Sumter – The times have been very few and very far between over the years where the Dutch Fork High School football team goes into a game – much less a region contest – as an underdog.
One of those days is here. The Silver Foxes, 2-4 on the season, will be going up against undefeated White Knoll in its Region 4-AAAAA opener. The Wolves are 6-0 and ranked seventh in the High School Sports Report AAAAA Sweet 16 poll. Dutch Fork, the defending state champion, is ranked 11th.
Dutch Fork, which has won six state titles in the last seven years, owns a 33-game region winning streak. Against White Knoll, the Silver Foxes have won 13 straight games, 12 of those coming under head coach Tom Knotts.
In reality, this is more of a wait-and-see game. The Silver Foxes are 0-3 against out-of-state competition, falling to Colquitt County of Norman Park, Georgia, 48-17, Hough of Cornelius, North Carolina, 20-17, and Weddington of Matthews, North Carolina, 17-14.
Against instate foes, Dutch Fork is 2-1. It lost to Spartanburg 17-6 before whipping Stratford 54-7 and North Augusta 41-12. So beyond determining the winner, there will be interest in seeing how competitive it is.
White Knoll’s head coach is Nick Pelham, a former defensive coordinator for Knotts at Dutch Fork. This is his third season with White Knoll, going 2-9 his first year before seeing the Wolves improve to 7-4 last year.
White Knoll started 5-0 last year before losing to River Bluff 25-14 followed by a 52-0 loss to Dutch Fork. The Wolves did make the playoffs, losing to T.L. Hanna 36-35 in the first round.
The Wolves opened region play with a 40-0 victory over Rive Bluff last week. They have outscored their opponents 294-36 this season.
There are some other big games on the docket this week as well.
AAAAA
Gaffney (4-2) at Spartanburg (4-3): Matchups like this are nothng out of the ordinary in Region 2. This is the region opener for Gaffney, which is ranked fourth. The Vikings are ranked eighth after falling to No. 3 Byrnes in their region opener.
T.L. Hanna (6-1) at J.L. Mann (6-1): Both teams are 1-0 in Region 1 after blowout wins. Sixth-ranked T.L. Hanna whipped Mauldin 62-7 while the 12th-ranked Patriots beat Woodmont 56-18.
AAAA
Irmo (6-0) at Ridge View (6-1): Irmo, ranked third in AAAA, has rolled through its competition. The Yellow Jackets have outscored their foes 300-44, including a 63-8 win over Richland Northeast in their Region 5 opener last week.
Twelfth-ranked Ridge View beat Lugoff-Elgin 28-7 in its region opener.
AA
Saluda (5-1) at Strom Thurmond (4-2): This game will go a long way in determining the pecking order at the top of Region 3.
Saluda is ranked seventh in AA and opened region play last week with a 42-13 win over Pelion. Strom Thurmond is ranked 10th and is 1-0 in region play with a 44-14 triumph over Batesburg-Leesville.
SCISA AAAA
Cardinal Newman (6-0) at Hammond (5-2): This contest is similar to the Dutch Fork-White Knoll matchup. Hammond has won six consecutive state championships and has two losses, but both of those losses have come against non-SCISA schools. The Skyhawks have 34 consecutive wins against SCISA schools.
Hammond is ranked No. 1 in the High School Sports Report SCISA AAAA Pick 6 poll. Cardinal Newman is ranked second.
The Cardinals have been dominant in their six victories. They have allowed just 39 points while scoring 278 points.
SCHSL
AAAAA
THURSDAY
Nation Ford 34, Blythewood 28
FRIDAY
Ashley Ridge at West Ashley
Byrnes at Boiling Springs
Cane Bay at Stratford
Carolina Forest at Conway
Dutch Fork at White Knoll
Fort Dorchester at Goose Creek
Gaffney at Spartanburg
Hillcrest at Woodmont
Lexington at River Bluff
Mauldin at Dorman
Rock Hill at Fort Mill
St. James at Socastee
Spring Valley at Clover
Stall at Summerville
T.L. Hanna at J.L. Mann
Wando at Berkeley
AAAA
THURSDAY
North Augusta 35, Aiken 19
FRIDAY
A.C. Flora at Richland Northeast
Bluffton at Lucy Beckham
Catawba Ridge at York
Eastside at Greer
Greenville at Berea
Greenwood at Easley
Hartsville at Myrtle Beach
Hilton Head Island at Colleton County
Indian Land at Northwestern
Irmo at Ridge View
James Island at May River
Lancaster at South Pointe
Laurens at Riverside
Lugoff-Elgin at Westwood
Midland Valley at Airport
North Myrtle Beach at West Florence
South Florence at Wilson
Westside at Pickens
AAA
Battery Creek at Beaufort
Brookland-Cayce at Lower Richland
Broome at Blue Ridge
Daniel at West-Oak
Darlington at Camden
Dillon at Aynor
Georgetown at Manning
Gilbert at Swansea
Lake City at Lakewood
Marlboro County at Crestwood
North Charleston at Hanahan
Orangeburg-Wilkinson at Dreher
Palmetto at Belton-Honea Path
Pendleton at Seneca
Powdersville at Fountain Inn
Union County at Chester
Waccamaw at Loris
Walhalla at Crescent
Woodruff at Emerald
Wren at Southside
AA
Batesburg-Leesville at Silver Bluff
Buford at North Central
Carolina at Travelers Rest
Cheraw at Central
Chesnee at Abbeville
Chesterfield at Andrew Jackson
Edisto at Hampton County
Keenan at Columbia
Lake Marion at Bishop England
Landrum at Ninety Six
Liberty at Blacksburg
Marion at Kingstree
Mid-Carolina at Newberry
Mullins at Andrews
Pelion at Fox Creek
Ridgeland-Hardeeville at Woodland
Saluda at Strom Thurmond
Timberland at Academic Magnet
CLASS A
Baptist Hill at Military Magnet
Bethune-Bowman at Allendale-Fairfax
Branchville at Bamberg-Ehrhardt
C.A. Johnson at Great Falls
Calhoun County at Denmark-Olar
Carvers Bay at Hemingway
Dixie at St. Joseph’s
Hannah-Pamplico at Latta
Johnsonville at Scott’s Branch
Lamar at Green Sea Floyds
Ridge Spring-Monetta at Blackville-Hilda
St. John’s at Burke
Southside Christian at Calhoun Falls
Ware Shoals at Christ Church
Whitmire at McBee
Williston-Elko at Hunter-Kinard-Tyler
SCISA
11-MAN
Ben Lippen at Trinity Collegiate
Calhoun Academy at Lee Academy
Camden Military at Heathwood Hall
Cardinal Newman at Hammond
Carolina Academy at Greenwood Christian
Clarendon Hall at Cross Schools
Colleton Prep at Bethesda Academy
Dillon Christian at The King’s Academy
Florence Christian at Pinewood Prep
Hilton Head Christian at Thomas Heyward
Hilton Head Prep at John Paul II
Northwood at First Baptist
Palmetto Christian at Thomas Sumter
Patrick Henry at Dorchester
Porter-Gaud at Laurence Manning
Spartanburg Christian at Orangeburg Prep
Williamsburg at Beaufort Academy
Wilson Hall at Pee Dee
8-MAN
Andrew Jackson at Oakbrook Prep
Holly Hill at W.W. King
Jefferson Davis at Wardlaw
Laurens Academy at Conway Christian
Newberry Academy at Holy Trinity
Richard Winn at Faith Christian
SCHSL VS. OUT OF STATE
Gray Collegiate at Clearwater Academy International
SCISA VS. OUT OF STATE
GSIC at Northside Christian
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