The defending 5A state champions are off to a sluggish start. 

Dutch Fork has lost at least two games for the first time in seven seasons after a 17-6 loss to Spartanburg in its second contest of the year. 

There was no bounce back for the Silver Foxes after suffering a season-opening blowout to Colquitt County last week. This time, turnovers and penalties committed by the offense led to many blown opportunities. 

“A lot of sloppiness,” head coach Tom Knotts said. “We can't line up right, we're not even doing fundamental football.”

Dutch Fork forced and recovered a fumble on the game’s first play. But the Silver Foxes offense took the field, and two plays later, a tipped ball fell into the hands of a Spartanburg defender for an interception. 

The Vikings marched into field goal range after converting on a fourth down earlier in the drive. Things stalled at the 10-yard line and Will Love nailed a 27-yard field goal to put his team up 3-0. 

Dutch Fork started a promising drive on the next possession, picking up two first downs and a 23-yard reception from KJ Smith. The drive resulted in no points after a turnover on downs gave the ball back to Spartanburg. 

The Silver Foxes found some footing in the second quarter. 

After the defense forced a three-and-out, the offense scored three thanks to a 36-yard field goal from Justin Welch. 

Terrance Wells recovered a fumble on the following Spartanburg possession, giving Dutch Fork favorable field position on its next drive. 

Dutch Fork almost repeated the same mistake from its opening drive, throwing a near interception in the opponent's territory. 

The defender dropped the ball and the Silver Foxes took the lead off a 46-yard kick from Welch.

The third quarter was scoreless as both teams had nothing going on offense. But the Silver Foxes converted on a few big plays.

Jacob Hamilton had a 16-yard reception on third-and-nine to keep a drive alive but Dutch Fork turned the ball over a few plays later after failing to convert a fake punt.

Quarterback Ethan Offing burst through the defense for a 13-yard gain early the next drive. Two more big plays from Maurice Anderson and Ron Di Pietro put Dutch Fork in the red zone for the second time all game. 

The turnover bug struck again as Spartanburg’s Demario Bookhart intercepted an Offing pass near the endzone.

That interception led to the Vikings' lead-taking touchdown that Dutch Fork failed to respond to for the rest of the game. 

Spartanburg led 10-6 with six minutes to go. Dutch Fork’s offense marched on the field in danger of losing back-to-back games. 

The offense failed to escape the struggles that haunted them all game. Sloppy penalties negated big plays resulting in a turnover on downs.

“Illegal formation on a fourth down, I had a good play ready,” Knotts said. “We felt like we were going to go down and win.”

Dutch Fork’s defense stood strong and forced a punt that gave the offense the ball back with just under 40 seconds. The problem for the Silver Foxes was the drive was starting from their own one-yard line.

What could’ve been miraculous turned disastrous as the offense gained just two yards before fumbling the ball for a Spartanburg scoop-and-score to end the game.

The Silver Foxes were held to less than 200 yards on offense, most of that coming in the air. Offing finished 16-28 for 145 yards. 

The team will have a week to figure things out before being tested again by a talented Hough team from Cornelius North Carolina. 

“We’ve got to come out Monday and just do fundamental football and get back to the basics and play Dutch Fork football,” Knotts said. 

Despite the slow start, the season is young and the goal remains the same. 

“We don't want to implode right now. I promise them we'd be there at the end,” Knotts said. “We're going to right this ship one way or another.”