River Bluff’s gallant effort Friday night at Dutch Fork contained the perennial power Silver Foxes for a quarter and a half. Eventually, though, the defending state champs pulled away, leaving the Gators with a 37-0 loss. 

The Gators were able to keep the game scoreless until early in the second quarter when Dutch Fork’s kicker Bradley O’Leary kicked a 24-yard field goal.

The score remained 3-0 until the 7:43 mark in the second quarter, when Dutch Fork quarterback Jaxon Knotts hit Stone Furrey for a 19-yard touchdown pass. The Silver Foxes never looked back from there.

While the effort that kept Dutch Fork at bay for a while never wavered, River Bluff simply couldn’t put enough defensive stops and offensive scoring drives together to maintain a close game.

Dutch Fork running back Kyle Henry scored on a nine-yard run, and O’Leary added a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter to up the Silver Fox lead to 20-0 at halftime.

In the third quarter, Dutch Fork defensive back KJ Dupree returned an interception 45 yards for a touchdown, and Henry added another rushing touchdown.

O’Leary capped it off in the fourth quarter with his third field goal of the evening, this one a 26-yarder to make the final score 37-0.

The loss drops River Bluff to 4-5 overall and 1-3 in Region IV-AAAAA. The Gators play host to crosstown rival Lexington (3-6, 1-3) on Thursday in a battle for fourth place in the region with playoff seeding implications on the line.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in The Swamp.