Dorchester football off to 5-0 start

Dennis Brunson • October 8, 2024

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By Dennis Brunson

hssr.com Associate Editor

St. George – Football games have been kind of hard to come by for the Dorchester Academy football team this season. When the Raiders have played, however, they’ve been pretty good.

Dorchester is 5-0 on the season but has had three games either postponed or canceled along the way. It started with the season opener against Andrew Jackson Academy, which was initially postponed due to AJA having a COVID outbreak. Dorchester eventually won the game by forfeit.

They then ended up with an open date on the schedule when The King’s Academy, originally placed in Region 1-Class A with Dorchester, dropped down to the 8-man classification. DA head coach Michael Nelson couldn’t find someone to play that week.

Then the Raiders’ Region 1 opener against Carolina Academy on September 27 was postponed because of Hurricane Helene.

“We didn't get to play a whole lot early in the season,” Nelson said. “It's like we can't get in the groove of playing football. The kids were working hard and not getting to play. They were frustrated. You practice two weeks and only play once. They’ve shown a lot of resilience with some pretty convincing wins.”

Dorchester may have taken out some of that frustration on Lee Academy in a 44-12 win on October 4 in its region opener. Running back John Whetsell had a monster game against the defending SCISA Class A runner-up with 302 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

“He's a horse,” Nelson said of Whetsell. “He loves contact, and he’s running the football behind a great offensive line They’ve put in the work and open holes for him.”

Dorchester has a load of experience on the offensive line. The Raiders have three returning senior all-region performers in left tackle Landon Crisp, right tackle Jaxson Kositz and left guard Chantz Judy. The other starters are senior Bryson Connor at center and freshman Jac Carn at right guard.

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