Scheduling changes due to Subtropical Storm Nicole created two days of high school football playoff games.

The opening night saw W.W. King clinched a title game berth in SCISA 8-man, Dutch Fork successfully continued its quest to regain the Class 5A championship and Gray Collegiate's run as defending Class 2A champion came to an end.

W.W. King Academy 22, Faith Christian 18

Trailing by four points with 5:05 left in the SCISA 8-man final, W.W. King Academy turned to two of its triplets for a familiar play.

The Knights faced a fourth and 11 at the Faith Christian 13-yard line. After being unsuccessful on third down, quarterback Collin Woodward once again looked for his brother/wide receiver Carson on a post pattern to the endzone.

This time, Collin found a wide-open Carson who got behind the Faith Christian defender to make the go-ahead touchdown catch.

A recovered onside kick and fumble recovery enabled W.W. King ran out the remaining minutes for the victory in the battle of the "Knights".

"It's just plays we ran all year," Matthews said. "I think we ran that play all year, and it was big. Good ball, we got behind the defender and made a good catch. Up front, we did a good job of giving our quarterback time there as well."

More than just nickname bragging rights, W.W. King Academy's fifth straight win secured a title game berth for the first time since 2016.

"We could have (folded), but that's just our group," W.W. King Academy head coach Zach Matthews said. "That's what we're made of. That's what we preach and talk about all week. Let's finish, 48 minutes or more, whatever it takes, and they did a really good job there. And we even got some key turnovers there at the end and the onside kick was huge. We talked about it all year and we got the one we really needed."

W.W. King Academy (10-1) had a 16-12 lead at halftime with two time-consuming drives capped by touchdown runs by Ben Sauls and two, two-point conversions.  Faith Christian's had two quick scores on touchdown runs by Isaiah Freeburg and Matterius Bell.

The visiting Knights had a scoring opportunity late in the first half. However, Colby Woodland managed to retrieve a tipped pass for an interception inside the 20-yard line.

Faith Christian took its only lead of the game to open the second half. Elijah Brown scored on a 21-yard run, but the team's third failed two-point conversion attempt kept the score at 18-16.

Towards the end of the third quarter, Faith Christian received two, 15-yard penalties which nullified a first down pickup and a 59-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Brown. After forcing W.W. King Academy to punt, Faith Christian saw a long return nullified by an illegal block near the goal line.

The visiting Knights were forced to punt which enabled the host team Knights to begin its game-winning drive inside the 50-yard line and set up the go-ahead touchdown.

"We've been practicing those plays all season long," Collin said. "You get eight guys out there that know what they're doing, something good might happen. You never know. You've got to be optimistic."

Up next for W.W. King Academy is a title-game rematch Nov. 18 with two-time defending champion Holly Hill Academy at a site to be determined. The Raiders (11-0) handed the Knights their last loss 62-18 on Oct. 7 in Holly Hill. They have won 36 consecutive games and their margin of victory this season is 42 points.

"They're good. They're big," Matthews said. "I think we know a little bit more about ourselves right now than the first time we played Holly Hill. So, we've just got to go and have a good week of preparation and just go play the game."

"We've got eight guys that's already ready to go," Collin said. "We're all experienced, and we play like a real team now."

Dutch Fork 35, Dorman 18

The last time the Cavaliers visited the Silver Foxes in Irmo, they came away with a 49-19 victory.

That second-round loss on Nov. 27, 2015, was the last time Dutch Fork lost a home playoff game. Prior to the state championship game defeat to Gaffney last December, it was also the last time Dutch Fork lost in the post-season.

This time around, the Silver Foxes made sure of its current home playoff winning streak. The third straight post-season win over Dorman since 2015, the last two in the state finals, was their 21st consecutive post-season win at Dutch Fork Stadium. It was also the 30th playoff win overall out of 31 games since 2016.

Shrine Bowl running back Jarvis Green rushed for 246 yards and three touchdowns, had four catches for 61 yards and threw an interception. Quarterback Aliam Appler rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 102 passing yards and an interception for Dutch Fork (11-1)

Dorman quarterback D.J. Porter accounted for all three of his team's touchdowns and 163 of their 229 total yards. Linebacker Chandler Perry once again led the defense with 10 tackles and a sack, Jaylen Hinton had nine tackles and Landon Danley had eight tackles, an interception and blocked extra point.

Another rematch at home with a Spartanburg County opponent awaits Dutch Fork Nov. 18 in the third round. Making the visit is Spartanburg, which defeated T.L. Hanna 39-14 and lost to Dutch Fork 27-25 at home in Week One on a game-winning field goal in the final seconds by Justin Welch.

Dutch Fork is 3-0 all-time against the Vikings (8-4).

Saluda 23, Gray Collegiate 16

The War Eagles entered their third-round matchup against the Tigers winners of eight straight.

Instead of the friendly home confines of Midlands Sports Complex in West Columbia, a place where the team was undefeated all time, Gray Collegiate played host at W.C. Hawkins Stadium.

Led by Tyleke Mathis's 261 total yards and two touchdowns and game-clinching interception, Saluda put an end to the War Eagles' streak and title run.

Gray Collegiate jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter on a safety and touchdown run by B.J. Montgomery. A 67-yard touchdown run and two-point conversion pass by Mathis brought Saluda to within 9-8 at halftime.

An interception by Blake Croft set up a 25-yard touchdown run by quarterback Blaine Redmond to extend Gray Collegiate's lead to 16-8 in the third quarter. The Tigers responded with 15 unanswered points, tying the game with 2:29 left in the third quarter on a three-yard touchdown run by Drew Arant and two-point conversion run by Mathis.

Mathis' one-yard touchdown run with 9:39 left in the game put Saluda ahead. As time expired, he picked off Redmond's desperation pass to close out the War Eagles' season.

Saluda will await the winner of Strom Thurmond versus W.J. Keenan on Nov. 12. Gray Collegiate finished the season 8-4.