By Thomas Grant Jr.
“These are the two best teams in the state.”
Dutch Fork head coach Tom Knotts would hardly get a rebuttal from anyone inside Irmo.
Those who packed Dutch Fork stadium and watched the two neighbors battle for the Region 4-5A title were witnesses to the quality of players put forth by both teams.
The Silver Foxes came away with the 24-14 win over the Yellow Jackets. This was the 14th region time in 15 years under Knotts, who also picked up his 175th win at the school.
In addition to finishing the regular season undefeated for the sixth time since 2016, Dutch Fork (9-0, 5-0) extended its winning streak to 17 games. Conversely, the loss snapped the 21-game regular season of the Yellow Jackets (9-1, 4-1).
Irmo drew first blood as Matthew Blocker intercepted an Ethan Offing pass in the endzone to end Dutch Fork’s first drive. The Yellow Jackets’ A.J. Brand then scored on an 11-yard run to cap a 13-play, 92-yard scoring drive.
The Silver Foxes responded with two straight touchdown runs by Offing. Running back Maurice Anderson carried the load offensively on those scoring drives finishing with 166 rushing yards while Offing had 184 total yards.
Dutch Fork’s Jarvis Jackson also forced a fumble with a hard hit on wide receiver Donovan Murph. It was recovered by linebacker Raleigh Salters, the first of his two collected turnovers.
Down 14-7, Irmo tied the game on a long passing play by Brand. Brand was hit as he delivered the pass downfield which was slightly touched by the Dutch Fork defender and into the hands of Maleek Miller in stride for a 76-yard touchdown.
With 3:37 left in the first half; Offing found Boykin Bickley for a fade route for a 7-yard touchdown to put the Silver Foxes up 21-14. The second half saw both teams settle in defensively as the lone points scored came on a Justin Welch 29-yard field goal.
Brand finished with 280 total yards but threw a fourth-quarter interception to Salters, allowing Dutch Fork to run out the clock.
“He’s as good a kid as he is a football player,” said Knotts about Brand. “We wanted to hit him hard. We wanted to hit him high. Superman was good all night long. He’s got some people around him, but in the first half, you saw he carried the team. He made some people look silly a few times. He’s the real deal. If he goes to Virginia Tech, they’re getting a great player. But my team rose to the occasion. Did what they’re supposed to do and shut him out in the second half which is a tremendous accomplishment.”
“They limited our possessions,” Irmo head coach Aaron Brand. “Keeping our offense off the field and we did some good things. But we couldn’t sustain drives in the second half and shot ourselves in the foot with penalties.”
Dutch Fork finished the regular season having allowed just 45 total points and posting a school-record five shutouts. As expected, both the Silver Foxes and Yellow Jackets received first-round byes in their respective Class 5A division playoffs.
Dutch Fork is the top seed in Division I and Irmo holds that distinction for Division II. The state finals will take place Dec. 13-14 at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg.
Prior to the game, Irmo received some good news regarding possible sanctions. The S.C. High School League questioned the school about the eligibility of a transfer player.
It involved the resident status of the player’s family in Irmo. According to the S.C. High School League, information provided by the family was not sufficient enough to confirm an official separation of the parents.
The school held the player in question out of last week’s game against Chapin until his eligibility issue was fully resolved. The committee voted to keep the player ineligible until the school produces court-ordered documents indicating the parents’ separation.
The player is reportedly staying with his mother in Irmo.
The committee then voted 10-2 to overturn sanctions against the Yellow Jackets’ football program that included game forfeitures, a $500 fine and a postseason ban.
FINAL S.C. PREP FOOTBALL MEDIA POLL
Class 5A
1. Dutch Fork (17) (9-0)
2. Northwestern (1) (10-0)
3. Summerville (10-0)
4. Sumter (10-0)
5. Irmo (9-1)
6. Gaffney (8-1)
7. Spartanburg (7-2)
8. JL Mann (8-2)
9. TL Hanna (8-2)
10. Greenwood (8-2)
Others receiving votes: River Bluff, Dorman, Clover
(Photos by GoFlashwin.com)
