The Dutch Fork Silver Foxes, 2023 SCHSL Class 5A Football State Champions: 1 Justin Welch, 2 KJ Smith, 3 Joseph Buetow, 3 Brad O’Leary, 4 Ethan Offing, 5 Tyler Jones, 6 Kyle Fulton, 7 Elgin Sessions, 8 Jayden Westbrook, 10 Chase Betts, 11 Braydon Johnson, 11 Carter Dubose, 12 Rob Holliday, 14 Jacob Hamilton, 15 Jeremiah Knightner, 16 Caden Grier, 17 Boykin Bickley, 18 Blake Cook, 19 Jon Hunt, 20 Chris Hionnis, 21 Trey Starks, 22 Deon Winsley, 23 Leyton Shuler, 24 Jihad Gaskin, 25 Peyton Betts, 26 Mario Anderson, 27 Derek Smith, 28 Jason Washington, 29 Issac Shine, 30 Maurice Anderson, 31 Tyler Brown, 33 Nyruis Moore-Smith, 34 Skyler Elsey, 35 Grant Dupree, 36 Derrick McBride, 37 Alexander Pelham, 38 Carlos Sexton, 39 Trent Lodge, 40 Josh Smith, 41 Julian Walker, 42 Noah Legette, 43 Jarvis Jackson, 44 Charles Price, 45 Bryce Nutall, 46 Darold Huffman, 47 Preston Howe, 47 Jaylen Sanders, 49 Jakeith Jacobs, 50 Raleigh Salters, 51 Connor McGee, 52 Candler Morden, 53 Max Schreffler, 54 Jordan Roseborough, 55 Dakota Jordan, 56 Michael Smith, 57 Terrance Wells, 58 Jackson Stengal, 59 Joey Neubaum, 61 Sean Finney, 63 John Griffin, 64 Camden Myers, 66 Ky-Mani Mcleish, 67 Chase Meggett, 68 Nick McDaniell, 70 Kam Roi McNeil, 71 Morgan Javis, 73 Prince Boyd, 74 Josh Benson, 76 David Roberts, 77 Niran Ford, 78 Jamez Hutcherson, 79 Phoenix Jeffcoat, 80 Spencer Carroll, 81 Boone Miller, 82 Wyatt Warner, 83 Daylaun Shephard, 84 Landon Collins, 85 Cayden McFadden, 87 Anderson Bean, 88 Connor Finney, 89 Elijah Clemmons, 90 Jaden Johnson, 91 Micahel Steed, 92 Jayden Frazier, 93 Jaquan Henderson, 94 Chris Thorton, 95 Cameron Smalls, 96 Shuquoi Taylor, 97 Daniel Williams, 98 Jadon Cook, 99 Carl Fulmer, Athletic Director/Head Coach Tom Knotts, and Principal Dr. Gerald Gray. Photos by Mike Maddock
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The Dutch Fork Silver Foxes scored 21 second half points to earn a come-from-behind 21-6 win over the White Knoll Timberwolves in the 5A State Championship Friday, December 1 at Oliver C. Dawson Stadium at South Carolina State University.
“The message at halftime was ‘quarterback, you have to play better,’” Dutch Fork head coach Tom Knotts said. “‘Defense, you are playing lights out. Keep it up.’ Offense, it’s 6-0. In our meetings we talk about staying on 7, 14, and 21. They have six points guys. I saw some lightbulbs come on. I told them ‘we’re going to win this game by a point or more because of that miss, so hang in there.’ I could see them get visibly lifted. The crowd got into it a little more. I chewed the coaches out. I challenged all the players. You could see the enthusiasm was different in the second half than it was the first half.”
White Knoll got on the board during Dutch Fork’s second possession. After the Timberwolves’ defense forced the Silver Foxes into a fourth-and-short, Dutch Fork decided to go for it and got into trouble when the snap came too early and rolled past quarterback Jon Hunt. Running back Maurice Anderson accidently kicked the ball into the end zone, and White Knoll’s Lincoln Ilunga recovered it for a touchdown to put the Timberwolves ahead 6-0 with 1:43 left in the first quarter.
Dutch Fork’s Trent Lodge tries to escape the tackle of White Knoll’s Leroy Simmons.
The score held until the third quarter. After Dutch Fork forced a White Knoll three-and-out, the Silver Foxes took over at their 45. The drive started poorly when a pitch from Hunt to Trent Lodge resulted in a 15-yard loss. Lodge made up for the miscue on the next play, scampering for 31 yards and a first down. Later in the drive, Hunt connected with Leyton Shuler for a 24-yard gain to the Timberwolves’ five. Two plays later, Hunt powered his way into the end zone from two yards out. Justin Welch added the extra point and Dutch Fork led 7-6 with 6:53 left in the quarter.
The Silver Foxes increased their lead on their next possession, which began at the White Knoll 35. Dutch Fork’s first two plays and a false start penalty left the Silver Foxes facing a third-and-13. Hunt then scrambled for 16 yards and a first down. Two plays later, he found Shuler, again, for 19 yards down to the two. Hunt again capped the drive off with a 2-yard touchdown run. Welch added the extra point to stretch Dutch Fork’s lead to 14-6 with 1:05 left in the quarter.
Dutch Fork’s Jon Hunt looks for an open receiver against White Knoll.
“ We switched up what we were doing,” Hunt said. “It opened up a few more things. It made things a lot easier to read.”
“That’s what we were supposed to do,” Knotts said. “We went down the first two times and missed the field goal and did something goofy on our end of the field. It wasn’t solid football, offensively. It was big to come down and score because our confidence was shaken a little bit.”
The Silver Foxes were able to put the game away in the fourth quarter with a drive that began at the Timberwolves’ 18. Hunt started with an 8-yard completion to Jacob Hamilton. Runs by Hunt and Anderson moved the ball to the four. Then K.J. Smith found the end zone from four yards out, and Welch’s extra point set the final score at 21-6.
Dutch Fork’s Bryce Nutall sacks White Knoll’s Landon Sharpe.
While the Dutch Fork offense found the end zone in the second half, it was the Silver Foxes’ defense that dominated the action. It didn’t allow any points and held White Knoll to 114 yards of total offense.
For the Dutch Fork offense, Hunt completed 13-of-20 passes for 135 yards. He also rushed for 23 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries. Smith rushed for five yards and a touchdown on four carries. Lodge was the leading rusher for the game with 58 yards on ten carries. Shuler caught two passes for 42 yards. On defense, Raleigh Salters led Dutch Fork with eight tackles, 2.5 for loss, and had a pass breakup. Deon Winsley added six tackles.
The Silver Foxes finish the year 10-5 and win their second straight title and eighth overall. They end the year on an eight-game winning streak after starting the season 2-5.
Dutch Fork’s Raleigh Salters tracks down White Knoll’s C.J. Earl.
“This has got to rank pretty high,” Knotts said of his latest championship. “The first one was obviously pretty sweet. I was knocking on the door for a long time when I was younger. I barely remember it. How we started and the amount of adversity that there was. We lost players and had some injuries. We had some attitudes and had to get rid of a couple. Eventually it started to fall into place. To start like we did took a lot out of us.”
Dutch Fork’s Trey Starks breaks the tackle of White Knoll’s Charles Plange.
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