Dutch Fork used a late first-half touchdown to take a 24-20 halftime lead and then scored 35 unanswered points in the second half for a 59-20 victory over T.L. Hanna in the AAAAA state championship at Williams-Brice Stadium.
The Silver Foxes have now won three consecutive titles and for head coach Tom Knotts, it's his fourth overall at Dutch Fork.
The first half saw the teams trade scores. A 25-yard interception for a touchdown by USC commit Zaach Pickens gave the Yellow Jackets an early 7-3 lead.
But Dutch Fork quarterback Ty Olenchuk would respond with a seven-yard touchdown run, a 67-yard touchdown pass to Gage Zirke and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Hyatt. The toss to Hyatt came with six seconds left in the second quarter and gave the Silver Foxes the 24-20 lead which they would build on in the second half.
Ron Hoff would score a pair of touchdowns and the Dutch Fork defense had two fumble returns for scores to break the game open. One of those defensive scores was a 95-yard fumble return by Tyrik McDaniel. That was followed by a Edward Owusu 12-yard fumble return for another score.
Hyatt had five catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns. Zirke had five catches for 182 yards and the one score.
Dutch Fork entered the game ranked 17th nationally by USA Today. The Silver Foxes will take a 25-game winning streak into 2019.