STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RECAP (2011)

Turnovers Doom The Tribe!! The Gaffney Indians turned the ball over 4 TIMES, in the Title Game Saturday afternoon, at Clemson's Death Valley and fell to the Byrnes Rebels 31 to 24. It was a very disappointing performance by the Indians, as they fell short in their quest for a perfect dream season and a 17th State Championship. They end the season on a sour note and a 14 and 1 record.

The game couldn't have started any better for the Tribe, as they held Byrnes to a three and out and then they drove the ball impressively down the field and scored on a 11-yard pass from Copeland to C.J. Miller to take an early 7 to 0 lead. The Gaffney defense held Byrnes again and started another drive down the field and that is when the momentum of the game changed. The Tribe's Quinshad Davis caught a short pass from Copeland and was hit and he fumbled the ball and the Rebels recovered in Gaffney territory. The Gaffney defense stopped the Rebels and they lined up to kick a 47-yard field goal that turned out to be a fake when the ball was directly snapped to the kicker Kaleb Patterson and he ran for 15-yards and a first down at the Gaffney 17-yard line. A few plays later the Rebels scored on a 15-yard screen pass from Bentley to Akia Booker. The score was tied at 7 to 7 after the 1st quarter.

With the score tied at 7 in the 2nd quarter the Tribe turned it over for a second time when Copeland threw the ball right to Byrnes' Skip Barnes who raced untouched 31-yards for a TD. The Rebels led 14 to 7. The Tribe would bounce back, as they drove the ball 65-yards in 10 plays and scored on a 5-yard run by Copeland to tie the game at 14 t0 14. Later in the quarter the Rebels got the ball at the Gaffney 31-yard line after a short Gaffney punt. They moved down to the 5-yard line and had to settle for a 22-yard Kaleb Patterson field goal with 14 seconds left in the 1st half. The Rebels led 17 to 14 at halftime.

The 3rd quarter started with Gaffney driving down to the Byrnes 10-yard line. The big play in the drive was a 59-yard pass play from Copeland to Quinshad Davis down the Indians' sideline. The Byrnes' defense held the Tribe out of the end zone and they settled for a 32-yard Victor Ramirez field goal to tie the game up at 17 to 17. Byrnes would then put together their best drive of the game, as they drove 65-yards in 8 plays and scored on a 4-yard run by Shakeem Wharton to go up 24 to 17 wit about half the 3rd quarter left. The Tribe would come back with another drive down the field into Byrnes' territory only to have Copeland throw his second INT of the game. The 3rd quarter would end with Byrnes in the lead 24 to 17.

The Indians put together another drive into Byrnes territory only to have the most bizarre play of the season severely hurt their chances at victory. With Gaffney trailing 24 to 17 they faced a 4th and 1-yard at the Byrnes 44-yard line. QB Joey Copeland ran a quarterback sneak and appeared to pick up the first down, but all of a sudden Byrnes' Melvin Armstrong stripped Copeland of the football and came running out of the pile, while the Gaffney players did not know what was going on, and ran down the sideline 57-yards for a TD. Everyone thought that the play was over and the Indians had a first down. Copeland pleaded his case that his knee was down, the ref said no, the TD counted and the Tribe found themselves down 31 to 17 with about 9:00 minutes left in the game. So the forth and final turnover of the game for Gaffney was a killer. The Tribe was not finished, as they responded with a 5 play 81-yard drive and scored on a 54-yard pass from Copeland to Davis to cut the lead to 31 to 24 with 7:48 left in the game. The momentum was back on the Gaffney sideline. The defense stopped Byrnes and got the ball back for the offense with about 4:00 minutes left and was on the move again. The momentum was stopped when Byrnes Brandon Bailey was injured while tackling a Gaffney receiver at midfield. He was lying on the field motionless and unconscious and play was stopped for about 20 minutes while they put him on a board and carted him off the field. When play resumed the Tribe's drive was stalled and they turned the ball over on downs around the Byrnes 40-yard line. The defense would get the ball back for the offense with about a minute left in the game. Facing a 4th down at midfield, Copeland's pass to Davis went out of bounds, as he was calling for a hold from the Byrnes DB. The referee did not call it and the Rebels ran the final 30 seconds off the clock and they had shocked the Indians and the South Carolina High School football world with a 31 to 24 upset of the Indians.

My View From The Stands..... (1) I said going into this game and all season, that the only team that could beat the Gaffney Indians this season was the Gaffney Indians. They beat themselves with 4 TURNOVERS that Byrnes took advantage of. (2) The ball also bounced the Rebels way as well, as they put the ball on the ground three times and the ball bounced back to them and the two that Gaffney put on the ground bounced to them too. (3) The ball that they took from Copeland on the QB sneak, in the 4th quarter, was probably the most bizarre play that I have seen in a long time. It appeared from my vantage point that he was down and the Tribe had a 1st down. The Indians thought the play was over and before they knew what had happened they were running down the sideline with the ball foe a TD. (4) Of Byrnes 31 points, 21 was set up by Gaffney turnovers. They turned two of the turnovers, the interception in the 2nd quarter and the stripped fumble in the 4th, into points scored by their defense. If Gaffney don't turn the ball over they win by at least two TDs. (5) The Gaffney side of Death Valley was more than double the crowd of the Byrnes side.

FINAL GAME COMMENT

It was a very depressing end to Gaffney's great season and it was a great season even though they lost the Championship Game. It could have been a dream season with a win over Byrnes in the big game. It even got more depressing when I saw the final game stats. You will see what I am talking about in the Game Stats Summary section. The Tribe finished the season 14 and 1 and was ranked as high as Number 2 in the nation.

Game Stats Summary

First Downs Gaffney 24, Byrnes 12
Yards Rushing Gaffney 45, Byrnes 113
Yards Passing Gaffney 358, Byrnes 126
Total Yards Gaffney 403, Byrnes 239
Penalties Gaffney 5 for 40 yds, Byrnes 10 for 81 yds.
Turnovers Gaffney 4, Byrnes 0

Gaffney won the statistical battle by a large margin except the TURNOVERS. They were -4 in the turnover battle. YOU CAN SEE IN BLACK AND WHITE WHAT THE DIFFERENCE IN THIS GAME WAS!

Individual Game Stats Summary

QB Joey Copeland was 26 of 44 for 358 yards and 2 TD passes and 2 INTs, 1 Rushing TD
WR Quinshad Davis had 8 catches for 184 yards and 1TD
WR Brandon Bevis had 6 catches for 47 yards
WR Ryan Frock had 5 catches for 58 yards
RB C.J. Miller had 30 yards rushing and 5 catches for 38 yards and 1 TD
K Victor Ramirez was 3 for 3 in PATs and had a 32 yard field goal

Tribe Blitz is going on a hiatus until after the holidays. You can look for my next post the first week of January.

Until Next Time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

GAFFNEY VS BYRNES STATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME (2011)

The Gaffney Indians defeated the Boiling Springs Bulldogs 35 to 7 and the Byrnes Rebels defeated Blythewood 31 to 0, to set up the highly anticipated match-up between the Indians and Rebels for the 4A Division 1 (Big 16) State Championship. The game will be played at Clemson's Death Valley at 3 PM on Saturday. Let's take a closer look at this HUGE GAME between hated rivals.

Gaffney vs Byrnes

The Byrnes Rebels come into this showdown 12 and 2 and riding a 10 game winning streak. The last team to beat the Rebels was the Tribe back in week 4 by a score of 35 to 13. The Rebels are led on offense by QB Shuler Bentley, WR Akia Booker and RB Shakeem Wharton. They have scored 642 points for an average of 45.9 per game.

The Rebels are led on defense by DL Rashad Dillard, DL Jamaal Johnson and DB Shane Samuels. They play a 3-3-5 on defense and they try to pressure the QB with their three down linemen. They have a boat load of sacks and the defense forces turnovers. The Rebels defense also scores points. The Byrnes kicking game is topnotch led by K Kaleb Patterson. Anytime they get within 50-yards they are a threat to score a field goal. They have given up 155 points for an average of 11.1 per game.

The Indians come into this game 14 and 0 and ranked Number 1 in the state and as high as Number 2 or 3 in the nation. As Tribe fans know, the offense is led by QB Joey Copeland with 42 TD passes and 25 rushing TDs, RB C.J. Miller with 1,065 yards rushing and 13 TDs and WR Quinshad Davis with 100 catches and 24 TDs. They have scored 686 points for an average of 49.0 per game.

The Indians are led on defense by DL Edward Bigby, DL Jaylin Miller, LB Quan Weeks, LB Savon Dukes, DB Snoop Byers and DB Cobby McDowell. They have given up 138 points for an average of 9.9 per game. The Gaffney kicking game has been good led by K Victor Ramirez.

Keys To The Game For Byrnes..... (1) Keep the Gaffney defense off balance by mixing up the run and the pass. (2) Get off to a fast start and make the Indians play from behind. (3) Put pressure on QB Joey Copeland. (4) Force some turnovers and score a TD on defense or special teams.

Keys To The Game For Gaffney..... (1) Do what Gaffney does offensively, try to be balanced and take what the defense gives them. (2) Get off to a fast start. (3) DO NOT TURN THE BALL OVER. (4) Put pressure on QB Shuler Bentley and get him rattled.

Game Prediction..... The Tribe with 16 State Titles and Byrnes with 10 State Titles. It don't get any better. It is the third game in a row that Gaffney has to play a team that they have already beaten during the season. They beat both Dorman and Boiling Springs for the second time and the Byrnes Rebels are next..... Gaffney 28 Byrnes 17

You can catch my State Championship Game Recap on Monday.

Until Next Time.

GO INDIANS BRING THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BACK TO TITLETOWN!!!