2ND ROUND OF PLAYOFFS RECAP/ 3RD ROUND OF PLAYOFFS PREVIEW

INDIANS CHEERLEADERS 7TH IN STATE!!

Competing in only their 2nd State Championship Competitive Cheerleading competition the Gaffney cheerleaders finished 7th in the state. The cheerleaders finished three spots higher than they did last year when they finished 10th. Summerville finished as State Champs for a 2nd consecutive year.



INDIANS RALLY FOR WIN AT SUMMERVILLE !

The Gaffney Indians spotted the Green Wave a 21 to 0 2nd quarter lead mainly due to turnovers. The Tribe had two turnovers on their first two possessions that led to a 14 to 0 Summerville lead about 5 minutes into the game. The Indians cut the Wave's lead to 21 to 7 at the half as QB DeEdward Burris hit Quinshad Davis with an 80 yard TD pass. The 2nd half started with Gaffney's Khris Brown intercepting a Dalton Saunders pass at the Indian's 5 yard line returning it 79 yards to set up a score for Gaffney. The Indians would score 28 straight points to erase the 21 to 0 deficit, and had the lead 28 to 21 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Summerville would tie the game at 28 in the 4th quarter. Gaffney's Burris would put the Indians up for good with 6 minutes left on a 19 yard run. Summerville tried to rally, but QB Dalton Saunders pass was intercepted by Gaffney's Jaquan Barnes at the Indian's 10 yard line with 30 seconds left to preserve the victory for the Indians. The Tribe forced five Summerville turnovers in the second half including four interceptions of Summerville QB Dalton Saunders. The Tribe would score 21 points off the Green Wave's turnovers. The Tribe now gets ready to travel to Dorman on Friday night for a rematch with the Cavaliers for the Upper State Title.

TRIBE FACTS-- Gaffney Head Coach Phil Strickland has a 4 and 1 record against Summerville since he has been at Gaffney.

WEEK 14 UPPERSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Gaffney @ Dorman..... The Gaffney Indians head to Roebuck to face the Dorman Cavaliers on Friday night for the 4A Division 1 Upperstate Championship. This will be a rematch of the opening game of the season won by Dorman 42 to 17. Dorman in the playoffs had to battle down to the wire to defeat Clover 31 to 28 in the 1st round and defeated Irmo in a defensive battle 14 to 0 in the 2nd round. The Indians are doing what Gaffney does, they have kicked it up a few notches in the playoffs. The Indians coming off the disappointing loss to Northwestern played perhaps their most complete game of the season in defeating Stratford 31 to 0 in the 1st round of the playoffs. Then the Tribe bounced back from a bad start to defeat Summerville on the road 35 to 28 in the 2nd round. The Gaffney Indians are a much improved team from the one that lost to Dorman in August, as the defense has gotten better, they have faced adversity and learned from it, the young players have matured and are making plays when they have to and QB DeEdward Burris has matured as the leader of the offense. I look for a tough tight physical battle between these two old rivals and I see the young Indians taking the next step..... Gaffney 24 Dorman 21

TRIBE FACTS-- The Gaffney Indians have only lost at the new Dorman stadium once, back in August of this season.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Sidney Rice had six receptions and two TD's Sunday in the Minnesota Vikings 35 to 9 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Until Next Time.

1ST ROUND PLAYOFFS RECAP/2ND ROUND PLAYOFFS PREVIEW

INDIANS TURN IT UP A COUPLE OF NOTHES AGAINST STRATFORD!


The Gaffney Indians had an impressive 1st round of the playoffs performance Friday night with a 31 to 0 victory over the Stratford Knights. The Tribe's defense played lights out against the high powered and balanced offense of the Knights, holding them to nine 1st downs and 194 yards of total offense. The defense redeemed themselves after the disappointing performance of a week ago against Northwestern. The Indians offense got rolling in the 2nd quarter as they built a 17 to 0 lead at halftime. The Indians added a TD in the 3rd quarter and another in the 4th to end the scoring. The Indians offense was led by all everything QB DeEdward Burris as he was 16 of 21 for 207 yards and 2 TD passes. He also added 67 yards rushing on 19 carries. Sophomore RB Robert Grandy added 57 yards rushing and 1 TD and sophomore WR Quinshad Davis had 6 receptions for 82 yards and 1 TD. The story of the night for the Indians was the young Gaffney defense, as they were more aggressive and was able to get a pass rush on Knights QB Chris Hanna as they pressured him into a 14 of 33 passing night for only 116 yards and 1 INT. The Gaffney secondary played the ball better than any time during the season as they broke up several passes. The Tribe's secondary was helped by playing senior Joe Craig and junior Khris Brown most of the game at DB. The Indians now have a record of 9 and 3 and go on the road to play NO. 2 seed Summerville on Friday night.


TRIBE FACTS-- Friday nights playoff game was the 1st playoff game and 1st playoff win at The New Reservation.


WEEK 13 SECOND ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS


Gaffney @ Summerville..... Two of the most storied programs in South Carolina High School football history get together again Friday night at McKissick Stadium in Summerville as Gaffney with their 16 State Championships battles Summerville with their 11. The Green Wave is 11 and 1 and the NO. 2 seed in the Division 1 4A playoffs. They are 6 and 0 at home this season and they're offense averages 34.3 points per game. The Summerville defense gives up an average of 16.4 per game. The Indians went into Summerville last season in the 1st round of the playoffs and pounded the Wave 41 to 10. The Indians come into the game averaging 31.5 points on offense and they are giving up 21.3 on defense. These two programs have had some classic playoff battles over the years and this very well could be another one. I think the key for Gaffney will be to get off to a good start and get Summerville to thinking, oh no not again. I see the Indians going on the road and playing well and coming home with a win..... Gaffney 31 Summerville 23

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Sidney Rice had a career day for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday with seven receptions for a career high 201 yards as the Vikings defeated the Detroit Lions.

Malcolm Long threw four TD passes and was 21 of 32 for 319 yards in leading SC State to the MEAC Title in their 37 to 13 victory over Morgan State.

Lets all go down to Summerville and cheer the Tribe to victory over the Green Wave on Friday night.

Until next time.

NORTHWESTERN GAME RECAP/ 1ST ROUND PLAYOFFS PREVIEW

INDIANS FALL SHORT!

The Gaffney Indians came up short in their goal of winning the Region 3 4A Championship Friday night at The Reservation. It took a state record setting performance by Northwestern's WR Robert Joeseph, who had 22 receptions to break the record of 20 receptions in a game that was set nine years ago by Lamar's Derrick Higgins. Northwestern QB Justin Worley came within 1 pass completion of setting a state record of his own in the game as he had 36 completions. The young Indian's defense had a hard time stopping the Trojans offense all night. In the first half neither defense could stop the other offense as the Indians led 16 to 14 at the half. The game would come down to which ever defense could put together a few stops in the second half. The Trojan's defense did just that as they stopped the Indians 3 and out on their first four possessions of the second half as their offense built a 30 to 16 lead in the 4th quarter. The Gaffney offense finally got on track as QB DeEdward Burris found WR Mike Wood for a TD with 7:10 left in the game. The Indians would get the ball back two more times with their last possession getting to the Northwestern 26 yard line with less than a minute to go in the game. Burris then tried to hit Khris Brown with a pass that was over thrown and picked off by Northwestern's Denetri Hemphill who returned the ball deep into Gaffney territory to seal the Region Championship for Nothwestern 30 to 23.

THE DIVISION 1 4A PLAYOFFS FOR THE INDIANS

The Gaffney Indians wound up with a NO. 7 seed in the playoffs and will host NO. 10 seed Stratford Friday night in the first playoff game at The New Reservation. The winner of this game will play the winner of the game between NO. 2 seed Summerville and NO. 15 seed Lexington. So lets look at Friday's game for the Tribe.

WEEK 12 FIRST ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS

Stratford @ Gaffney..... The Stratford Knights have a big play passing offense which features two very good WRs in Shrine Bowler Brant Salley who is 6'2" 200 pounds who has a 35-inch vertical leap and runs a 4.5 in the 40 yard dash. The other side has North -South selection Francis Lloyd who is very good as well. The Knights have a very capable QB in Chris Hanna who runs their offense. The Knights have something Northwestern didn't have a very good running game led by RB Devin Washington. Stratford has a 7 and 4 record and they have scored 261 points for an average of 21.8 points per game. The Knights defense has given up 218 points for an average of 18.2 per game. The Knights have a record of 2 and 3 away from home this season. The Gaffney Indians have scored 347 points this season for an average of 28.9 points per game. The Indians defense has given up 256 points for an average of 21.3 per game. The Tribe is 4 and 1 at home this season. The Gaffney offense is led by Junior QB DeEdward Burris who averages 263.6 yards of total offense per game. The Knights and Indians have a history of some very memorable games as the series is tied at 4 and 4. The Gaffney Indians have won 4 out 6 of the playoff meetings. I look for another high scoring game this Friday night with the Indians finding away to win the game..... Gaffney 34 Stratford 27

TRIBE FACTS..... The Gaffney Indians have not lost a home playoff game since 1984.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Trevon Greene was a very good running back for the Tribe, but has moved to linebacker for William Penn University which is located in central Iowa. As a junior last season he had 93 tackles and was voted his teams most valuable defensive player. Trevon has 61 tackles so far this season. He was redshirted as a freshman and moved into the starting lineup as a strong safety the next season. He has been an outside linebacker since his sophomore season.

Until Next Time.

CLOVER GAME RECAP/ NORTHWESTERN PREVIEW

INDIANS DEFEAT CLOVER!

The Gaffney Indians used a strong passing attack on offense, and the defense forced four Clover turnovers as the Indians defeated the Clover Blue Eagles 35 to 28 Friday night at Clover's Memorial Stadium. The Indians defense forced fumbles on Clover's first two offensive possessions and QB DeEdward Burris passed for two TDs to put the Indians up 14 to 0 early. Clover's powerful Wing-T offense answered with a score of their own to trail 14 to 7. Gaffney QB Burris went back to work passing the Indians back down the field, and he scored on a nine yard run for a 21 to 7 lead after an exciting 1st quarter. Clover's offense would eat up most of the clock in the 2nd quarter, and their Shrine Bowl RB Max Elliot scored to cut the Indians lead to 21 to 14 at halftime. The Indians would score again in the 3rd quarter on a three yard run by Burris, but Josh Harris missed the extra point to leave the door open for the Blue Eagles who trailed 27 to 14 after the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter the Blue Eagles would come through the door scoring 14 points to go ahead of the Indians 28 to 27 with 6:14 left to play. The Indians would respond driving 65 yards in 10 plays, the final three by Sophomore RB Robert Grandy for the go ahead score. Burris would score the two point conversion to make the score 35 to 28. Clover would get the ball back with 3:08 left and moved the ball into Indians territory. The Blue Eagles thought they had scored on a long run, but the TD was called back on a motion penalty. Two plays later the Indians defense would get their 4th turnover from Clover as Snoop Byers intercepted the ball to preserve the Indians key victory. The Tribe's victory sets up a show down at The Reservation on Friday night with Northwestern for the Region 3 4A title.

WEEK 11 Preview..... Northwestern @ Gaffney

The battle for all the marbles in Region 3 4A takes place at The Reservation this Friday night as Gaffney battles Northwestern. Northwestern started the season 0 and 4 but has won 5 of their last 6 including 4 in a row in Region play. The Trojans will be a total opposite to Clover as they like to throw the football and throw some more. Northwestern is 3 and 3 at home and 2 and 2 on the road this season. The Trojans offense averages 25.7 points a game and their defense gives up 21.8. Northwestern in the defending Region 3 4A Champions and the State 4A Division 2 runner-up from last year. They defeated the Tribe 20 to 6 last season in Rock Hill. The Gaffney Indians are 4 and 0 at home this season and 4 and 2 on the road. The Gaffney offense is averaging 32.4 points a game and their defense in giving up 22.6. I look for a high scoring game probably about like the Clover game. I see Gaffney getting the victory and the Region Championship..... Gaffney 34 Northwestern 30

So all Tribe fans come out and cheer on the Indians to victory. Everyone wear their black as it is going to be BLACKOUT IN SUPPORT OF THE INDIANS!

Today I am going to debut a feature on Tribe Blitz called FORMER INDIANS UPDATE. This feature will update how former Indians stars are doing in College or Professional sports.

Malcolm Long who QBed the Tribe to two 4A Football State Championships in 2005 and 2006 is enjoying a stellar career at SC State. He is the starting QB for the Bulldogs and is having a great year in leading the them to a 7 and 1 record. Long has completed 128 of 191 passes for 11 TDs and only 4 INTs. He had a career high 316 yards passing Saturday in SC State's win over Deleware State.

Sidney Rice had 4 more receptions for the Minnesota Vikings in their victory over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Rice has 38 receptions to lead the Vikings this season.

Until next time.