“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the state,” McKoy said of Dantzler, who’s thrown for 2,913 yards and 36 touchdowns. “I think it’s about time some other people understand that.”
Puiu had six catches for 121 yards and two TDs. He has 47 catches for 1,122 yards and 15 touchdowns.
“He’s one of the best wide receivers in the state,” Dantzler said of Puiu. “He’s fun to throw the football to.”
Hurteau had eight catches for 63 yards and the other two scoring passes. Kendrick had two catches for 34 yards, and senior running back Thomas Webb had 32 rushing yards on six carries.
Sumter ran for 425 yards, with 278 of those coming in the dominating first half against a defense that had allowed just 86 points all season. Richardson led the way with 249 yards and three TDs on 29 carries. He had 189 yards in the first half.
Pinckney rushed for 96 yards and a score on 12 carries. Reggie Shannon had four carries for 48 yards, and Cayon Gordon had a 5-yard scoring run.
Thompson-Durant led the defense with 13 tackles, while Damarion Holmes had 10. Javonte Brown had seven tackles and two TFLs, Nashawn Brown had seven tackles and an interception, and Dickey had two sacks.
