Greenwood picks off Dutch Fork in opener

Greenwood held Dutch Fork in check offensively to open the season and earn a 24-10 victory Friday night in the third Battle on the Bluff.

The Eagles held the Silver Foxes to 2-for-10 on third down and 1-of-5 on fourth down and never let them get on track. Dutch Fork finished with 360 yards of offense but found the end zone once.

The Eagles scored 10 fourth quarter points to seal it. They led 14-10 entering the final quarter and got a 20-yard field goal from Jack Pierce with 8:16 remaining. They sealed it with less than three minutes remaining. After a 57-yard punt pinned the Silver Foxes at their own 5-yard line, Tim Brown intercepted a Douglas pass and returned it 12 yards for the score.

Roshun Jackson scored twice and accounted for 223 yards of offense for Greenwood. He ran the Eagles’ zone read offense to no turnovers, and that turned out to be a key.

Dutch Fork jumped on top first when Alex DeBoer hauled in a 22-yard fade route in the corner of the end zone. Jackson answered back with an 11-play, 77-yard drive that was capped by a 12-yard scoring run from Roshun Jackson.

Ford Williams put the Silver Foxes back in the lead with a 27-yard field in the middle of the second quarter. The Eagles held a 14-10 halftime lead when Jackson added his second touchdown, this time from 4 yards out.

TURNING POINT

Twice in the fourth quarter, Dutch Fork failed to convert fourth downs in Greenwood territory. The first came on the first play of the quarter, the Silver Foxes came up 3 yards short on a 4th-and-6 from the Eagles’ 15.

Then, with less than six minutes remaining, Dutch Fork failed to execute on a fake punt on 4th-and-2 from the Eagles 39. Douglas scrambled, but his pass ended up out of bounds.

KEY PERFORMERS

Cole Douglas: The Dutch Fork senior quarterback ran for 65 yards and threw for 179, but two costly interceptions cost the Silver Foxes.

Roshun Jackson: The junior quarterback ran for 117 yards and threw for 106 and didn’t have a turnover. He made great decisions running the zone read.

Jack Pierce: Rarely do you see a punter get mentioned, but Pierce averaged 44 yards per kick and his 57-yarder pinned Dutch Fork at its own 5 late in a one-possession game.

OBSERVATIONS

Observation 1: Dutch Fork will go as far as Cole Douglas will take them. The Foxes lost a workhorse in RB Matt Colburn (Wake Forest), and nobody has emerged to take that role. Douglas has solid scrambling ability but needs help in the ground game to take the pressure off.

Observation 2: Penalties played a huge factor. Both teams had touchdowns called back due to holding penalties. Several first-down runs were negated as well. The teams combined for 26 penalties for 220 yards. That needs to be cleaned up.

Observation 3: Dutch Fork played decent on the defensive side of the ball but the lack of turnovers and several big plays hurt them.

THEY SAID IT

“This is huge for our confidence. They are the No. 3 team in the state in a media poll. It’s a great win for the team. The kids stepped up and made plays.” – Greenwood coach Dan Pippen

“Tommy (Knotts) is probably one of the best offensive coaches I coach against. Defensively, I don’t know how much better we can play.” Pippen

THREE KEY NUMBERS

44: Greenwood punter Jack Pierce averaged 44 yards per kick, flipping the field each time he punted.

34: Number of passing attempts by Dutch Fork. That number needs to be in the 25 range for them to be successful.

HOW THEY SCORED

This story was originally published August 22, 2015 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Greenwood picks off Dutch Fork in opener."