Cavaliers surprise Generals 21-20

By TOM O’HARE
Special to The Item

BISHOPVILLE — Robert E. Lee picked up what head coach Darren Griggs described as the program’s biggest win in quite a while by knocking off Thomas Sumter Academy 21-20 at Dick McCutchen Field on Friday.

The Cavaliers rallied from a 14-0 deficit in the first quarter to take a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter. The Generals pulled to within 21-20 with 1:08 left in the game when quarterback Blake Stengel scored on a sneak on fourth down from the one-yard line.

Thomas Sumter head coach Troy Kessinger went for two after the score, but Stengel’s pass in the end zone fell incomplete. After Lee recovered TSA’s onside kick, they were able to run out the clock to seal the victory.

Lee improved to 2-2 with the win in its SCISA Region I-2A opener. Thomas Sumter fell to 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the region.

“It’s been a couple of years since we’ve had a win like this around here,” said Griggs. “We felt like coming in here, that we could move the ball on them some, because even though they were 3-0, they weren’t as big and as physical as the teams that had beaten us. This really does a lot for our football team, coming away with a win against a team that was 3-0. I can’t remember the last time we started the region 1-0.”

After a quarter of play, the script seemed to be following the story line of TSA’s lopsided victories the last two years. Starting from the Cavaliers’ 49 after a Lee punt, Stengel found Ricky Mello open in the right flat, and Mello was able to scoot 43 yards. Charles Metcalfe scored on a six-yard run on the next play, and Harrison Cardone booted the extra point to give the Generals a 7-0 lead with 8:35 left in the opening quarter.

Later in the quarter, disaster struck for the Cavaliers when a Brandon Jozwiak punt was blocked by Dalton Shipman. Christian Bartsch picked up the loose ball and rambled down to the Lee 7.

Two plays later, Michael Fitzgerald ran the ball in from three yards away for the score. Cardone’s extra point was good, putting the Generals on top14-0 with seven seconds remaining in the first quarter.

“Even when we got down 14-0, it was important to still keep trying to run the ball,” said Griggs. “We really have no choice because that is basically all we can do on offense.”

While Griggs faced the challenge of trying to keep his team patient on offense, Kessinger faced another problem on the Generals sideline.



“Sometimes it is hard to convince kids a team you have beaten pretty good the last two years has become a good football team, and after you get a 14-0 lead like that, you start feeling good about yourself and figure it is going to go that way again,” Kessinger said. “We had some other chances in the first half, but we missed some big plays in our passing game.”

On the kickoff following Fitzgerald’s touchdown, a late hit against TSA put the Lee offense in business at its 49. They then took care of business via the way they know best, moving the ball 51 yards on 13 straight running plays, reaching the end zone on Daniel Dinkins’ seven-yard run. Jozwiak added the extra point to make it 14-7 with 5:25 left in the second quarter.

Before the second quarter ended, disaster struck again, but this was time it was for the Generals, and it came in a big way. With 18 seconds left on the clock and the Generals at their 35, Stengel drifted back in the pocket and was met with a viscous hit from Lee linebacker Jesse Kistner.

Stengel tossed the ball backwards while trying to get the pass off, which sent the ball loose in the Generals backfield. Lee’s Richard Murphy picked it up on what was called a fumble, since the ball traveled behind Stengel, and ran it in for a touchdown. Jozwiak added the extra point to tie the game at 14-14.

“That was the biggest of the big plays,” Kessinger said of Murphy’s touchdown.

The Cavaliers took the second half kickoff, but were unable to move the ball, forcing a 31-yard punt by Jozwiak that gave the Generals possession at their 35. Tyler Haselden replaced Stengel at quarterback, and the Generals took a page out of the Cavaliers offense, staying on the ground for eight straight plays to move them down to the Lee 19.

But Haselden was picked off by Dinkins on his first pass attempt, ending the Generals scoring threat.

Starting from the 38 after Dinkins’ 30-yard interception return, Griggs called a running play a dozen times in a row, which moved the ball deep into TSA territory. Facing third and 12 at the TSA 22, the Cavaliers switched things up by going to the air, and quarterback Scott Rollins’ well-rested arm found Kistner open on a 21-yard completion that gave the Cavaliers a first-and-goal from the one.

Brandon Gardner went into the end zone standing up on the last play of the third quarter to make it 21-14.

“The thing about this offense is that when you can get the run going, that really opens up some chances in the passing game when you might need them,” Griggs said.

When the Generals took over, and with Stengel still on the sidelines, Kessinger decided to move fleet-footed wide receiver Harrison Cardone in to the backfield, and he ripped off a 45 yard run to move the ball to Lee’s 20. But a fumble by Fitzgerald two plays later was recovered by Jozwiak to give the ball back to the Cavaliers.

Thomas Sumter’s offense got another shot at tying the game before the game ended, and thanks to runs of 18, 9, and 15 by Cardone, and a defensive holding penalty against the Cavaliers, the Generals enjoyed a first-and-goal from the Lee six.

Facing fourth down from the one, Stengel came back in under center for the first time in the second half, and he bulled his way into the end zone on a sneak to make it 21-20. At first, the Generals had the kicking team out after Stengel’s score, but after a Lee timeout, Kessinger decided to go for the win.

“They had come very close to blocking our kick the last time we tried one, and our kicker (Cardone), had been out there playing the whole game and was pretty tired,” Kissinger said.

Stengel rolled right on the try for two, but his pass in the end zone intended for Jeremiah Freeman was batted away by Lee’s Chad King to spoil the Generals late rally.

“They (Lee) did a good job on that extra point,” Kessinger said. “We got what we wanted, but they had everything covered.”

The Generals will travel to Northwoods Academy next week, while the Cavaliers will host Williamsburg Academy.

Robert E. Lee 21, Thomas Sumter 20

TSA REL

First downs 11 13

Rushes-yards 180 267

Passing 96 34

Comp-Att-Int 11-4-1 5-2-0

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2

Penalties-Yards 2-20 5-25

Thomas Sumter 14 0 0 6 - 20

Robert E. Lee 0 14 7 0 - 21



First Quarter

T — Metcalfe 6 run (Cardone kick).

T -- Fitzgerald 3 run (Cardone kick).

Second Quarter

R — Dinkins 7 run (Jozwiak kick).

R -- Murphy 30 fumble return (Jozwiak kick).

Third Quarter

R — Gardner 1 run (Jozwiak kick).

Fourth Quarter

T — Stengel 1 run (pass failed).