INDIANS MID-SEASON REPORT CARD

We are through six games of the Gaffney Indians 2010 football season. The Indians go into their open date this week with a 4 and 2 record. Since we don't have a game to preview this week, I would like to look back at the first half of this season and give the Indians a grade on their first half performance.

OFFENSE

The Offensive Line..... has been inconsistent during the first half of the season. At times they have had problems picking up blitzes and opening up holes for the running game. The line has definitely had problems in the red zone. At times their pass protection and run blocking has been good. The line has a chance to be very good, if they can develop more consistency.
GRADE..... C

The Running Backs..... The Indians have not had a running back gain a 100 yards or more this season. C.J. Miller came the closest against Greenville with 97 yards. Wookie Littlejohn has seen some action the last three games at running back, and has a chance to add some power and play making ability to the position. The backs have fumbled the ball away a few times. GRADE.....C-

The Wide Receivers..... have been very good this season. Quinshad Davis has led this group with 47 receptions and 9 TD's. Khris Brown is another big play receiver, who had his best game of the season against Greenville last week. Ryan Frock has been a pleasant surprise, as he has made some big catches to keep drives alive. Mike Wood and Wookie Littlejohn have played well at receiver as well. This group has a chance to be one of the best receiving corps in the state, as they continue to get better as the season goes along.
GRADE..... A

The Quarterback..... position has been very productive this season. Led by Sr. DeEdward Burris, who has thrown for 1,324 yards and 14 TD's with only 3 interceptions. He has also been the teams leading rusher and has scored a couple of rushing TD's. This has been Burris' best season, as he has done a much better job of spreading the ball around to different play makers. Back-up QB Joey Copeland has played pretty well when he has had to play. The QB needs to execute the offense better when in the red zone and protect the ball better. GRADE..... B+

The Offense as A Whole..... The story of the first half of the season for the Gaffney offense has been, the first three games turnovers and missed opportunities kept the production down, as they averaged only 13.3 points per game. The last three games they have turned it over only three times and they have averaged 35.6 points per game. The Tribe has scored 147 points for an average of 24.5 per game for the season. The offense has struggled at times in the red zone, they have turned the ball over 11 times and they have gotten off to slow starts. The offense has improved as the season has progressed and I expect them to get even better.
GRADE..... B-

DEFENSE

The Defensive Line..... has played very well at times and not so good at other times. They have had a lot of injuries that has hurt their production. They are very young and they have potential to be very dominant. They must produce more sacks during the season's second half.
GRADE..... C+

The Linebackers..... have played pretty well as they are making a lot of tackles. The injury bug has hit this unit as well. Savon Dukes and Jaquan Barnes have made big plays and have been the leaders of this unit.
GRADE..... B

The Secondary..... is very young and they have had injuries to deal with. Their best DB Snoop Byers has missed a lot of playing time. They have been up and down so far during the season. They should get better as they get healthy.
GRADE..... C

The Defense as a Whole..... has played pretty well considering the offense has put them in bad field position with all of the turnovers. They got off to a slow start forcing turnovers, but the last three games they have forced 9. They need to play better up the middle, as teams have had success running right at the defense. I see this unit getting better as the season goes along and they get healthy.
GRADE..... C+

THE SPECIAL TEAMS

Kickers..... The Kicking game has been very very bad. I can't remember the Gaffney kicking game being this bad. A school this size should be able to find someone that can consistently kick a PAT. It is very embarrassing.
GRADE..... F

Punting..... has been better than the kicking game, but it is still below average for a high school program like Gaffney.
GRADE..... D+

Kick Return Game..... has not been very productive this season. The punt return game has been better than the kick off return game. These teams must get more productive the second half of the season.
GRADE..... C-

Kick Coverage Team..... has been the strength of the special teams. Kick off coverage has been pretty good as has the punt coverage team. They did give up a punt return for a TD against Greenville.
GRADE..... B

Special Teams As A Whole..... They have to get better in the kicking game, they have to get better in the return game and they have to get better in the coverage game. The Tribe did block a field goal against Greenville that proved to be a big play in that game.
GRADE..... C-

The Tribe's 4 and 2 record is pretty good, but it could have been better and it could have been worse. The bottom line is, this team has potential to be very good if they can improve their grade in all areas of their team. I believe that they will. It should be a very exciting second half of the season.

Until Next Time.