Blake Stribble(#1) throws pass as a defender is chasing him outside of the pocket.
                                 Greg Hollis | ghollis@newberryobserver.com

Blake Stribble(#1) throws pass as a defender is chasing him outside of the pocket.

Greg Hollis | ghollis@newberryobserver.com

<p>Kayshaun Schumpert(#14) carries the ball to pick up tough yards.</p>
                                 <p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@newberryobserver.com</p>

Kayshaun Schumpert(#14) carries the ball to pick up tough yards.

Greg Hollis | ghollis@newberryobserver.com

<p>Whitmire Community School 2024 homecoming queen with her father.</p>
                                 <p>Greg Hollis | ghollis@newberryobserver.com</p>

Whitmire Community School 2024 homecoming queen with her father.

Greg Hollis | ghollis@newberryobserver.com

WHITMIRE, S.C. — Whitmire finally got a chance to celebrate homecoming after it was rescheduled due to the impact left behind by Hurricane Helene. The Wolverines fought hard in the second half, but came up short. Whitmire(2-6, 1-2 region 1-A) fell at home 24-16 to McCormick(2-6, 1-1 region 1-A).

The Wolverines offense couldn’t get anything going in the first half. They had three trips inside of their opponents 20-yard line and couldn’t get anything out of those good offensive drives.

The Chiefs got the ball first in the game and scored on the opening drive. Senior starting quarterback Markese Stevens scored on the quarterback keeper from inside the five yard line to put them up 6-0 in the opening minutes of the game.

Whitmire had a good first offensive drive themselves and even converted a fourth down on the drive, but came away with no points.

It was defensive battle for majority of the game and the first quarter ended with the road team leading 6-0. Fast forward to midway through the second quarter, and Whitmire found themselves on the opponents side of the 50. Wolverines starting quarterback Blake Stribble tried to keep their good drive alive on a fourth down desperation heave that ended up in the hands of McCormick defender for an interception.

Stevens led his offense on another scoring drive to put some distance on the scoreboard. It started off with a long 40-plus yard run by Stevens and ended with him using his legs again for eight yard touchdown run. The Chiefs failed to convert the two-point conversion, but still held a 12-0 lead.

Whitmire drove the ball down the field with under two minutes left in the first half, and were faced with another fourth down near the red zone. Stribble fired another deep pass under pressure and it resulted in another interception. The Wolverines went into the held down 12-0.

After the homecoming halftime festivities concluded, the home team came out determined to turn the game around. It was a defensive battle for majority of the third quarter, but the run game finally got going for the Wolverines. Kayshaun Schumpert finished a long offensive drive with a three yard touchdown run in the closing seconds of the third quarter. He then converted the two-point conversion and Whitmire trailed now 12-8 going into the final period.

Whitmire offense started to turn things around when they speed their tempo up on offense.

The fourth quarter had offensive fireworks from both sides. After Whitmire scored to close out the third, McCormick answered on the first offensive drive of the fourth quarter with a touchdown of their own. Stevens got his third rushing touchdown of the game on a quarterback keeper inside the five yard line.

The Chiefs led 18-8 with 10 minutes left in the game.

Whitmire answered with a long offensive drive. Stribble found Kingston Green on critical fourth down for a 10-yard reception. Then, Stribble scored on a quarterback sneak on the one yard line. Schumpert converted the two point conversion to make it a one score game again, 18-16.

Whitmire attempted an onside kick and seem to have recovered it at first glance, but the referees rewarded the Chiefs with the ball after they somehow came up with it at the bottom of the pile.

The Wolverines’ defense put McCormick in a critical third down situation and Quantrell Hearst broke a long touchdown run to give his squad a 24-16 lead with under four minutes to play.

Whitmire got one last chance to possibly score and tie the game on a two-point conversion. They drove the ball right down the field, but faced another fourth down inside of the 20-yard line. The first attempt was an incomplete pass to the end zone. Both teams committed fouls on the play, so they replayed the fourth down attempt again after the offsetting penalties.

The Wolverines lined Stribble out wide and snapped the ball to Xzye Stephens who then handed it off to Stribble who was sent in motion. Then, Stribble fired a pass into the end zone in the direction of D’Angelo Ruff, but a McCormick defender broke it up to spoil the second half comeback on homecoming for the Wolverines.

“I have to do a better job of putting them in the right position to score points in the first half and have better play calls when we were inside the 20. We were inside the 20 three times in the first half and we got to find a way to punch it in,”: said Wolverines head coach Andrew Campbell. “That’s on me and like I told the kids at halftime, ‘just keep fighting and we will live and die with the results.’ You watched it, they fought to the very end and we had a chance to tie at the end of the game. The kids don’t quit and I can live with that. We are going to go back to work, fix it and move forward.”

The Wolverines showed a great effort despite their best players being hobbled. Stribble was fighting through an ankle injury. Stephens had shoulder injury from earlier this season and Schumpert also was hobbled with a bad ankle. Whitmire were forced to rely on younger players and had to adjust their offensive play calling due to the limited mobility of Stribble.

“Well that’s 1A football. We got a lot of kids banged up and not healthy, but so do they. That’s the nature of the beast, but like I always say, it don’t matter to these kids. When they put that uniform on, they are going to play to the end,” said Campbell. “No matter if they are hurt or not. They’ve been together since June and some of them before that. They love it and appreciate it for what it is, I love them for that.”

Reach Greg Hollis @ 803-768-3117 or on X @TheNBOnews