By Thomas Grant Jr.
The Garden City is about to experience déjà vu courtesy of the town of Irmo.
For the second straight year, its two rival schools will play for S.C. High School League football titles at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium in Orangeburg.
Both Dutch Fork and Irmo once again earned berths in the Class 5A Division I and II games. The teams’ respective opponents are once again the same with the games taking place on different dates.
The Yellow Jackets will face Northwestern at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the Division II final. They will look to avenge last year’s 34-31 loss to the Trojans on a last-second 27-yard field goal by Matthew Fish.
At 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the Silver Foxes will close out the “Weekend of Champions” in the Division I title game against Summerville. Dutch Fork defeated Summerville 35-21 to claim its third straight title and eighth overall.
Tickets are available for purchase at both schools. Both games will be aired by WACH 57 on Channel 1400 and streamed for a fee at www.nfhsnetwork.com.
NORTHWESTERN (12-1) VS. IRMO (12-1)
As Yellow Jackets’ head coach Aaron Brand watched the Trojans celebrate their state title last December, he had two different points of focus.
He looked to console his players, especially seniors quarterback A.J. Brand and wide receiver Donovan Murph.
Brand’s next focus was looking ahead 12 months later and a return trip to Orangeburg for unfinished business.
The Yellow Jackets fulfilled their head coach’s expectations last Friday at W.C. Hawkins Stadium. They defeated Berkeley 44-6 to claim a second straight Class 5A Division II title.
More important, Irmo earned a rematch with Northwestern, which defeated region rival Indian Land 51-19 in the Upper State final.
“I knew we deserved to be back to that point,” Brand said. “We played a really good football team last year down to the wire and our guys have been chomping at the bit to get back.”
Senior quarterback Dre’Von Dopson replaced Brand’s son at quarterback. In making a second state title appearance (he was a freshman at Gray Collegiate when it reached the Class 2A title game), Dopson provided a steady hand to help the Yellow Jackets average 38 points a game.
Running back Amire White leads the offense on the run with his physical style. Junior Nathan Carson is one of the leaders upfront on the offensive line and has offers from schools such as the University of South Carolina.
The Miller brothers, Maleek and Corey, have provided an explosive threat at wide receiver and special teams. Maleek accounted for three touchdowns against the Stags, including a 70-yard punt return.
The team’s strength on defense in upfront with juniors Jaiden Bryant and Tyrone Jennings and senior Major Taylor. Jamar Grissett makes plays in the middle of the field and has three interceptions in the post-season.
Northwestern presents a versatile offense which is averaging 48.6 points per game and returns senior wide receiver Kameron Vance. Against Irmo last year, he accounted for 11 receptions for 164 yards and two touchdowns.
This year, Xavier Means has replaced Finley Polk at quarterback. The junior has accounted for close to 2,700 passing yards, 1,179 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns working behind an experienced offensive line.
Senior running back Nigel Smith serves as another threat on the ground with 1,130 yards and 11 TDs. While the defense has allowed an average of 23 points per game, defensive lineman Malik Darby has a team-high 9.5 sacks and the secondary has collected 14 interceptions, three by cornerback Jaylon Richardson.
Junior Alex Bendt has replaced Fish at placekicker. He’s accounted for 14 field goals and is 76-77 on PATs.
Northwestern is 4-0 all-time against Irmo dating back to 2007. It’s seeking a sixth state title, while Irmo looks to win its third overall and first since 1980.
“The work’s not done,” Brand said. “We’re not happy just to get there. I don’t want to take away any from the glory (last Friday). We want to go out there and perform and do a great job next week also.”
Irmo is the road team as the Lower State champion.
DUTCH FORK (11-1) VS. SUMMERVILLE (12-2)
The number ‘10’ figures prominently for the Silver Foxes this season.
It represents the state-record number of consecutive appearances in the finals. This also represents 15 10-plus win seasons posted by Dutch Fork under head coach Tom Knotts.
As for Knotts, winning Saturday will allow him to join elite company in South Carolina. Having won eight state titles in North Carolina, he can become the third head coach in Palmetto State history with 10 championships.
Woodruff’s W.L. Varner and Summerville’s John McKissick share the record. Knotts is 9-3 all-time in South Carolina state finals.
Dutch Fork can tie Woodruff for fifth all-time in the SCHSL. Summerville is tied with Abbeville with 12 behind Gaffney (17).
Since a 24-20 loss at defending Class 3A champion Oceanside Collegiate Academy, the Silver Foxes have won eight straight games. They also enter the rematch with Summerville with a 17-game post-season winning streak, the longest in both SCHSL and SCISA.
Leading the offense this season is junior quarterback Jaxon Knotts. The younger Knotts has threw for 2,183 yards and 16 touchdowns and rushed for 433 yards and eight scores.
For most of the season, Chapin transfer Stone Furrey has provided the deep threat at wide receiver. An injury has limited Furrey’s play during the post-season, but Kye Fulton, Chase Betts and Brayden Johnson have stepped up to provide more options for Knotts.
Dutch Fork has succeeded with a “running back by committee” approach. Kyle Henry leads the group with 595 yards and eight touchdowns, with Quinton Wilson scoring a team-high 13 touchdowns on the ground.
He accounted for two touchdowns in the 30-10 win over Dorman in the Class 5A Division I Upper State final. Sheldon Shine had a 42-yard touchdown run to give the Silver Foxes the lead in the second half.
They all run behind an offensive line led by center “Bruiser” Brody Lorenzo. The defensive line gets much of the headlines with defensive ends Julian Walker and Jaden Wuerth.
Walker, who’s committed to Michigan and visited there last weekend, has 21 sacks and a team-high 68 tackles. Wuerth is second on the team with 14 sacks and 53 tackles.
Tackler Luciano Cesario was added last week to the Shrine Bowl roster with Walker and linebacker Raleigh Salters. It was Salters’ jarring hit in last year’s game that knocked starter Jaden Cummings out of the game.
An area of concern to start the season, Dutch Fork’s secondary has shown improvement in the post-season. Freshman Taddrick Gibson, Mario Anderson and K.J. Dupree, whose interception sparked the comeback from 10-0 down to Dorman, each have three picks on the season.
Placekicker Bradley O’Leary looks to continue the tradition of clutch post-season play at that position under Knotts.
A year after replacing Cummings in the title game, Cooper Kafina has shared quarterbacking duties with fellow senior Max Stafford. The latter has taken most of the snaps with 1,645 yards and 19 touchdowns.
Juniors wide receiver Jaiden Kelly-Murray and running back Jayven Williams are the Green Wave’s top offensive weapons. Murray is closing in on 1,000 receiving yards to go with 13 touchdowns, while Williams has rushed for 1,545 yards and 19 touchdowns.
He accounted for four rushing touchdowns in the 45-16 win over James Island in the Lower State final.
Linebackers Demarcus King and J.T. Williams set the tone on defense and defensive back Josiah Taylor in the team leader in interceptions.
Dutch Fork is 8-0 all-time against the Green Wave dating back to 2006. All but one meeting has taken place in the off-season and with Knotts at the helm.
All photos by GoFlashWin.com
