Dutch Fork finally gets to play in Charlotte, starts new streak with win over Hough

Dutch Fork hasn’t had a lot of luck playing in the Charlotte Kickoff Classic at Memorial Stadium.

Three years ago, the Silver Foxes game with then nationally ranked Mallard Creek was canceled due to lightning and rain. COVID canceled a 2020 matchup with Chambers.

Finally on Thursday, Dutch Fork got a game in, beating a stubborn Hough team, 27-24.

“We didn’t play particularly well on offense,” Dutch Fork coach Tom Knotts said. “We always talk about hitting our layups. We missed a lot of layups...I think it was a good start to the high school football season and it’s always good to get that W the first game.”

Dutch Fork, which missed a few big plays and at least one touchdown, played its first game since having its 61-game win streak snapped in the S.C. 5A state championship game last December. Hough was trying to bounce back from the N.C. 4A state semifinals, when it lost a two-score lead to Chambers in the fourth quarter.

And a couple big plays were the difference.

Early in the third quarter, Dutch Fork was down 9-7 before coach Knotts called a wide receiver pass that went for 49 yards. A few plays later, Jarvis Green ran the ball in from 1 yard out for a 14-9 lead.

Later, Hough had a shot in the fourth quarter to retake the lead, but QB Tad Hudson was intercepted at the Dutch Fork 16.

That led to a crushing drive from the Silver Foxes, who marched 84 yards, capped by a 34-yard QB run from Aliam Appler and a 21-9 lead.

“We hadn’t been playing that well defensively,” Knotts said. “But they came to play tonight. They played lights out. We had some really bad plays, though, and if we can eliminate those bad plays, missing those layups, I think we’ll be good.”

Hough coach Matthew Jenkins thinks his team will be good, too, and the Huskies kept coming, even down two scores late. They converted a fourth and 15 with a 27-yard pass from Hudson to JT Smith to get the Dutch Fork 1. Smith later scored with 2:17 left.

That cut the lead to 21-16.

On the onside kick attempt, Dutch Fork’s Green caught the ball on the fly and returned it 32 yards for a score with 2:07 to play.

Still, Hough kept coming. The Huskies scored with 25 seconds left, and got a two-point conversion — both on Hudson passes — to close to 27-24.

Dutch Fork recovered the onside kick, however, and won.

“I thought our defense played well,” Hough coach Matthew Jenkins said. “That’s a young unit. We started two freshmen tonight. We got caught on a couple of big plays, but I thought we played our tails off. (Running back) JT (Smith) played a helluva game. He’s a great weapon — so versatile. He does so many things well. I wouldn’t want to play us at the end of the season, I’ll tell you. This is going to be a really good football team. We’ve got to work on a few things, but we have the talent to be really good.”

Some first half highlights

▪ Hough forced a 3-and-out on Dutch Fork’s first possession of the game. Dutch Fork’s punt went about 10 yards and Hough got the ball at the Dutch Fork 35. But Hough’s drive stalled and preseason MaxPreps All-American kicker Nolan Hauser made a 39-yard field goal with 8 minutes, 8 seconds left in the first quarter.

▪ On Dutch Fork’s next drive, an interference call on third and 10 gave the Silver Foxes a first down at the Hough 40. But Hough sacked QB Aliam Appler shortly after that and returned the ball to the Dutch Fork 33. This time, the Huskies got the 10 yard line before North Carolina-bound QB Tad Hudson suffered three straight incompletions.

Hauser hit a field goal from 25 yards out for a 6-0 lead with 4:05 left in the first quarter.

▪ On Dutch Fork’s third possession, running QB Daylaun Shepard replaced Appler and the Silver Foxes began to move the ball by running. After getting to the Hough 35, Appler returned. On fourth and 2 at the 33, he hit Jacob Hamilton with a 34-yard touchdown pass.

▪ Hauser hit his third field goal of the half, from 48 yards, to give Hough back the lead a 9-7 with 6:32 left in the second quarter.

▪ Later, Dutch Fork’s JaVon Mack picked off Hudson with 3 minutes left in the half and gave Dutch Fork the ball at Hough’s 42. Dutch Fork drove but freshman Cameron Gillespie forced a fumble at the Hough 6 that the Huskies recovered with 30 seconds left in the first half.

3 Who Made A Difference

▪ Jarvis Green, Dutch Fork: Green had 20 carries for 81 yards, plus the big onside kick return.

▪ Jacob Hamilton, Dutch Fork: 5 catches, 85 yards plus the long wide receiver pass.

▪ JT Smith, Hough: 15 carries, 64 yards and five catches for 62 yards from QB Tad Hudson (21-of-33 for 221 yards).

Observations

▪ Hough returned 10 starters, most on offense, but the young defense stood up pretty well. Dutch Fork and Knotts had to go deep into the playbook to find ways to soften the defense up, and the thing that worked best was going fast, which got some plays off before Hough’s defensive linemen had got into a stance

▪ Hough’s offense was pretty conservative, featuring a Power 5 QB in Hudson, who has committed to North Carolina. I’d expect them to open things up as year goes on.

▪ The Hough kicking game has to be one of the best in America. All-American kicker Nolan Hauser was 3-for-3 with an easy 48-yard field goal and punter Owen Fehr had one 58-yard punt and another long boomer.

▪ Best player on the field was Hough running back JT Smith. He had more than 100 yards of offense.

They Said It

“Scoring field goals instead of touchdowns. It’s the same problem we had last year. We’ve got to fix it. That’s on us, the coaches, to fix. It’s not on the kids. But we’re going to figure that out.” -- Hough coach Matthew Jenkins, whose team had several short fields but settled for field goals.

Next Week

Hough will host Mooresville. Dutch Fork is at Spartanburg

Photos: Dutch Fork vs. Hough

Scoring Summary

Dutch Fork 7 0 7 13 — 27

Hough 6 3 0 15 — 24

First Quarter

H: FG Nolan Hauser 39

H: FG Hauser 25

DF: Jacob Hamilton 34 pass from Aliam Appler (Justin Welch kick)

Second Quarter

H: FG Hauser 48

Third Quarter

DF: Jarvis Green 1 run (Welch kick)

Fourth Quarter

DF: Appler 34 run (Welch kick)

H: JT Smith 3 run (Hauser kick)

DF: Green 32 kick return (pass failed)

H: Se’Quon Osborne 4 pass from Tad Hudson (Smith pass from Hudson)

-- Correspondent Steve Lyttle contributed