Dutch Fork gets revenge against Fort D, punches ticket to state title game
There was nothing overrated about Dutch Fork on Friday night.
The Silver Foxes made good on their second chance against Fort Dorchester and came away with a 24-14 victory on Friday in the Class 5A Lower State championship. Dutch Fork advances to the state championship for the second consecutive season and faces Dorman on Dec. 2 at noon at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The win was payback for the Silver Foxes’ 41-25 loss to Fort Dorchester on Sept. 1. After the game, Fort D’s players celebrated and chanted “Overrated, overrated.”
All week leading up to the game, Dutch Fork’s players used it as motivation. There was a sign with those words on it in the Silver Foxes’ meeting rooms.
“I don’t think we were going to be denied,” Dutch Fork coach Tom Knotts said. “We refused to lose, and that is all we talked about all week. I am real proud of our resolve.”
Dutch Fork set the tempo early in its first drive as they marched down the field on a 14-play, 78-yard drive capped off by Ron Hoff’s 11-yard run to make it 7-0. The Silver Foxes converted on four third-down conversions on the drive.
Ty Olenchuk hit Colin Donelson on a 41-yard pass to put Dutch Fork up 14-0 with 7:15 left in the second quarter. Olenchuk finished with 222 yards on 11 of 17 passing.
Dutch Fork led 17-0 in the third before South Carolina commit Dakereon Joyner hit Chaz Jones on a 69-yard pass with 6:20 left in the third. But the Silver Foxes answered on the following drive as Hoff ran it in for a 1-yard TD to make it 24-7 with 3:56 left in third.
The drive was set up by Olenchuk’s 70-yard pass to Jalin Hyatt.
Joyner finished with 293 yards of total offense, but the Silver Foxes defense kept him in check most of the night. Dutch Fork’s defense sacked Joyner five times, including three by Alex Smith, and didn’t let him outside of the pocket for many big plays.
KEY NUMBERS
200: Number of wins in Dutch Fork’s history
3: Number of losses for Dakereon Joyner as a starting quarterback. All three of them were to Dutch Fork
2: Number of TDs Fort Dorchester had called back because of penalty
0: Number of turnovers for Dutch Fork. Silver Foxes turned it over four times the first game against Fort D
THEY SAID IT
“The game plan was to contain him (Joyner), and we did just that.” – Dutch Fork’s Alex Smith
“We took the ‘overrated’ chant very personal. Fort D is the best team in the state, or they were the best team in the state. We came out and did just what we wanted to do.” – Dutch Fork’s Bryce Thompson
“It’s over, it’s done, I can’t go back and replay it no matter how much I want to. Last year when we lost up here, I said we’d be back and we came back, but we didn’t get the job done. It’s crazy that it ended here, but it’s over, and now we’ve got to move on.” – Dakereon Joyner
HOW THEY SCORED
1st Quarter
DF – Hoff 11 run (Williams kick), 5:45
2nd Quarter
DF – Donelson 41 pass from Olenchuk (Williams kick), 7:15
3rd Quarter
DF – Williams 24 FG, 6:28
FD – Jones 69 pass from Joyner (Shelton kick), 6:20
DF – Hoff 1 run (Williams kick), 3:56
4th Quarter
FD – Parker 14 run (Shelton kick), 2:23
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing: FD: Joyner 24-100, Parker 9-54, Williams 3-12, Jenkins 3-8. DF: Hoff 26-76, Thompson 2-7, Olenchuk 3-8.
Passing: FD: Joyner 11-19-1 193, Williams 1-1-0 12. DF: Olenchuk 11-17-0 222.
Receiving: FD: Simmons 5-32, Williams 3-68, Jones 3-93, Casto 1-12. DF: Hyatt 5-111, Thompson 3-65, Hoff 2-5, Donelson 1-41.
This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 10:54 PM with the headline "Dutch Fork gets revenge against Fort D, punches ticket to state title game."