By Thomas Grant Jr.
The road to the state championships in Class 5A will go through the town of Irmo.
Dutch Fork and Irmo high schools will play host to state semifinals Friday night.
The undefeated and defending Class 5A champion Silver Foxes will face Spartanburg in the Division I Upper State final. The winner will meet either Sumter or Summerville for the newly created Division I title on Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium at Willie Jeffries Field.
On the other side of town, Irmo will face Region 4-5A rival White Knoll for the Division II Lower State title. The winner faces either Gaffney or Northwestern on Dec. 14 at 6 p.m.
Both games are rematches from the regular season. The Silver Foxes won at Spartanburg 24-7 in Week 0, while the Yellow Jackets beat the Timberwolves 35-21 on Oct. 18 in Red Bank.
Spartanburg (9-2) at Dutch Fork (11-0)
State semifinals and in-season rematches are seemingly Dutch Fork head coach Tom Knotts’ forte.
The Silver Foxes are a perfect 11-0 in state semifinals during his tenure. They almost hold a 9-1 record in the second meeting of an opponent during the season.
This is the second straight week Dutch Fork is facing a prior opponent on this year’s schedule. Last week, it defeated River Bluff 52-14 in a rematch from the Nov. 1 meeting in The Swamp.
Touchstone Energy Cooperative Bowl selection Maurice Anderson rushed for 152 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Ethan Offing added two scores on the ground to lead the Silver Foxes’ to their 19th straight win.
Dutch Fork amassed 559 total yards on offense in jumping out to a 24-0 halftime lead. They also got a 76-yard touchdown return from Jarvis Jackson who returned a blocked field goal by University of South Carolina commit and Shrine Bowl linebacker Josh Smith.
K.J. Smith and Quintin Wilson both had rushing touchdowns for Dutch Fork.
“This is good a team as we’ve had in a long time,” Knotts said afterwards.
The Vikings placed second to Gaffney in Region 2-5A. After an opening round bye, it defeated J.F. Byrnes and J.L. Mann to reach the Upper State final.
Spartanburg is 1-5 all-time against Dutch Fork. The lone victory took place last year in Week 0 by a 17-6 score. It was part of an 0-3 start for the Silver Foxes who rebounded to win their final eight games and an eighth state championship.
The Dutch Fork/Spartanburg game will be streamed live at www.nfhsnetwork.com. It is available for subscribers or with a paid fee.
White Knoll (8-5) at Irmo (11-1)
Since the inception of Class 5A in 2016, a team from Region 4 has reached the state finals.
Last year saw the Timberwolves and Dutch Fork meet for the championship. Should the Silver Foxes prevail against Spartanburg, two teams from the region which has gone 12-3 in the post-season could be headed to Orangeburg once again.
The Yellow Jackets are seeking their first state title since 1980. Their last appearance was in 2006 when they lost to Gaffney, who ironically faces Northwestern in the Upper State final of the bracket.
A motivation for Irmo seniors is last year’s Lower State final loss to South Florence. For Shrine Bowl offensive lineman Ryan Love, this is a second opportunity they do not want to waste.
“Everybody was questioning if we can play in (Class 5A), but I think we’ve proved that by now,” he said. “Nothing really changes. We’ve been here before. We’re going to come out with a different outcome this year.”
For that to happen, Irmo will look to get another big game from its Shrine Bowl quarterback. Senior and Virginia Tech signee A.J. Brand accounted for 196 passing yards and five touchdowns and rushed for 117 yards and two touchdowns in the 56-7 rout of West Florence.
He joined fellow Shrine Bowl and Richland County Player of the Year quarterback Will Wilson in reaching surpassing 11,000 career yards.
Wide receivers Donovan Murph and Maleek Miller both caught two touchdowns and Miller added a 55-yard punt return for a score.
The Yellow Jackets face a Timberwolves’ defense which has regained its swagger since the loss to Irmo. White Knoll has won five of its last six games and are coming off a 23-3 win over a Berkeley team with a potent offense.
“I’d rather face somebody that we haven’t played before,” Irmo head coach Aaron Brand said. “But White Knoll is a great opponent. They’re well-coached. They do a great job on offense and defense and we know we’ve got our hands full. So, we’re excited about it.”
Brand does not expect to be able to “pull away” as Irmo did in the first meeting. The game was tied at 21-21 in the fourth quarter when Brand threw a 55-yard touchdown pass to Miller and scored on a short run to earn the win.
The Irmo defense has been rolling “sevens” which is the number of points they have allowed in each of the two playoff wins. Free safety Matthew Blocker explained the approach they take towards an opponent.
“Stay football first, make sure we keep the main thing the main thing, practice hard the little things, dance to the line, down start early and just make sure you work hard.”
Irmo is 10-2 all-time against White Knoll, having won the last four meetings after losing in 2012 and 2014.
Homefield advantage is something Irmo hopes to continue. The Yellow Jackets have won 20 straight home games since losing to Greenville in the 2021 playoffs.
“It’s always good to play at home,” Blocker said. “Coach Brand always says you’re down 14 on the road, down 7 at home. So it’s good to have our home crowd behind us and make them get on the bus this time.”
Photos by GoFlashwin.com – Dutch Fork wide receiver Jayden Westbrook
