Blythewood quarterback David Isreal (2) looks down field at Dutch Fork Friday. (Photo/DeAnna Robinson)
Dutch Fork 56, Blythewood 14
IRMO – Blythewood couldn’t find an answer for Matt Colburn, or any other Dutch Fork player for that matter, Friday night at Dutch Fork Stadium.
The running back for the defending 4A state champion Silver Foxes finished the first half with 138 yards and five touchdowns on 17 carries as they routed their Region IV-4A opponent Bengals 56-14 with a running clock in the second half.
“I didn’t think it would be like that,” Dutch Fork (6-2, 2-0) head coach Tom Knotts said. “Blythewood’s got a shrine bowl player (linebacker Hassan Belton) and a great quarterback (David Isreal), but we were just sharp tonight.”
Colburn, in his first game in two weeks after suffering a high-ankle sprain, also caught two passes for 36 yards. His night was done by intermission.
“Without him we struggled a little bit, we’ve learned a little bit,” Knotts said. “When he comes back in, we’ve corrected those mistakes we made so we’re that much better.”
The Dutch Fork defense limited Blythewood (3-4, 1-1) to 88 total yards and five first downs in the first half. The Silver Foxes also pulled in three interceptions.
“The hardest thing to do is to prepare for a team that’s bigger and physically stronger,” Blythewood head coach Dan Morgan said. “They’re a great ball club, but we still didn’t play nearly what we could have played. We just laid down and handed the game to them. That’s just disappointing.”
Blythewood’s only offensive highlight came when they were down 35-0 midway through the second quarter. Osei Thomas broke free into an open field for a 37-yard gain, falling one yard short of the end zone. He scored the Bengals’ only touchdown of the first half on the next play.
Colburn loaded the Silver Foxes’ opening drive with runs, powering the six-play, 69-yard possession with five runs, including a 10-yarder that was the game’s opening score.
He scored again on an 8-yard rush three minutes later. After Tate Fant’s 37-yard TD strike to Collin James, Colburn scored touchdowns from 1, 13, and 25 yards.
The Bengals closed out the scoring with Isreal’s 33-yard pass to Trae Churn with 1:22 left. Isreal ran in the 2-point conversion.
“I know we’re young but we have got to get a lot better,” Morgan said. “A lot of our young guys got scared out there, but we’ve got to move beyond that.”
Blythewood plays host next week to Westwood, 8-0, 2-0 after beating Ridge View 49-18 Friday. The Bengals’ challenge in the coming days is to bounce back.
“The thing we can take from this game is we can see all the things that we still need to work on,” Morgan said. “That’s the great thing of when you can play the really great ball clubs is that you can find everything we’re not doing correctly, and we’ve got a whole week to really work hard on those things so we can finish this season strong.”
Blythewood 0-6-0-8 — 14
Dutch Fork 21-21-7-7 — 56
First Quarter
D – Matt Colburn 10 run (Tyler Bass kick) 9:49
D – Colburn 8 run (Bass kick) 6:03
D – Collin James 37 pass from Tate Fant (Bass kick) 3:13
Second Quarter
D – Colburn 1 run (Bass kick) 9:22
D – Colburn 13 run (Bass kick) 8:09
B – Osei Thomas 1 run (kick blocked)
D – Colburn 25 run (Bass kick) 3:53
Third Quarter
D – Harmon Jordan 6 run (Bass kick) 2:19
Fourth Quarter
D –Douglas Cole 14 run (Bass kick) 6:02
B – Trae Churn 33 pass from David Isreal (Isreal run) 1:41
BHS DF
First Downs 9 23
Rushes-Yards 28-130 35-281
Passing Yards 48 174
Att-Com-Int 14-4-3 17-11-0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards 3-28 5-41
Punts-Avg. 3-26.0 0-0.0
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING – Blythewood, Thomas 13-64, Isreal 10-49. Dutch Fork, Colburn 17-138, Douglas 5-74, Fant 4-38, Harmon 8-29.
PASSING – Blythewood, Isreal 14-4-3. Dutch Fork, Fant 17-11-0.
RECEIVING – Blythewood, Churn 1-33, Thomas 1-3, Richardson 1-5, Jenkins 1-3. Dutch Fork, DeBoer 4-21, Connor 3-64, Colburn 2-36, James 1-37.
