BOILING SPRINGS @ GAFFNEY PLAYOFF RECAP

The Tribe Is Death Valley Bound, as they ran past Boiling Springs 35 to 7, for the Upper State Championship, Friday night at The Reservation. The Tribe's offense took what the Bulldogs defense gave them and leaned heavily on the run, as QB Joey Copeland scored on a 9-yard run in the 1st quarter to give them a 7 to 0 lead. The Tribe's defense was dominant and Gaffney led 7 to 0 after the 1st quarter.

The 2nd quarter had Gaffney scoring two more rushing TDs, an 8-yard run by C.J. Miller and a 3-yard run by Hyleck Foster. The Bulldogs threatened to score, but was turned away by the Tribe's defense. The score at the end of the 1st half was Gaffney 21 and Boiling Springs 0.

The 3rd quarter started with Gaffney having to punt on their first possession of the 2nd half. The Bulldogs would then put together their best drive of the game, as they went on a 13-play, 92-yard drive to cut the lead to 21 to 7. The TD was scored by Deon Burgess on a 2-yard run. The Bulldogs would then surprise the Indians with an onside kick that was successful. On the Bulldogs ensuing drive, the Indians intercepted the ball, but they fumbled the ball back to Boiling Springs on the return. The Tribe's defense came up big again and stopped the Boiling Springs offense giving the ball back to their offense. The Tribe couldn't move the ball and they lined up to punt the ball. This set up the weirdest of all plays to turn the momentum back in Gaffney's favor. The Bulldogs' Jake Dills blocked the punt in Gaffney territory, but the Indians' Snoop Byers scooped up the blocked punt and ran for an Indian 1st down at the Boiling Springs 43-yard line. The Tribe would finish off the drive with a 10-yard TD run by Copeland and a 28 to 7 lead after the 3rd quarter.

The Tribe started the 4th quarter with a three touchdown lead and with all the momentum on their side. They would put together one more TD drive which was finished off by a 3-yard run by Copeland. This was Copeland's third TD of the game. The defense kept the Bulldogs off the scoreboard the rest of the way and the Tribe won the Upper State Championship Game 35 to 7 over the Bulldogs. It's on to Clemson's Death Valley for the 4A Division 1 State Championship Game against Byrnes.

Individual Game Stats Summary

QB Joey Copeland was 15 of 27 for 199 yards and 0 INTs, 52 yards rushing and 3 TDs
RB C.J. Miller had 16 carries for 135 yards rushing and 1 TD
RB/WR Hyleck Foster had 9 carries for 46 yards rushing and 1 TD, 2 catches
WR Quinshad Davis had 5 catches for 68 yards
WR Brandon Bevis had 3 catches for 25 yards
WR Ryan Frock had 4 catches for 53 yards

My View From The Stands..... (1) It appeared the Boiling Springs defense was keying to stop the Gaffney passing game. The Tribe's offense relied more on their running game, as they were taking what the defense was giving them. (2) The Tribe was balanced on offense with 199 yards passing and 233 yards rushing. (3) The Indians seemed to hit a little emotional lull starting the 3rd quarter with a 21 to 0 lead. (4) The onside kick by Boiling Springs seemed to surprise the Indians, but I told the guy next to me that I expected them to try it and they executed it to perfection.

It's on to Death Valley in Clemson for a rematch with Byrnes for the 4A Division 1 State Championship. Game time is 3 PM on Saturday. My State Championship Preview will be posted on Tribe Blitz on Friday afternoon.

Until Next Time.