Revenge and redemption.

Those have been the two primary goals for Dutch Fork High School since its five-year run as Class 5A champion was ended by Gaffney.

With the 63-14 rout of Spartanburg, the Silver Foxes move a step closer towards accomplishing both goals. They will travel to “The Reservation” to meet the Indians for the Upper State title an a chance to avenge last year’s loss.

A first-ever win over Gaffney, which held off J.F. Byrnes 34-28, would also send Dutch Fork (12-1) to its seventh straight state championship. More important, it would be an opportunity to redeem itself against either Summerville or Fort Dorchester for a chance at a seventh state title since 2013.

The kicking heroics of Justin Welch were not needed in the rematch with the Vikings. After defeating them 27-25 on Welch’s last-second field goal, Dutch Fork dominated from the opening kickoff sparked by senior Jarvis Green.

The James Madison commit gave the Silver Foxes a 14-0 lead in the first quarter with two rushing touchdowns of 54 and 40 yards. He finished the half with 191 rushing yards and three touchdowns, moving him to third all-time in school history in rushing touchdowns and rushing yards in a season.

After quarterback Raheim Jeter scored to first of his two rushing touchdowns for Spartanburg (8-5) to cut the deficit to 14-7, the Silver Foxes answered with 49 unanswered points. Leading the charge was quarterback Aliam Appler who accounted for four touchdowns in the second quarter.

He threw touchdown of 79 yards to Jacob Hamilton, 49 yards to Garrett Werts and 37 yards to Isaiah Jones to go with a 22-yard rushing score set up by a blocked punt by Tyler Jones to put the Silver Foxes up 49-7.

Appller finished with 251 total yards, 214 passing and 37 rushing.

With a running clock for the entire second half, Dutch Fork added an 89-yard touchdown run by Ethan Offing and a 44-yard interception return for a score by Chandler Perry to make it 63-7.

Dutch Fork’s defense had two interceptions, collected four sacks, and held Spartanburg to 262 total yards. John Buetow led the team with nine tackles and a sack.

Dutch Fork is 0-2 all-time against Gaffney, both losses coming in the state final. Having extended the home playoff winning streak to 22, the Silver Foxes now look to win their 42^nd consecutive road game.

Holly Hill Academy 68, W.W. King Academy 20

By Travis Boland

tboland@timesanddemocrat.com

The Knights’ quest for the school’s first 8-man title since 2013 ended Nov. 18 at Charleston Southern University at the hands of the now-reigning three-time champion Raiders.

Holly Hill Academy rushed out to a 44-0 first half lead enroute to winning its 38^th consecutive game and third straight title.

Tyree James accounted for 321 rushing yards and nine touchdowns, five on the ground and four passing. Charleston Southern commit Tyler Wright showed the fans at his new college home what to expect with 104 rushing yards and three touchdowns.

W.W. King Academy quarterback Collin Woodward threw two touchdown passes to Ben Sauls, who also rushed for another to account for his team’s scores.

"They were better than we were tonight," W.W. King Academy head coach Zack Matthews said. "They're a good team, big, physical, fast. We're not very big, but I like the way my guys get after it.

"We talked at halftime about the second half being just for us. It was about what we could do to better ourselves. I'm super proud of our team, they made a great run."

W.W. King Academy finished the season 10-2, both losses at the hands of the Raiders (12-0).

Beaufort 31, Gilbert 21

By Wes Kerr 

From Lowcountrysports.com 

Gilbert head coach Chad Leaphart was hoping the ball wouldn’t end up in Colton Phares’ hands on Friday night.

In just one moment of brilliance in the second half, the senior stud took over the game and extinguished Gilbert’s postseason hopes. and Leaphart's chance at tying  Marty Woolbright for most career wins in school history. 

Phares put the Eagles ahead for good with an 89-yard kickoff return in the fourth quarter before picking off a pass, and Kacy Fields added two touchdown runs to help Beaufort defeat Gilbert 31-21 on Friday and advance to the S.C. High School League 3A Lower State championship game. 

“They made a couple more plays than us,” Leaphart said. “Our guys kept fighting and battling. We ate up a lot of clock and kept our offense on the field, we missed an opportunity to convert in the first half. There were a couple things we could do in the screen game, but at the end of the day, we needed to make more plays than we did.” 

It was an ideal start for the Indians on the road, as Leaphart’s squad made a stop and opened the scoring with a 10-play drive capped off by a 14-yard Alias Graham-Woodbury touchdown run.

The Eagles responded with their signature ground game and found the end zone on a powerful 6-yard burst from Fields to knot the contest at 7. Beaufort picked up a key goal-line stop after a defensive pass interference call, forcing an incompletion on a fourth-down jump throw.

Samari Bonds showed off his arm on a 45-yard dime to Thomas Purdy, but the Indian defense tightened up to hold the home side to a 30-yard Jack Troutman field goal and a 10-7 lead at the break. 

Gilbert raced back in front to begin the second half, as Drake Braddock flipped the ball to Graham-Woodbury who raced 66 yards to the end zone on the second play from scrimmage.

The Eagles answered again with a swift 37-yard touchdown run from Bonds before Gilbert orchestrated a methodical 19-play drive finished off by a 6-yard Jaden Allen-Hendrix scamper for a 21-17 advantage.

The momentum was back on the visitors’ sideline, but it all was gone in an instant with some Phares' magic. Phares evaded a swarm of Gilbert tacklers to break free for a highlight-reel 89-yard kickoff return to snatch the 24-21 lead.

“He’s a special player and we knew that coming in,” Leaphart said. “We thought we could kick it over their heads but we didn’t, and we paid for it.” 

Phares then did it again on the defensive side, picking off a tipped pass before Fields dealt the final blow on a 35-yard touchdown to send the Eagles on to Dillon.

Allen-Hendrix led the Indians’ ground game, totaling 101 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries while Graham-Woodbury added 83 yards and a score on 23 attempts. Fields paced Beaufort’s offense with 20 carries for 137 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

The loss snapped an seven-game win streak for Gilbert (10-3), while Beaufort travels to Camden for the Class 3A Lower State title.