By Thomas Grant Jr.
The Garden City will be the unofficial home for residents of the Home of the Okra Strut.
For the first time ever, both Dutch Fork and Irmo are playing for state championships in football. The two rivals will compete in separate Class 5A divisions this weekend at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium at Willie Jeffries Field in Orangeburg.
The Silver Foxes (12-0) will play Summerville (13-0) in the Division I title at 2:06 pm Friday. On Saturday, the Yellow Jackets (13-1) will face Northwestern (13-0) in the Division II final at 6 pm
This marks the second straight year two teams from Region 4-5A will compete in the same weekend for state titles. Last year, Dutch Fork defeated White Knoll 21-6 to claim its eighth championship, all under head coach Tom Knotts.
Both games will be aired on Channel 1250 on Spectrum Cable. It can also be streamed on the NFHS Network (www.nfhsnetwork.com) with a subscription or paying a fee for each game.
Meanwhile, at town hall, Irmo mayor Bill Danielson has kept a cheerful eye on the teams’ success.
“It’s an exciting time for Irmo sports,” he said. “Both teams have had powerful teams for years. I’m confident in both teams coming away with victories.”
“I’m looking forward to honoring both of them at the council meeting. There’s a bigger thing to be said about (Lexington/Richland School District Five) itself to have tremendous athletes at both schools.”
Dutch Fork
Since the inception of Class 5A, the Silver Foxes have played in every championship game. They have a 7-1 record and 8-3 all-time in the final under Knotts.
Last Friday, Dutch Fork defeated Spartanburg 24-0 in the Upper State final. It improved to 12-0 in state semifinals and 10-1 in in-season rematches having defeated the Vikings 24-7 in Week Zero.
In winning a 20th straight game, the team also set a school record with its sixth shutout of the season and 26th since 2016. University of South Carolina signee linebacker Josh Smith had 10 tackles, two of the team’s six sacks, and Mario Anderson had an interception.
On offense, senior quarterback and baseball signee Ethan Offing threw for 267 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 93 yards and a touchdown. Wide receiver Boykin Bickley had four receptions for 164 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown reception in the opening minute.
K.J. Smith also had a touchdown reception and Justin Welch made a 21-yard field goal.
Standing in the way of a ninth state title for Knotts, one more than he collected in North Carolina, and a fifth undefeated season is the Green Wave. Summerville defeated Sumter 35-6 in a matchup of undefeated teams.
Sophomore Jayeon Williams rushed for 163 yards and two touchdowns and senior quarterback Jaden Cummings threw for 103 yards and had three scores.
For the season, Cummings has thrown for 2,329 yards and 30 touchdowns, 11 to 1,000-yard wide receiver Jaiden Kelly-Murray, and rushed for 14 touchdowns. Williams has rushed for 1,877 yards and 24 touchdowns.
As a team, Summerville is averaging 44 points a contest and are holding opponents to 19.2 points per game.
Like Dutch Fork, Summerville’s last loss came at the hands of White Knoll. The Timberwolves defeated the Green Wave 21-14 in the Class 5A Lower State final.
Dutch Fork is 7-0 all-time against Summerville. The two teams last met in the opening round of the 2020 playoffs with the Silver Foxes winning 42-7.
Irmo
For the first time since 2006, the Yellow Jackets are playing for a state championship.
They reached their long-desired destination under head coach Aaron Brand with a hard-fought 29-25 win over White Knoll in the Division II Lower State final.
Just hours after being named the S.C. Gatorade Player of the Year, quarterback A.J. Brand carried his team to victory. He rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns and threw one to Donovan Murph.
Despite Brand’s play, the Yellow Jackets needed a key stop to hold off the Timberwolves. White Knoll got near midfield on its final drive after starting at the two, but the drive ended when defensive lineman Jaiden Bryant knocked down quarterback Landon Sharpe’s pass.
It was the 24th consecutive win at W.C. Hawkins Stadium for Irmo. More importantly, head coach Aaron Brand fulfilled a promise made to then-principal Robin Hardy when he was hired in 2019.
“The principal that hired us, we told her it was going to be this short of time,” Brand said. “We are just happy the people came out and celebrated with us. We are just happy we can go on and play next week.”
The team looking to keep Irmo from its first state title since 1980 is Northwestern. The Trojans defeated Gaffney 58-40 in a high-scoring affair.
Shrine Bowl quarterback Finley Polk leads the offense with over 3,000 passing yard and 40 touchdowns and 13 rushing touchdowns. His array of weapons include wide receivers seniors Jayden Nichols and Tadarrion Knox, Kameron Vance and Daniel Caldwell.
The running game has 1,000-yard rusher Zymier Gordon-Miles. Defensively, Shrine Bowl defensive lineman Andre Picket has a team-high 62 tackles and his 4.5 sacks is second only to fellow lineman Byron Dmitri Putman.
Northwestern last made the state final in 2022, losing to South Florence. It last won in 2015 over Lexington in the Class 4A Division II final.
That year was the last time the Trojans faced Irmo. They won 59-0 and have won all three all-time meetings.
