Irmo could not complete the comeback during Friday’s crosstown rivalry high school football game against Dutch Fork in South Carolina and lost its first game of the season. The Yellow Jackets’ alleged ability to scout their opponent through unauthorized access to practice film did not result in victory.
The Silver Foxes beat them fair and square.
These latest high school football allegations might be the most unique of the year. It has nothing to do with the nationwide crackdown on transfers or falsified documents. It’s a classic cheating scandal.
Irmo beat Dutch Fork by a touchdown.
Irmo High School is located on the southern side of Irmo, South Carolina— not too far from Columbia. Dutch Fork is located further to the north. These two high schools are separated by less than 10 miles. They are huge rivals.
This year’s game had even higher stakes than usual.
The Silver Foxes entered the weekend at 7-1 with only one out-of-division loss. The Yellow Jackets entered the weekend at 8-0. Tensions ran high during pregame.
Some pregame action at midfield with Irmo & Dutch Fork going at it. #schsfb #hsfb pic.twitter.com/l6Xv9VGEAy
— Movin’ The Chains (@MovinChains) October 31, 2025
Irmo fans made themselves heard.
Dutch Fork head coach Tom Knotts reacts to boos from the Irmo sideline 🤣
— Julia Westerman (@JuliaWesterman) October 31, 2025
Big one coming up on Halloween night — winner takes the Region 4 Class 5A title. pic.twitter.com/CHQA0dV2Eh
Despite all of the noise, it was the visiting team ultimately came out on top. Dutch Fork held off a fourth-quarter surge to win the division title outright by a final score of 28-21.
Instant classic. Dutch Fork survives Irmo's fourth-quarter surge to win the Region 4-5A title, 28-21.@dfhsfootball @Irmo_Football pic.twitter.com/T1eCYpkMeh
— Julia Westerman (@JuliaWesterman) November 1, 2025
The students stormed the field to celebrate.
Dutch Fork students join in celebration with @dfhsfootball pic.twitter.com/iP00OOJYoz
— Lou Bezjak (@LouatTheState) November 1, 2025
It was an instant classic.
Scandalous allegations strike South Carolina high school football.
Tom Knotts was hired as the head football coach at Dutch Fork High School in 2010. He and Irmo head coach Aaron Brand are good friends so there is no bad blood between them.
However, the former accused the latter of cheating. Well, not him specifically, but his program.
Knotts claims the Yellow Jackets somehow received access to the Silver Foxes’ practice film on Hudl. Opposing coaches were able to scout their opponent in advance by watching their entire week of preparation in real time. They essentially knew the game plan, as well as who was going to play where and do what when. Having the practice film from the week of the game is a huge advantage.
"That's bullcrap."
— Lou Bezjak (@LouatTheState) November 1, 2025
Last from Knotts as he addressed what was discussed in pregame bout Irmo player accessing @dfhsfootball Hudl account during the week pic.twitter.com/8lJQl5riDd
Brand claims to know nothing about the Hudl incident. Knotts believes him.
I don’t know how exactly Dutch Fork knew Irmo had access to its film, but I would imagine the primary account holder received notification of an unknown log-in. I also question why Dutch Fork would not change the password once it realized Irmo got in. Maybe it didn’t care. Maybe it knew it had the dudes.
Regardless of whether the Yellow Jackets had an advantage or not, the Silver Foxes won anyway.