By Thomas Grant Jr.
ORANGEBURG – It was an historic Saturday at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium for Dutch Fork football.
In defeating Summerville 40-20 in the Class 5A Division I final for the second straight year, the Silver Foxes achieved a number of S.C. High School League milestones:
-The first team in league history to win four straight titles on two occasions.
– An 18th straight post-season win, the longest active such streak in the Palmetto State.
-A 10th state title to move up to 5th all-time with Woodruff. This also tied head coach Tom Knotts with Woodruff’s W.L. Varner and Summerville’s John McKissick for the most in SCHSL history.
“I have a lot of respect for Coach McKissick,” Knotts said. “I visited him a couple of times and had a great time with him and learned a little bit from him. I’m honored to be in his company. But it’s a tribute to the players and the administration and everybody around me.
“It’s a lot more than me.”
It was a total team effort by Dutch Fork (13-1), which broke the game open in the second half with 26 unanswered points.
Quarterback Jaxon Knotts accounted for four touchdowns and 203 total yards. He also overcame a third quarter turnover that led to a game-tying touchdown by Jaiden Kelly-Murray.
“I felt like I almost threw the game away with that fumble,” Jaxon Knotts said. “I was glad I was able to pull it back in and get the win.”
The Dutch Fork defense held Summerville to one offensive touchdown, sacked Green Wave quarterback Max Stafford eight times and forced three turnovers.
University of South Carolina signee Julian Walker had six tackles and 3 ½ sacks. He also returned a fumble caused by teammate Jaden Wuerth 19 yards for his first career touchdown.
Further galvanizing the Silver Foxes was a first quarter injury suffered by senior linebacker Raleigh Salters. The Shrine Bowl selection fractured his forearm during a tackle.
“It added a whole different fire to the defense,” Walker said. “That happened to him, that’s the worst thing that could happen to him because that’s our guy. Raleigh, he’s started on varsity since (he was) a sophomore.
“As a group, he’s impacted this team a lot as a leader and as a player and him being gone, it definitely did hurt. But we made an emphasis to play for him even more.”
The Silver Foxes jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. Both scores on touchdown passes by Jaxon Knotts came as a result of two interceptions by cornerback K.J. Dupree.
His first pick in the first quarter occurred after he caught freshman cornerback T.J. Gibson’s deflection. Dupree then returned the football 49 yards to the Summerville 28.
“Big, Big PBU (pass breakup),” said Dupree about Gibson. “I came across the field. I made something happen. I got yards. My offense came back and scored.”
Following an illegal block penalty, Knotts found an open Kye Fulton in the endzone for a 33-yard touchdown. The PAT by Bradley O’Leary made it 7-0 with 8:36 left in the first quarter.
On Summerville’s next series, Stafford was again picked off by Dupree on another downfield pass. Managing to stay inbounds, Dupree raced down the sidelines 47 yards to the Summerville 41.
A 17-yard run by Knotts helped moved the football to the Summerville 24. Facing a fourth and 11 at the 25-yard line, Knotts slinged a pass between two defenders to Wyatt Warner for the second touchdown with 1:35 left in the first quarter.
Summerville turned to running back Jayvn Williams on its next series. His 41-yard run brought the Green Wave into Dutch Fork territory and a 9-yard carry by Cam Heyward set up a 1st and goal at the 6-yard line.
Two plays later, Stafford found an open Kelly-Murray for a touchdown with 8:36 left in the first half.
Summerville had an opportunity at a 40-yard field goal. It was blocked by Mario Anderson to keep the score at 14-7 at halftime. The versatile senior was also utilized at linebacker in place of Salters.
“It was just go in there, do what Raleigh does, take over his role,” Anderson said.
Summerville tied the game to open the second half. The football was knocked away from Knotts by linebacker J.T. Williams during a run and was recovered at the 43-yard line by Kelly-Murray.
He raced untouched into the endzone to make it 14-14 with 10:56 left in the third quarter.
Dutch Fork regained the lead with 1:27 left in the third quarter. After a 21-yard run by Knotts, the Silver Foxes ran a reverse with Brayden Johnson who raced towards the goal line for a 27-yard touchdown.
The PAT was missed by O’Leary, leaving the score at 20-14.
After a three-and-out by Summerville, the Silver Foxes embarked on a 9-play, 45-yard scoring drive. Knotts scored on a keeper, but was tackled short on the 2-point conversion attempt with 7 minutes left.
The defense sealed the victory on Summerville’s next series. Stafford lost the football as he was pressured, it was picked up by Walker who raced into the endzone for the touchdown to extend the lead to 33-14.
“My guy Jaden got to him, I saw the ball on the ground,” Walker said. “At first, I thought I caught it, dropped it, picked it up, made sure I had some blockers and just reached out,” Walker said. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to score this.’ My first touchdown I have had in my life. That was a special moment for my first-ever touchdown to be in a state championship game.”
After Walker ended Summerville’s next drive with a sack, Dutch Fork needed two plays to score from six yards on runs by Kyle Henry.
With 3:01 left, the celebration began on the Silver Foxes’ sidelines. A 52-yard run by Williams, who finished with 175 yards, set up his 1-yard touchdown to close out the scoring.
Summerville recovered the onside kick with 1:07 left, but Stafford ended the game with an incomplete pass.
“It feels amazing,” Jaxon Knotts said. “I wouldn’t be happy until next December if we didn’t.”
