Class 5A Championship Game Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Class 5A state championship has so many different story lines, it's almost mindboggling to think about. You have White Knoll having an improbable undefeated season and making its first-ever championship game appearance. Dutch Fork, the defending state champions, started the season 0-3 and 2-5 before running off seven wins in a row to reach the state finals for the 11^th time in the last 12 years.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>It's also teacher vs student. White Knoll coach Nick Pelham was the defensive coordinator at Dutch Fork under Tom Knotts before taking the White Knoll job three years ago. It's also a rematch from the Oct 6 game, a 17-14 Timberwolves victory. It's the last game the Silver Foxes lost. Dutch Fork is 19-3 all-time against White Knoll.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Here is a complete breakdown on what to expect when these two Region 4-5A members face off Friday night with a state title on the line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WHITE KNOLL (14-0) VS DUTCH FORK (9-5)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Time:</strong> 8:00 p.m., Friday, South Carolina State's Oliver C. Dawson Stadium</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>About the Timberwolves: </strong>Make no mistake about it, when you talk about White Knoll, it starts on the defensive side of the ball. In the first meeting between the two schools, they limited Dutch Fork to 141 yards of total offense and just 40 yards rushing. They are allowing 7.1 points and 170 yards per game. That unit is led by four players with over 100 tackles - <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142518' first='Demenico' last='Banks'] </strong>(120 tackles), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1083060' first='Connor' last='Burgess']</strong> (117 tackles), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='911089' first='Jaiden' last='Kimble']</strong> (111 tackles) and <strong>Mondo Domench</strong> (100 tackles). They are a fast and physical group. Kimble has 19 tackles for loss and six sacks. <strong>Lincoln Illunga</strong> leads the team with nine sacks and has added 12 tackles for loss among his 79 tackles. They've only allowed a total of 12 touchdowns – six rushing and six passing. Dutch Fork did return a kickoff for a TD in the first meeting. The Timberwolves can beat you a number of ways on the offensive side of the ball. QB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='346199' first='Landon' last='Sharpe']</strong> has thrown for 2,646 yards and rushed for another 417 yards. He's accounted for 37 touchdowns with 30 of them coming through the air. He has a trio of receivers capable of making big plays. <strong>Evan Henderson</strong> leads the way with 56 catches for 750 yards and five touchdowns. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='994939' first='CJ' last='Earl']</strong> has 611 yards and a team-best eight touchdowns on 38 catches with <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='448995' first='Austin' last='Cunningham']</strong> adding 419 yards and six touchdowns on 35 receptions. Freshman RB <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036740' first='Tiyon' last='Fanning'] </strong>leads the ground attack with 801 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns, but he will have plenty of help. <strong>Sean Evans</strong>,<strong> Kimble </strong>and<strong> Banks </strong>will all be counted on in the running game.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>About the Silver Foxes: </strong>Injuries have been a huge factor for Dutch Fork this season and it happened again last week. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1267290' first='Ethan' last='Offing']</strong> left in the first half with a hamstring injury, and he was replaced by <strong>Jonathan Hunt</strong>. Offing has played in all 14 games and Hunt has played in eight. He was injured in the season opener and returned in the first meeting with White Knoll. Offing has 1,311 yards passing and Hunt has 988 with both throwing nine touchdowns. The receiving corps has also faced injury issues. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='448992' first='Jacob' last='Hamilton']</strong> leads the way with 43 catches for 567 yards and three touchdowns. RB <strong>Trent Lodge </strong>is the second leading receiver with 39 grabs for 536 yards. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1254046' first='Boone' last='Miller']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1360308' first='Boykin' last='Bickley']</strong> proved depth. Lodge and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012701' first='Maurice' last='Anderson']</strong> lead the rushing attack. Anderson has 664 yards and a total of 17 touchdowns. Lodge has added 590 yards and a total of 14 scores. Up front, the Silver Foxes count on <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012842' first='Josh' last='Benson']</strong>, <strong>Cam Myers</strong>, <strong>Connor McGee</strong>, <strong>Ky-mani Mcleish</strong> and <strong>Chase Meggett</strong>. <strong>Deon</strong> <strong>Winsley</strong> (114 tackles), <strong>Bryce Nutall</strong> (92 tackles) and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1025776' first='Raleigh' last='Salters']</strong> (pictured, 83 tackles) lead the way defensively.  <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142809' first='Peyton' last='Betts'] </strong>has five interceptions. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='492672' first='Tyler' last='Jones']</strong> is a big-hitting safety that has 69 tackles.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Key Matchup: </strong>In the first meeting, White Knoll controlled the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 31:59 to just 16:01 for the Silver Foxes. The key is they were 8-of-17 on third and forth down. That was a huge testament to the group up front for the Timberwolves. <strong>Mason Gravlin</strong>, <strong>Ty Bennett</strong>, <strong>Hayden Hohlwein</strong>, <strong>Donovan Sims</strong>, and <strong>Thomas Disbrow </strong>provide the depth and experience on the offensive line. They will be counted on to do it again against the Dutch Fork front of <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012706' first='Josh' last='Smith'] </strong>(19 tackles for loss), <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1142746' first='Dakota' last='Jordan']</strong>, <strong>Jadon Cooke,</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='771217' first='Terrance' last='Wells']</strong>. White Knoll also won the turnover over battle 3-1 in the first matchup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/16381106/65518fca4ba8580f4cb3bed0' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6567c96d7b299"} /--> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>X-Factor: </strong>The Timberwolves have been great defensively all season but might have picked that up a notch in the playoffs. They have allowed just 330 yards passing and one passing TD in four playoff games. In the last three playoff games, they've limited their opponents to 4-of-34 on third down. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1025815' first='Caleb' last='Geronomi']</strong>, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1172353' first='James' last='Smith']</strong> and <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012621' first='Devin' last='Geronomi']</strong> played a big factor in that.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:acf/hudl {"name":"acf/hudl","data":{"embed_code":"u003ciframe src='https://www.hudl.com/embed/video/3/18518620/6520d7e01762281320dce2f8' width='640' height='360' frameborder='0' allowfullscreenu003eu003c/iframeu003e","_embed_code":"field_62daf7995fd8c"},"mode":"edit","alignText":"left","anchor":"acf-block-6567c96d7b2c3"} /-->