SIDNEY RICE'S TRIP THROUGH THE NFL PLAYOFFS ( PART 2 )

Well Sidney Rice's trip through the NFL playoffs came to a disappointing end for this season, as the Minnesota Vikings fell to the New Orleans Saints 31 to 28 in over-time on Sunday night in The Big Easy. The Vikings dominated the game in every phase eccept turnovers and the scoreboard. The Vikings had 5 turnovers to the Saints 1. The most critical of the turnovers came with just 19 seconds left, when Brett Favre trying to make a play, was intercepted trying to get the ball to Rice. The Vikings would have had a chance to try to win the game in regulation with a long field goal.

Sidney Rice had 4 catches for 43 yards and 1 TD in the game. For the two games that Rice played in the playoffs this season he had 10 catches for 184 yards and 4 TDs and an 18.4 per catch average. It was a very disappointing end to a fantastic breakthrough season for Sidney Rice and his NFL career. I really expect Rice to work hard during the off season and come back next season even better and continue to build his career toward NFL stardom. Good Luck Sidney, we here at Tribe Blitz and all of your fans back here in Gaffney are proud of you and we are pulling for you and your continued success in the NFL and in Life.

HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL UPDATE

The Tribe's boys basketball team of coach Mark Huff, suffered their first Region 3 loss of the season last Tuesday night as they fell at The Burial Ground 66 to 62 to Fort Mill. The Indians trailed by 10 points going to the 4th quarter, but were able to win the 4th quarter and have a chance to pull the game out but came up a little short. The Tribe very seldom loses at The Burial Ground but they just could not get over the hump in this one.

After suffering their first Region 3 loss of the season the Gaffney boys went on the road to Northwestern for a rematch of last season's Upper State Championship Game against the Trojans. The Indians survived, after squandering a 12 point lead in the 2nd half, as Dershawn Dawkins hit a game winning shot as time expired to give the Indians a 73 to 71 victory over the Northwestern Trojans. The Indians record improved to 15 and 2 over-all and 3 and 1 in Region 3 4A.

The Tribe's girls basketball team also went 1 and 1 last week as they were able to pound Fort Mill 56 to 27. The Lady Indians had balanced scoring and played very good defense in getting the win over the Lady Yellow Jackets.

On Friday night the Gaffney Lady Indians played at Northwestern against the unbeaten Lady Trojans. Gaffney had a 39 to 31 3rd quarter lead when Northwestern went on a 23 to 0 run to take control of the game and get the win 69 to 59. The Lady Trojans remain unbeaten at 17 and 0 and 4 and 0 in Region 3. The Gaffney Lady Indians record falls to 11 and 4 over-all and 3 and 1 in Region 3 4A.

TRIBE'S BASKETBALL GAMES THIS WEEK

The Gaffney Indians and Lady Indians basketball teams play two games at home in the friendly confines of The Burial Ground as they host Clover on Tuesday night and York on Friday night. I look for both to bounce back and have an unbeaten week as the second half of the Region 3 schedule kicks off.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Donald Sims scored 28 points in leading his Appalachian State Mountaineers to an 87 to 74 victory over rival Western Carolina in Southern Conference action on Saturday night. Sims was also 9 of 11 from the field in the game.

Until Next Tuesday.

SIDNEY RICE'S TRIP THROUGH NFL PLAYOFFS ( PART 1 )

Gaffney's Sidney Rice has blossomed into a NFL star with the Minnesota Vikings this season. He has made his first Pro Bowl and he has become future Hall-of-Famer Brett Favre's go to receiver. Sidney Rice will always be a Gaffney Indian, but he has gone on to the Pros and he is making a name for himself. He has helped lead the Minnesota Vikings to the NO. 2 seed in the NFC and Tribe Blitz is going to blog about his trip through the NFL playoffs.

PART 1 THE DIVISIONAL ROUND

The first playoff game of Sidney Rice's NFL career came against America's Team the Dallas Cowboys. The game was played at the Dome in Minnesota. With the game scoreless in the first quarter Brett Favre dropped back and threw a great pass down the sideline to a well covered Sidney Rice who made a great 47 yard TD catch for a 7 to 0 Vikings lead. This was Rice's first career playoff TD reception.

With the score standing at 7 to 3 in favor of the Vikings, about halfway through the second quarter, Favre would hit Rice for a 16 yard TD. That made the score 14 to 3. The score would be 17 to 3 at the half in favor of the Vikings. Sidney Rice had both of the game's TDs.

The Minnesota Vikings would put the game away with 7:32 left in the 4th quarter as Favre would hit Gaffney's Sidney Rice with a 45 yard TD pass to make the score 27 to 3. The Vikings would go on to win the game 34 to 3 and advance to the NFC Championship Game at New Orleans on Sunday.

For his first career playoff game Rice had 6 catches for 141 yards and 3 TDs. This is a game that Sidney Rice and his faithful fans in Gaffney will not forget. Seeing Rice play all through High School with the Indians, both on the football field and the basketball court, we know that he is a big time big game player. Stay with Tribe Blitz for Part 2 of Sidney Rice's trip through the NFL playoffs next week.

INDIANS BASKETBALL WRAP UP FOR THE WEEK

The Indians won both of their games last week as they defeated Union County on Tuesday night 95 to 73 and defeated Region 3 foe Nation Ford 65 to 55 on Friday night. The Tribe is 14 and 1 overall and 2 and 0 in Region play going into their games this week.

The Lady Indians won both of their games last week as well with a 56 to 31 win over Union County and a 56 to 49 victory over Nation Ford. The Ladies are 10 and 3 overall and 2 and 0 in Region play going into their games this week.

THE TRIBE'S UPCOMING GAMES

The basketball games for this week has the Indians hosting Fort Mill on Tuesday and traveling to Northwestern on Friday night. Starting tonight the Tribe's remaining regular season schedule is against Region 3 4A opponents. Both the Tribe's boys and girls basketball teams are unbeaten in Region play and are serious Region Title contenders. Lets go out and support our basketball teams!

Until Next Tuesday.

GAFFNEY INDIANS NFL PLAYERS ( PART 2 ROCKY MCINTOSH )

Back in an earlier edition of Tribe Blitz we started looking at Gaffney Indians NFL players. We started with Part 1 Sidney Rice. Today I would like to look at Part 2 Rocky McIntosh.

Rocky McIntosh just finished his forth season as a Linebacker for the Washington Redskins. The talented McIntosh continues to improve and is another in a long line of talented NFL linebackers produced by the University of Miami Hurricanes. The 27-year-old Rocky McIntosh started 15 games for the Redskins for a second consecutive season and produced career highs with 94 tackles and two interceptions. Rocky was one of only 10 linebackers in the NFL this season with multiple interceptions.

McIntosh had major knee surgery back in late December of 2007 to repair torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments in his left knee. He continues to show no ill effects from the surgery evidenced from the career year he had with the Washington Redskins during the 2009 season. I see no reasons not to expect Rocky to continue to improve and to become the leader of the Redskins defense and perhaps joining fellow Gaffney Indian Sidney Rice in the Pro Bowl in coming NFL seasons.

TRIBE SWEEPS VIKINGS AND COUGARS!!

The Gaffney Indians got 30 points from Josh Corry as they defeated the rival Spartanburg Vikings 67 to 56 last Tuesday night at The Burial Ground. Dershawn Dawkins chipped in with 13 points for the Tribe.

This past Friday night the Indians found their shooting touch in the second half as they rallied for a big hard fought Region road win over the York Cougars 88 to 75. In the first half the Indians were not hitting their shots and they were sloppy with the basketball as they committed 12 turnovers and trailed 42 to 34. The Gaffney Indians record going into this weeks games stands at 12 and 1.

In the girls game the Gaffney Lady Indians got balanced scoring and played good defense as they defeated the Spartanburg Lady Vikings 48 to 41. The game was tied going into the 4th quarter as the Lady Indians outscored the Lady Vikings 16 to 9 to get the win.

In the Friday night game at York, the Lady Indians got 13 points from Kierra Phillips and 12 from Logan Davis as they opened Region play with a big road win over the York Lady Cougars 52 to 41. The Gaffney Lady Indians record going into this weeks games stands at 8 and 3.

TRIBE ON THE ROAD

The Gaffney Indian's basketball teams are on the road for two games this week as they travel to Union County for the last non-region game of the season and then to Nation Ford on Friday night for their second Region 3 4A game of the season.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Donald Sims who played on the Gaffney Indians three-peat basketball State Championship teams is now starring for the Appalachian State Mountaineers of the Southern Conference. On Saturday night at Davidson's Belk Arena Donald Sims scored a career high and arena high 44 points as he led his Mountaineers to a road victory over Davidson 78 to 68. The previous arena high for points was 41 by Davidson star Stephen Curry. The 44 points by Sims was the most by an Appalachian State player since 1974.

Sidney Rice ended his 2009 season for the Minnesota Vikings with 83 catches for 1,312 yards for a 15.8 yards per catch average and 8 TDs. His receiving yardage was 4th highest in the NFL and his receptions were 12th. Rice and his Minnesota teammates host the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Divisional Playoffs on Sunday afternoon.

Until Next Time.

BASKETBALL UPDATE

The Gaffney Indians finished 2009 by going 2 and 1 in the Upwards Classic at Dorman High School. The Tribe ended their 2009 part of their schedule with a 9 and 1 record. Josh Corry seams like he is turning his game up a few notches, as he had a very good tournament at the Upwards Classic as he made the all-tournament team. The Indians still need to improve their over-all play if they are going to be a state championship contender in 4A this year.

The Tribe opened up the 2010 part of their schedule this past Saturday night as they defeated Byrnes 70 to 57. The Indians record improved to 10 and 1 heading into tonight's battle at home against the rival Spartanburg Vikings. The Tribe defeated the Vikings back in the first week of December by a 86 to 68 score. The Game time is 7:00 PM at The Burial Ground.

The Gaffney Lady Indians finished the 2009 part of their schedule with a third place finish in the Lady Hilltoppers Classic.

The Lady Indians opened their 2010 schedule by defeating Byrnes this past Saturday night. The Lady Indians record is 5 and 3 heading into their game against the Spartanburg Lady Vikings tonight at The Burial Ground. Game time is 5:30 PM.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Sidney Rice was picked for the NFC team for the NFL Pro Bowl. This is the first All-Pro selection for Rice as he is one of nine Minnesota Vikings to make the team. Rice has blossomed into NFL stardom, this his third season in the NFL. He leads the NFC in receiving yards for the season.

Andy Strickland was signed to the practice squad of the Atlanta Falcons back in December. He signed a two year contract with the Falcons this week. Strickland, the son of Indians Head Coach Phil Strickland, was undrafted in last years NFL draft but signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars and played in a couple of preseason games but was released after injuring his back in a preseason game.

So lets go out and support the Tribe's basketball teams this week as they host Spartanburg tonight and as they open Region 3 4A play on Friday night at York. With a lot of hard work by the teams and their coaches and some loud support from their fans, this could be a special season for both of the Tribe's basketball teams. GO INDIANS!!!!