Saturday night Special. Olympic holds off Ardrey Kell in high school football thriller
Greg Jachym had seen the momentum shift countless times, and he wasn’t going to wait for it to happen again.
So Jachym had his Ardrey Kell football team go for a two-point conversion and victory in overtime Saturday night. Olympic stopped the attempt, and the host Trojans scored a 28-27 SoMeck 7 4A victory.
The game featured touchdowns on the final plays of each half and two touchdowns in the last 33 seconds of the fourth quarter.
“It was the big play when we needed it,” Olympic coach Brandon Thompson said of senior linebacker Sterling Chavis III’s stop on Ardrey Kell’s Brevin Caldwell on the two-point conversion try.
“With the way the game had gone, we wanted to go for the win right there,” Jachym said. “They came up with a big stop.”
The outcome left Olympic atop the conference (4-0, 4-0), with Ardrey Kell (3-1, 3-1) and Providence (4-0, 3-0) also in the battle for the SoMeck 7 4A’s two guaranteed playoff berths.
The visiting Knights dominated most of the first half, bolting to a 14-0 lead on touchdown runs by Caldwell and Brooks Stankavage. But two critical turnovers allowed Olympic to get back into the game.
The first came with about a minute left in the half, when Stankavage was hit hard and fumbled at the Ardrey Kell 2. Olympic recovered and scored two plays later, with no time left on the clock. Stankavage never returned to the game.
The Trojans tied the contest midway in the third quarter, when the Knights fumbled a punt at their 8. Four players later, quarterback Sean Bowles Jr. plunged 1 yard, and the game was tied.
Each team drove deep into the opponents’ territory in the second half without scoring.
But with 3:18 left, Olympic took over at its 46 and drove 54 yards, scoring on a Cameron Smith 8-yard run with 33 seconds left.
The Knights weren’t finished. They got to near midfield, and with six seconds left, quarterback Jack Curtis lofted a 47-yard touchdown pass to Drew Desantis. That cut Olympic’s lead to 21-20 with no time left on the clock.
“We wanted to go for two points right there,” Jachym said.
But the Knights were called for a celebration penalty and had to settle for a 35-yard conversion kick by Alex Chillcott.
Olympic got the ball first in overtime and scored on its second play. The Knights countered with a first-play overtime touchdown, and Jachym called for a two-point conversion.
Thompson said he was happy with the way his offense operated in the second half.
“That was a very good defense we were working against,” he said. “But we were able to fall back on what we do best. We’re not a finesse team. And against that very good defense, we were able to move the ball.
“I wish we could have taken advantage of all our opportunities, but we did enough to win.”
THREE WHO MATTERED
Cameron Smith, Olympic: A 5-10, 185-pound senior, Smith carried 32 times for 152 yards and punished the Ardrey Kell defense in the second half. He scored a pair of touchdowns.
Makhi Pryor, Ardrey Kell: A senior linebacker, Pryor might have given Olympic’s offense nightmares Saturday night. He had three sacks and two tackles for losses.
Sterling Chavis III, Olympic: A senior linebacker, Chavis had several unassisted tackles. But he made the game’s biggest play, stopping Ardrey Kell’s Brevin Caldwell on the game’s deciding play, a two-point conversion attempt.
WORTH MENTIONING
▪ Olympic’s Albert Fleming IV ran the ball several times and made some big plays on defense, but his biggest plays might have been a pair of punts inside the Ardrey Kell 10. The second kick was fumbled by the Knights and led to Olympic’s second touchdown. Fleming recovered from a shaky start and averaged 36 yards on six kicks.
▪ The absence of power running back Brooks Stankavage, injured late in the first half, took away one of Ardrey Kell’s key weapons on the decisive two-point conversion attempt. “We’ll have the doctors check him tomorrow,” Ardrey Kell coach Greg Jachym said.
▪ Olympic defensive back Josiah Woody was beside himself for dropping what could have been an interception in the second half, but Woody had a big game. Twice, he broke up potential Ardrey Kell touchdown passes.
▪ Ardrey Kell junior quarterback Jack Curtis completed 17-of-34 passes for 215 yards, including that dramatic 47-yarder at the end of regulation.
What’s next?
Ardrey Kell is home against Berry Academy next Friday, while Olympic travels to West Mecklenburg.
Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle
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Ardrey Kell 0 14 0 7 6 -- 27
Olympic 0 7 7 7 7 -- 28
AK - Brevin Caldwell 1 run (Alex Chillcott kick)
AK - Brooks Stankavage 14 run (Chillcott kick)
O - Cameron Smith 6 run (Cristian Marroquin kick)
O - Sean Bowles Jr. 1 run (Marroquin kick)
O - Smith 8 run (Marroquin kick)
AK - Drew Desantis 47 pass from Jack Curtis (Chillcott kick)
O - Smith 5 run (Marroquin kick)
AK - Josh Johnson 10 run (run failed)
West Lincoln 21, Lincolnton 0: Grayson Barkley ran 18 times for 138 yards and Mason Avery ran 14 times for 85 yards, plus a touchdown and a two-point conversion in an easy win. West Lincoln ran for 294 yards in the game.
This story was originally published March 21, 2021 at 7:00 AM.