1 week Ago
Fort Dorchester probably should have delivered the knockout blow a bit earlier, but waited until the final minute to make the play that put it over the top in the opening round of the Class 5A Div. I playoffs. Sophomore Duke Williams sprang up for a leaping interception along the Patriots’ sideline and returned it 78 yards for the game-clinching score with 41 seconds remaining in visiting Fort Dorchester’s 20-10 win at Stratford Friday, Nov.
15. It was a frustrating, but ultimately successful, night on a muddy Ray Stackley Field for the Patriots. “Our goal was to put together a whole game offensively and defensively,” Fort Dorchester coach Shaun Lorenzano said.
“The one thing we didn’t do was punch it into the end zone. I think we had six or seven, maybe eight, sustained drives all the way down the field. Credit to Stratford’s defense for making some plays.
We’ve got to execute properly our angles and our point of attack on the goal line. We’ll work on that this week.” The Patriots (6-5) move on to the second round and will travel to rival Summerville Friday, Nov.
22, for the second time in three games. The unbeaten Green Wave, who received a first-round bye, pulled away from the Patriots, 50-21, on Friday, Nov. 8.
“We played them about as hard as anybody in the first half last week,” Lorenzano said. “Our kids are always going to come play Summerville on fire. I think they’re going to come with a little more humility and a more tactical mindset.
” Stratford ends up with a 5-6 record. The Knights dropped a close game to Fort Dorchester for the second time this season. The win was the seventh straight for the Patriots in the series.
In addition to the heroics late, Williams hauled in a 65-yard touchdown catch from quarterback Banks Wickersham on a third-and-10 less than one minute into the second half to put the Patriots up 13-3. Fort Dorchester had a field goal blocked on its next possession, then came up empty on fourth-and-1 at the Stratford 2 with 1:35 remaining in the third quarter. The Knights then went 95 yards to pull within 13-10 on quarterback Jachin Davis’s 43-yard touchdown pass to Freddie Alston 29 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Fort Dorchester went right back down the field but had another field goal blocked with over seven minutes left. The Patriots squandered another red zone chance with under three minutes remaining when two penalties backed them out of field goal range. Still trailing 13-10 with 1:15 left, Stratford converted a fourth-and-1 at midfield on a short pass from Davis to receiver JQ Crosby.
However, Williams picked off a floating pass thrown into double coverage on the Knights’ next play and weaved his way back up the field for the decisive tally. “It was awesome to see him keep going,” Lorenzano said. “I thought he was going to get tackled, but I saw him break into the open.
I said good night, thank you. That was a nice run. That was a nice read and nice catch.
” In the first half, Stratford turned a Darrell Holmes fumble recovery into Tyler Stament’s 30-yard field goal with 2:02 left in the opening period. Fort Dorchester kicker Eric Mittag countered with a pair of field goals from 34 and 20 yards to give the Patriots a 6-3 halftime lead. Mittag’s second chip shot came on the last play of the half and was set up by Williams' 28-yard catch from Wickersham.
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