THURSDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK

There were 5 Lexington County/ town of Irmo teams looking to advance to their respective state semifinals Friday night.

For the 4th straight year, only the reigning dynasty of Class 5A remained standing heading into the Thanksgiving Day weekend.

Defending 3-time Class 5A champion Dutch Fork continued its run of domination with a 48-0 shutout of previously undefeated Fort Dorchester. The win was symbolic given the Patriots were the last team to defeat the Silver Foxes back on Sept. 1, 2017.

Since then, Dutch Fork (12-0-1) has gone 38 straight games without a loss to go with 37 straight wins over in-state teams. The Silver Foxes also extended their road winning streak to 23 games and posted their 18th straight playoff victory.

Standing in the way of a first-ever 4-peat by a Class 5A school is Carolina Forest. The Panthers (12-1) defeated Goose Creek 41-14 and will make its 1st ever trip to Irmo.

The winner will face either Dorman or Gaffney in the state final Dec. 7 at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Meanwhile, the post-season hopes for the 4 other teams ended at the hands of state powers. Both Airport and Gray Collegiate dropped 3rd round games to defending state champions Myrtle Beach (35-10) in Class 4A and 4-time reigning champion Abbeville in Class 2A (38-35).

It was heartbreak city for both Gilbert and Brookland-Cayce. The Indians fell 41-34 to Dillon in a Class 3A contest which came down to the final play. The Bearcats could not hold a 14-0 lead against Harts-ville and were defeated 22-21 after the Red Foxes pulled off a late 2-point conversion.

TEAM/PLAYERS OF THE WEEK - Dutch Fork defense

The non-offensive side of the ball sometimes gets overlooked in the team’s success. Against Fort Dorchester, the defense stole the show. They not only shut out a Patriots’ offense that averaged close to 40 points a game, but held them to 91 total yards, forced 4 turnovers and collected 3 sacks.

ROUND 3 PLAYOFF GRIDIRON GIANTS

Jon Hall (Dutch Fork) - 188 rushing yards, 4 TDs

Ty Olenchuk (Dutch Fork) - 123 passing yards, TD

Jy Tolen (Gilbert) - 285 passing yards, 2 TDs

Alec Holt (Gilbert) - 183 total yards, 3 TDs

Drew Howell (Gilbert) - 9.5 tackles

K.Z. Adams (Gray Collegiate) - 156 total yards, 5 touchdowns (3 rushing, 2 receiving)

Hunter Helms (Gray Collegiate) - 169 passing yards, 2 TDs

MILESTONES

Both quarterbacks Jy Tolen of Gilbert and Hunter Helms of Gray Collegiate Academy reached the 4,000-yard passing plateau this past Friday. Helms finished his senior year with 4,126 passing yards, followed by Tolen with 4,020 passing yards. Both also threw over 45 touchdowns...Dutch Fork running back Jon Hall reached 30 rushing touchdowns for the season.