2025 Preview: Dutch Fork Silver Foxes

[player_tooltip player_id='312450' first='Braydon' last='Johnson'] wasn't a star on the most recent Dutch Fork title team.   Or the one before it.   But his role during the 2024 title run taught him more than enough to know about continuing the tradition.   “We want to be better than the team before us,” the multi-faceted senior said last week during the Prep RedZone Media Day at Westwood. “When you beat everyone, you just have to not beat yourself. Work harder. Our goal is to be better than the team before us.”   How do you get better than undefeated?   How do you exceed an average score of 39-7?   How much better can it get than making everyone else play for second place?   That's the internal challenge yet another loaded Dutch Fork roster is facing in 2025. The Silver Foxes are a perfect combination of the next wave of stars and home-grown talent meshed with newcomers who want to be a part of the Tom Knotts way of life.   Returning standouts such as linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='1025776' first='Raleigh' last='Salters'] and defensive tackle [player_tooltip player_id='1463245' first='Luciano' last='Cesario'] (pictured) and defensive back [player_tooltip player_id='1734522' first='Mario' last='Anderson'] will be suiting up next to newcomers like [player_tooltip player_id='409882' first='Jaden' last='Wuerth'] (2027) and [player_tooltip player_id='1595010' first='Taddrick' last='Gibson'] (2029). There are big-name recruits like [player_tooltip player_id='1592529' first='Julian' last='Walker'] (Michigan commit) who have risen up the in-house charts and recent Chapin transfers such as [player_tooltip player_id='1592297' first='Cole' last='Martin'] (2026 tailback) and [player_tooltip player_id='568697' first='Stone' last='Furrey'] (2026 receiver).   There are at least five players with college offers on this roster who have never started a game for the Silver Foxes. That talent is obviously there.   By no means is adding a 10th trophy from the SCHSL in the last 13 years a given. But it is the expectation.    “We were talking about Coach Knotts and when does he start talking about winning the next state championship. It's not, maybe, in the post-game talk of the last one. But it's the day after, for sure,” assistant Scott Braswell said. “The expectation, the standard, the work that goes into it, you just kind of put your head down and start the grind back into it. You don't see or think much else about it until you get to that postseason. Until then, it's a long road to get to that point. It doesn't sound very fun, but it's an expectation and a norm for us to grind year-round.”   That goes for the return Dutch Fork players and the newcomers alike.   The roles aren't always so spelled out. And the only glory that matters to Knotts is the one that will give this squad a few hours of rest before cranking it up again.    “We have big guys that make big plays. We also have other guys who have their role and have to do the little things right,” Johnson said. “You need to have the little things to win it as a team. That's what we're good at: Being a team and coming together.”   STARS SET TO SHINE   [player_tooltip player_id='1151291' first='Brody' last='Lorenzo'] OL, 2028 - Lorenzo is a top-three player in the class for a reason, and the center's value to this program now grows infinitely while the Silver Foxes break in a new starting quarterback. Lorenzo's snaps are clean and he blocks as if he didn't have that first responsibility. In a state loaded with future P4 lineman, Lorenzo is right there near the top of the list.   [player_tooltip player_id='1025776' first='Raleigh' last='Salters'] LB, 2026 - There's an argument to be made that Salters has been among the most consistent players on a dominant Dutch Fork defense over the last two years. Especially as a junior - when he had 83 tackles and 12 tackles for loss - Salters displayed a true middle linebacker mentality that allows the big names around him to thrive.   [player_tooltip player_id='1592529' first='Julian' last='Walker'] DL, 2026 - The Michigan commitment has some good interest based on his size but then blew up on the recruiting circuit after a great showing in the Class 5A, Division I championship game against Summerville. He was swamped with offers and went with the Wolverines well in advance of his senior season.    [player_tooltip player_id='409882' first='Jaden' last='Wuerth'] DL, 2027 - Wuerth transferred into Dutch Fork in the spring after two highlight-reel types of season at Aquinas High School in Georgia. He will start opposite Walker on the edge and the two of them should have little problem getting into opposing backfields in a hurry. Wuerth doesn't have Walker's 6-foot-6 height, but he's powerful and has a Division-I burst.   FILM REVIEW   [player_tooltip player_id='1592297' first='Cole' last='Martin'] RB, 2026 - The former Chapin Eagle made his way to Dutch Fork in the offseason and didn't take long to establish himself as the team's top tailback. In rushing for 800 yards and eight touchdowns last fall, he displayed a comfort with interior runs, primarily because he tends to be the one initiating contact with defenders. He can get his pads low, get extra yards and fits right in with the Dutch Fork mantra.    BIGGEST LOSSES   Josh Smith DL/LB - Now a South Carolina Gamecock, Smith was a three-year starter and established himself as one of the most potent edge rushers in the state.    Elgin Sessions DB - Sessions patrolled the back side of the Silver Foxes' defense for three seasons and left an indelible mark. He headed to Georgia Tech with a ton of team and individual hardware.   [player_tooltip player_id='1267290' first='Ethan' last='Offing'] QB - After helping the Silver Foxes to last year's title by throwing for 2,974 yards and 24 touchdowns and rushing for another 451 yards and eight touchdowns, Offing hung up his pads to focus on his baseball career.    UP-AND-COMING POTENTIAL   Jaxon Knotts QB, 2027 - The head coach's son got some occasional back-up reps and appeared in four games as a sophomore. But his biggest growth point has come in the last seven months after Offing stepped away from the program. Knotts has solid decision-making and a strong enough arm to have already earned his first college offer (Catawba).   Quinton Wilson RB, 2027 - The 5-foot-11, 180-pound Wilson won't be starting at tailback, but he's going to get more than his share of reps behind Martin. He had six offensive touches as a sophomore, and he averaged just shy of 12 yards per carry. He then had a really good showing at the Carolinas Coaches Combines in April.     The incoming freshman corner already has a few games of varsity ball under his belt, as he played sparingly for Heathwood Hall last fall as an eighth grader. In three games, he had 14 tackles, two pass break-ups and a forced fumble before transferring into the Dutch Fork system.   By January 3, he'd picked up his first Division-I offer (South Florida), and a few weeks later he earned top defensive back honors at the Prep RedZone Next camp. By the time he was able to practice with the Dutch Fork varsity in June, he had added two ACC offers and one from an SEC program. He then spent the summer earning a starting spot on the Silver Foxes' defense.

Braydon Johnson Braydon Johnson 5'8" | 185 lbs | ATH Dutch Fork | 2026 State SC wasn't a star on the most recent Dutch Fork title team.