ST. MATTHEWS -- With 1:06 remaining in the game on a fourth-and-one play, the Calhoun Academy defense toed the line of scrimmage. The mission was clear. They had to keep the Thomas Sumter Generals from getting one yard.

The ball was snapped and Generals' quarterback Blake Stengel faked the handoff to Philip Frazier before he ran for the open field on his right. He avoided the Cavalier defenders and was able to score the game-winning touchdown to silence the home crowd. Frazier added the two-point conversion to give Thomas Sumter the 31-28 win and their first region title in 21 years.

After forcing the Cavaliers to go three and out in the first series of the game, Thomas Sumter came onto the field and put the first points of the game on the board. Frazier finished off a 13-play drive by plunging in from the 1-yard line to give the Generals an early 7-0 lead.

Thomas Sumter (9-2, 5-0) was on the attack again in the second quarter as Frazier and Dustin Scott ran through the holes their offensive line provided for them. Rushing on 10 out of 11 plays, Frazier scored his second touchdown on a 4-yard run. Harrison Cardone converted the Generals' first two-point conversion of the night to make the score 15-0 with 5:04 left in the first half.

Frazier had 12 carries for 106 yards in the first half.

The Cavaliers (6-4, 4-1) answered with a five-play drive ending with junior quarterback Andrew Robinson connecting with senior running back Shandon Kemmerlin for a 41-yard touchdown pass with 3:28 to go in the half. Robinson and Kemmerlin also converted the two-point conversion to make the score 15-8.

Kemmerlin and Robinson connected again with 5:08 left in the third quarter, as Kemmerlin caught a 30-yard pass for a touchdown to narrow Thomas Sumter's lead to one point, 15-14.

"We had to throw it and we've been throwing it well lately," Calhoun head coach Adam Jarecki said. "They were bringing a lot of pressure. So, we knew we were going to get some one-on-one kind of stuff so we do some routes off of that."

Calhoun took the lead for the first time in the game when Mack Irick returned an interception 65 yards for a touchdown with 4:31 left in the third quarter to give the Cavaliers a 20-15 advantage.

Thomas Sumter would not go away easily as they continued to use their running attack. Of the nine run plays they used in their final scoring drive of the third quarter, five of ended with a gain of seven yards or more including Frazier's third and final touchdown of the night - a 13-yard touchdown run to take a 21-20 lead with 25 seconds left in the quarter.

Calhoun regained the lead with 11:20 to go in the game. Robinson threw his third touchdown pass of the night to Irick. The 28-yard touchdown pass gave the Cavaliers a 28-21 lead.

The Generals made their way to the Cavaliers' 6-yard line with just under seven minutes left on nine plays. On the very next play, Scott fumbled and Calhoun recovered. It was what Calhoun needed. Scott made up for his mistake by tackling David Yenny in his own end zone for a safety to make it a 28-23 ball game.

Once again, the Generals relied on their running game to get them back into Cavalier territory. Thomas Sumter converted two fourth downs to keep their drive alive as the clock continued to run. With 1:06 remaining, Stengel scored on an 11-yard run to take the lead for the final time. Frazier converted the final two-point conversion to make it 31-28.

Thomas Sumter head coach Troy Kessinger gives credit to Jarecki and his players.

"That team right there is a tough bunch of kids," Kessinger said. "That's probably the best offense we've faced all year."

Although they didn't win the region, Jarecki is proud of his players for being able to play with heavy hearts.

"It's been a tough, tough week at school," he said. "The effort, the heart, it was tremendous tonight."

At halftime, Calhoun gave tribute to Kellie McKeowen, a fellow student-athlete who passed away earlier in the week.

Their first region loss of the season gives the Cavaliers a two-seed in the playoffs. They will play at home next week against the three-seed. However, going into the playoffs banged up is Jarecki's biggest concern.

"I have to see where we stand as far as injuries," he said. "The biggest key is getting everybody back and getting everybody healthy before next week," he said.

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