Carolina Forest shut out by Sumter but earns playoff berth

Sumter showed why it is the Region VI-5A champion with a dominant defensive performance in a 23-0 win over Carolina Forest on Friday, though the Panthers will live to fight another day by claiming the fourth spot in the region.

Carolina Forest (6-4, 2-3 in the region) was limited to 113 yards of offense on 55 plays, but earned a playoff berth and will travel in the first round next Friday based on Socastee’s 53-27 defeat of West Florence, which dropped into a tie with Socastee for fifth in the region.

“You can’t win the state championship if you ain’t in it, and my goal every year is to try to get my program and my team in the playoffs, and our kids have accomplished that again,” Panthers coach Marc Morris said. “Whoever we play we’re going to toe it up, do the very best we can, coach as hard as we can this week and see what happens.”

Sumter (9-1, 5-0) won its ninth straight game and recorded its third shutout of the season and second in three weeks, as the Gamecocks have allowed just 10 points in its last three games.

Sumter will be home in the playoffs for the next three weeks if it continues to win.

“We’re always going to be in games because of our defense and punting game,” Sumter coach Mark Barnes said. “I think we’re good enough defensively, we have to play better offensively. We took a step backwards tonight offensively. We’ve been playing better than that. But then again you have to give [the Panthers] credit, they’re well coached and are where they’re supposed to be, and it’s hard to trick them sometimes.”

Sumter won its second consecutive region title after not winning a region from 2010-14.

“The senior leadership is good,” said junior quarterback Zykiem Jackson, who gained 64 yards on 16 carries and completed nine of 19 passes for 85 yards. “The defense came in with a chip on their shoulder and handled business. There was a region championship on the line.”

Carolina Forest held Sumter to 289 yards of offense on 55 plays.

“I thought our defense played extremely hard and our coaching staff did a good job with them,” Morris said. “The reason they’re conference champions is that [defensive] side of the ball and their defense played extremely good. We had a couple chances early to get the ball up and down the field a little bit but didn’t make the plays.

“The bottom line is their defensive line beat us up front, and that’s the first time this year our offensive line has lost an up-front battle.”

The Gamecocks took a 9-0 lead into halftime. Roman Childers made a 26-yard field goal early in the second quarter moments after Jalen Rouse dropped a potential 14-yard touchdown pass, and Da’jon Butts scored on a 2-yard run with 3:34 left in the half. Butts took a direct snap and powered in over right guard.

A 37-yard catch by Ismael Garcia, who was well covered but jumped over a defender on the right sideline to make the reception, gave Carolina Forest the ball at the Sumter 12 with 9 seconds remaining in the first half. But a fade pass into the right corner of the end zone was incomplete and a 29-yard field goal attempt by Freddie Kane was wide left.

The scoring opportunity was created after Sumter opted to go for a fourth down at its own 49 with 30 seconds remaining in the half, and a deep pass down the middle went off the outstretched hands of Rodney Pitts.

“I had so much confidence in our defense, to be honest, I didn’t care if they got it at the 50-yard line right before halftime,” Barnes said. “It almost bit me in the butt a little bit.”

Carolina Forest had gambled on fourth down earlier in the second quarter, converting a fourth-and-1 at its own 30 on a 5-yard run by Matt Beale but failing to convert a fourth-and-2 at its own 39 four plays later, which led to Sumter’s first-half touchdown.

“We want to be progressive, and when you have a defense like that and it’s fourth-and-2, you have to feel as a coach you have to give your kids a chance to make 2 or 3 yards in those situations,” Morris said. “Tonight we just went up against a better defensive team that what our offense played tonight, and that’s the bottom line.”

Sumter added to its lead with 4 minutes remaining in the third quarter. One play after stopping the Panthers on fourth down, Rouse received a lateral pass to the right from Jackson and threw a 51-yard pass down the right sideline to Daniel Heydel, who was well behind defenders to give Sumter a 16-0 lead.

The Gamecocks drove 82 yards to the Panthers’ 8-yard line on their next possession but Childers missed a 26-yard field goal attempt early in the fourth quarter.

Zhyki Vaught thwarted a late Sumter drive with an interception in the end zone, but a Melvin Lundy interception one play later gave Sumter possession at Carolina Forest’s 17, and Jackson hit James Harris for a 17-yard TD pass for the final score with about 3 minutes remaining.

“We beat a good team tonight so it was a great win for us,” Barnes said. “We wanted to be outright region champions. … Back to back was important to us.”

This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 11:49 PM with the headline "Carolina Forest shut out by Sumter but earns playoff berth."