WHAT WE SAW: St. Frances (MD) 26, Dutch Fork 7

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>IRM0 |St. Frances (MD) showcased its nationally ranked team against one of the best South Carolina has to offer in Dutch Fork Friday night. What it turned into was a highlight reel night for the Panther defense that has several kids that are committed to Power Five schools in the 26-7 victory in front of a large crowd for the Silver Foxes home opener.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>St. Frances (4-0) limited Dutch Fork to 121 yards of total offense and held the Silver Foxes offense without a touchdown for the first time under Tom Knotts, who took over in 2010.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“Now I know how the rest of the state feels playing us most of the time in the past few years,” Knotts said. “It was entirely frustrating over there as an offensive coach,” Knotts said.&nbsp;&nbsp;“They're a fine football team. I have never seen a team as big and fast. In 42 years, I have never seen a high school defense that good. They were special, especially on the defensive side of the ball.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The St. Frances defensive starters on the line are all committed to Power 5 schools.&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='187935' first='Brian' last='Simms']</strong>&nbsp;(Boston College),&nbsp;<strong>Sam Greene</strong>&nbsp;(Southern Cal),&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='146637' first='Isaiah' last='Neal']</strong>&nbsp;(Pitt) and&nbsp;<strong>Da'shawn Womack</strong>&nbsp;(LSU) wreaked havoc all night and held the Silver Foxes to 18 yards rushing on 36 attempts.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Simms added a touchdown on the first play of the second half when he stripped the ball on a sack and was able to pick it up and race 58 yards for the final points of the night. This came one play after Dutch Fork (5-1) recovered an onside kick to open the third quarter.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Safety&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='90660' first='KP' last='Price']</strong>&nbsp;committed to Boston College in the past week.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“I was very pleased with the defense,” St. Frances coach Messay Hailemariam said. “The depth we have is really good. Our interior guys are ridiculous. And our edges, Womack and Simms, are pretty deadly. We go two and sometimes three deep. It's hard to play against that at the high school level.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='172210' first='Michael' last='Van Buren']</strong>, who holds an offer from Alabama among his many suitors, threw for 176 yards and two scores, both to&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='180895' first='Kyree' last='Benton']</strong>. The 45-yard throw and catch with 13 seconds remaining in the half gave the Panthers a 20-7 lead at the break.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Durell Robinson</strong>&nbsp;is committed to Boston College, and he showed a very elusive running style in going for 93 yards on 15 carries. He scored the game's first touchdown on a 38-yard scamper.&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='249100' first='Dejuan' last='Williams']</strong>&nbsp;added 44 yards rushing on eight carries.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Dutch Fork defense was up to the task most of the night. They held the Panthers without an offensive touchdown in the second half and 367 yards of total offense.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The linebacking group&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='262678' first='Jaylen' last='Hinton']</strong>,&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='336148' first='John' last='Buetow']</strong>, and&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='132398' first='Chandler' last='Perry']</strong>&nbsp;proved they could play with anyone in the country. Perry scored the Silver Foxes only touchdown when he caught a deflected pass and raced 41 yards for the score that made it 8-7 at the time.&nbsp;<strong>AJ Johnson</strong>&nbsp;played well on the defensive front even though St. Frances held a sizable height and weight advantage.&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='262550' first='Landon' last='Danley']</strong>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<strong>[player_tooltip player_id='262619' first='Tyler' last='Jones']&nbsp;</strong>were active from their safety positions as well.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->