Carolina Forest’s latest match with Fort Dorchester proved different ballgame

The best team in the state of South Carolina made sure yet another opponent was overmatched.

Carolina Forest fell 55-13 to Fort Dorchester on Friday night in the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. Simply, the Patriots dismantled Carolina Forest in every facet of the game, scoring first-half touchdowns rushing, passing, defensively and on special teams.

“Our game plan was real simple – if they score, it needed to be their offense versus our defense,” Carolina Forest coach Marc Morris said. “Any time you give up defensive touchdowns, special teams touchdowns, they’re hard to overcome. That was basically the difference in the game.”

At the very least, it ensured what was a close game after one quarter was anything but moving forward.

The Patriots scored 28 second-quarter points – all on long plays – and never looked back. It was everything the last meeting between the two schools was not.

It was in 2015, in the second game of the year, that Fort Dorchester won by a single score. Coach Steve LaPrad’s team went undefeated that year and won the state championship, with that win over Carolina Forest serving as arguably Fort Dorchester’s biggest test.

This year, the Patriots have already defeated the second-best team in the state by two touchdowns and have defeated everyone else by at least 21 points.

The most recent such game ended the season for Carolina Forest, which finishes the year 6-6. The highlight was undoubtedly last week’s win over Lexington, the team’s first playoff victory as a member of the state’s largest classification and its first postseason win since 2004.

“Every time you look back on the season, you’re going to look back and say ‘I wish we could have done this’ in a couple games,” Morris said. “There are a couple games we lost that I thought our kids played an amazing game. So, all in all, I’m very proud of this group – getting the first win in the playoffs in forever. That was a big game.”

Turning point

The second quarter started as a one-touchdown game. It didn’t stay that way. Fort Dorchester had a 78-yard touchdown pass from Dakereon Joyner to Justin Williams, a 79-yard Dazjon Castro punt return and a 45-yard Jaquan Gomillion 45-yard interception return all within the span of about 7 minutes. The Patriots added another score just before half to make it a five-score game.

Key performers

Dakereon Joyner: Fort Dorchester quarterback had 182 yards of total offense in fewer than 25 offensive snaps.

Jackson Weatherwax: Carolina Forest receiver had 4 catches for 118 yards.

Freddie Kane: The Carolina Forest punter wrapped up his career with five first-half punts of 40 or more yards.

By the numbers

4

Carolina Forest had four turnovers in the game, two in each half.

5

Fort Dorchester had five scoring plays for 40 or more yards, including four in the second quarter alone.

5,800

Carolina Forest quarterback Matt Beale wrapped up his Carolina Forest career with 5,800 total yards of offense.

They said it

“Our kids have worked extremely hard all year. I’ve got a great group of young men; I’m proud to say I’m their head coach.” - Carolina Forest head coach Marc Morris

“We came in here thinking we could move the ball on them. We did move the ball some on them. We didn’t go up and down the field. But we had to shorten the game.” - Morris.

This story was originally published November 10, 2017 at 11:10 PM with the headline "Carolina Forest’s latest match with Fort Dorchester proved different ballgame."