White Knoll knocks Wando out of playoffs

MOUNT PLEASANT —Wando’s historic football season is history.

The Warriors set a school record with 10 victories in the regular season but couldn’t get out of the first round of the Division I-AAAA playoffs. White Knoll, the No. 11 seed, shocked the sixth-seeded Warriors, 25-20, on Friday night at the Wando Athletic Complex in front of about 2,500 fans.

The Timberwolves’ Wing-T offense — based on counters, fakes and other misdirection plays — was too much for Wando.

“You just don’t see that too often,” Wando coach Jimmy Noonan said of White Knoll’s offense. “I thought we had a good week of practices, but you just can’t simulate their offense.”

White Knoll threw only 29 passes in the regular season and passed only three times Friday night. One of the passes was not by design. Zach Weed scored the first touchdown of the game, and the kick for the extra point was botched. Holder Calev Grubb handled the bad snap and passed to Jordan Lemay for the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

The Timberwolves improved to 9-3 behind a running game that rolled up 186 yards in the first half, and finished with more than 300 for the game.

“We brought that offense in four years ago,” White Knoll coach Gordon Walters said. “We believe in it and stuck with it. We wanted to win tonight. We came in thinking we could run the football. Wando is a very good team, but we felt confident.”

Wando’s offense struggled mightily. White Knoll stifled Wando’s vaunted passing game. Quarterback Christian Hart entered with 2,643 yards and 24 touchdowns passing, but had a rough night for the first three quarters. He threw two touchdowns after White Knoll took a 19-point lead.

The Warriors’ only first-half score came on a special teams snafu. They converted a bad snap on a punt into six points as Kenning Waring scored on a 9-yard run to cut the lead to 8-6.

Lucas Bowerman kicked a 30-yard field goal early in the second quarter to give the Timberwolves an 11-6 lead.

Quin Jones, who entered the game with 1,325 yards rushing, broke off an 86-yard touchdown run down the right sideline with 5:45 left in the third quarter to push White Knoll’s lead to 18-6.

White Knoll quarterback Delvin Riley completed his first pass of the game with 1:45 left in the third quarter with a 46-yard toss to Jones to make it 25-6.

Hart’s two touchdowns weren’t enough in the fourth quarter as the Warriors finished with a 10-2 record.

“It was a great season,” Noonan said. “The seniors, they certainly set the bar high. We hated to end with a loss, but we didn’t quit. For that, I am proud.”

White Knoll 8 3 14 0—25

Wando 6 0 0 14—20

White Knoll — Zach Weed 6 run (Jordan Lemay pass from Calev Grubb)

Wando — Kenny Waring 9 run (run failed)

White Knoll — Lucas Bowerman 30 FG

White Knoll — Quin Jones 86 run (Bowerman kick)

White Knoll — Jones 46 pass from Delvin Riley (Bowerman kick)

Wando — Rudder Brown 5 pass from Christian Hart (Clawson kick)

Wando — Nate Wright 17 pass from Hart (Clawson kick)