Dutch Fork rolls to state title game
Dutch Fork hasn’t looked perfect at times despite an unbeaten record and No. 1 ranking in the state.
But the Silver Foxes looked flawless Friday night in the 49-24 win over Fort Dorchester to capture the Class 5A Lower State Championships. Dutch Fork (14-0) advances to the state title game for the fourth time in five years and will play Boiling Springs, 14-13 winners over Spartanburg, at Williams-Brice Stadium at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 17.
“That’s the way we can play right there,” Dutch Fork coach Tom Knotts said. “Fort Dorchester is a good football team, but we are a pretty special team when we play like we are supposed to.”
Quarterback Reese Nichols, who opted for baseball instead of football last year, turned in his best game of the year and outshined Fort Dorchester QB and top 2018 prospect Dakereon Joyner. Nichols was 16-of-18 in the air for 300 yards and four touchdowns to three different receivers. He also ran for 141 yards and two more scores, including a 61-yarder on the first possession, to tie it at 7 in the first quarter.
Bobby Irby was on the receiving end of two of those touchdown passes, while hauling in eight catches for 176 yards.
Dutch Fork scored on four straight possessions in the second and third quarter. The Silver Foxes piled up 563 yards of offense and averaged 10.4 yards per play.
“We had a good season. We just got beat by a better team tonight. Hats off to those guys. It’s going to take a really good team to beat them,” Fort Dorchester coach Steve Laprad said.
TURNING POINT
Leading 21-17, Dutch Fork forced a three-and-out and got the ball after a Fort Dorchester punt on the 45-yard line. On the first play of the drive, Nichols hit Irby on a 45-yard slant pass to make it 28-17 with 3:55 left in the second quarter.
KEY PERFORMERS
Reese Nichols: Threw only two incompletions and his running ability set the tone early.
Dakereon Joyner: The Fort Dorchester junior proved why he is the most coveted QB in the state for next year. Racked up 427 yards of offense and three TDs.
Dutch Fork offensive line: Silver Foxes players in the trenches did a great job opening holes for the running game in gaining 263 yards on the ground. Dutch Fork also didn’t give up a sack.
KEY NUMBERS
2: Number of one-play scoring drives by Dutch Fork in first half.
10: Number of penalty yards for Dutch Fork and had just three accepted penalties.
0: Number of punts for Dutch Fork
THEY SAID IT
“All year I was telling them they were a 5-5 team. All of a sudden, we found Ron (Hoff) and the offensive line started playing better and Reese started to understand. And our defense really started to buy in what coach Pelham is doing.” – Tom Knotts
“All week we were talking about how we were ready for this game and working hard all week. I knew when we came out, we were going to make plays.” – Dutch Fork receiver Bobby Irby
“We study film like nobody else, so we knew everything that was going to be there and we just took advantage of it.” – Dutch Fork quarterback Reese Nichols
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
FD – Joyner 1 run (Hiott kick), 8:32
DF – Nichols 61 run (Williams kick)
DF – Hacklen 21 pass from Nichols (Williams kick), 7:01
FD – Williams 55 pass from Joyner (Hiott kick), 5:12
2nd Quarter
FD – Hiott 27 FG, 8:22
DF – Cannon 19 pass from Nichols (Williams kick), 5:17
DF – Irby 45 pass from Nichols (Williams kick), 3:55
3rd Quarter
DF – Irby 4 pass from Nichols (Williams kick), 9:50
DF – Hoff 8 run (Williams kick), 8:00
FD – Sanders 50 pass from Joyner (Hiott kick), 6:12
DF – Nichols 6 run (Williams kick), 4:59
4th Quarter
FD – Sanders 51 pass from Joyner (Hiott kick), 6:12
DF – Nichols 6 run (Williams kick), 4:59
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: FD: Joyner 29-174, Baqui 7-54, Parker 3-3. DF: Nichols 13-141, Hoff 16-101, Cannon 2-23, Hall 2-5.
Passing: FD: Joyner 12-20-0 253, Williams 0-1-0. DF: Nichols 16-18-0 300.
Receiving: DF: Williams 3-79, Sanders 5-139, Simmons 4-35. DF: Irby 8-176, Cannon 2-41, Hacklen 3-47, Hoff 3-36.
This story was originally published December 10, 2016 at 12:05 AM with the headline "Dutch Fork rolls to state title game."