What We Saw: Fort Dorchester 52, Berkeley 0

Chris Dearing September 16, 2023 @ 12:03 AM

NORTH CHARLESTON | The tone for Fort Dorchester's 52-0 shellacking of Berkeley Friday night was set in the opening two minutes of the contest.   Senior quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1142859' first='Charles' last='Watson'] (pictured) raced untouched 75 yards on the second play of the game to get the Patriots offense off to what would be a fast start. The Fort Dorchester defense was just as impressive as they forced a three and out on the first series. They ended up limiting the Stags to 179 total yards and saw the second half feature a running clock.   “I told the kids, let's go out and start fast and let's do it,” interim coach Josh Smith said. “We had a great game plan and we put it all together. We started fast and were able to get the job done.”   Fort Dorchester (2-1) has sort of coasted under the radar after playing for the Class AAAAA state title last season. The Patriots were playing just its third game while several teams in the state were reaching its halfway point in the season this week. They also played Grayson out of Georgia and had its first home game Friday in which they dedicated the field to former coach Steve LaPrad.   They made quick work of Berkeley (3-2). Three plays after the defense forced the three-and-out, Watson found [player_tooltip player_id='589060' first='Jalen' last='Barry'] on a 9-yard touchdown pass. After getting a fourth down stop on the Stags next series, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='473024' first='Ryan' last='Campbell'] raced 62 yards to give Fort Dorchester a 21-0 lead after just six offensive plays and six minutes off the clock.   Barry caught his second TD of the night, this one from [player_tooltip player_id='976510' first='Bennett' last='Riffer'], on a 12-yard fade on the fourth Patriots offensive series. Riffer came in when Watson lost his helmet the play before. Barry finished with four receptions for 45 yards and the two scores.   “They compliment each other really well,” Smith said of his two quarterbacks. “We're trying to get them on the same page in running a two-quarterback system.”   Campbell, who led all rushers with 106 yards on just 3 carries, punched it in from 32 yards out to give Fort Dorchester a 35-0 lead after one quarter.   Eric Mittag kicked a 42-yard field goal and Watson connected on a 31-yard TD pass to Monty Johnson that gave the Patriots a 45-0 halftime lead. [player_tooltip player_id='91350' first='Davian' last='Brown'] scored on the first offensive play of the third quarter and the Patriots only had two more possessions because of the running clock in the second half.   Watson was 6-of-8 for 102 yards and two touchdowns, and he added 98 yards rushing and one score.   Berkeley came in averaging 34 points per game but couldn't find an answer for the defensive front of Fort Dorchester. Jayden Acevedo, Camdon Hawkins, Malichi Watson and Landon Whitlock closed off the running lanes and pressured Stags quarterback [player_tooltip player_id='1036733' first='Henry' last='Rivers'] from the outset.   “They've been together now for four, five, six years all the way up through our program,” Smith said. “They have good camaraderie; communication and they understand the game and each other. They do a great job. Berkeley scored points against some other teams so it was good to see our guys hold them to zero.”   BERKELEY NOTABLES   It was hard to pick a bright spot for the Stags, but it had to be the play of Rivers, a 15-year old freshman. He stood in the pocket under heavy pressure and didn't put the ball in harm's way. Berkeley only turned it over once. Rivers' numbers could have been a lot better, but his receivers had at least five drops.   Rivers finished 9-of-21 for 118 yards.

NORTH CHARLESTON | The tone for Fort Dorchester's 52-0 shellacking of Berkeley Friday night was set in the opening two minutes of the contest.