GAFFNEY @ CLINTON WEEK 1 2012 PREVIEW

NORTHWESTERN @ GAFFNEY WEEK 0 RECAP..... What an embarrassing and disappointing opening to the 2012 football season for the Gaffney Indians. The Northwestern Trojans came into The Reservation and pounded the Tribe 49 to 19. They jumped out to a 28 to 7 lead at the half and never looked back. The Trojans avenged their 49 to 20 loss to Gaffney last season. Northwestern starts their season with a statement and the Tribe starts their season with questions of WHAT HAPPENED? The Tribe opens their season 0 and 1 for the first time since 2009.

My View From The Stands.....(1) What I saw last Friday night was a Gaffney team that WAS NOT READY TO PLAY EMOTIONALLY when they came on the field to start the game. The coaches didn't seam to be ready and neither did the fans! I believe the players were caught up in what the team did last season and they had the BIG HEAD and felt like all they had to do was show up and win. They took Northwestern lightly. (2) What I also saw was a team that appeared to be OUT OF SHAPE WITH THEIR CONDITIONING with all the players that had to be helped off the field with cramps. (3) I saw an offense that didn't execute and a defense that could not tackle. The special teams were even worse, as they gave up a long kickoff return to set up one TD, gave up another kickoff return for another TD, a 6-yard punt that set up another TD and we missed two PAT's. (4) There was no school on Friday so who knows what the players did that day. One thing was obvious, they did not get themselves ready to play a football game on Friday night. This is not acceptable anywhere especially in Gaffney. When you play football in Gaffney you have a responsibility to be ready to play football and give it your all.

GAFFNEY @ CLINTON PREVIEW..... Gaffney and Clinton are pride and tradition rich football towns. Both have numerous State Championships. They have not met on the football field since 1959. The Indians lead the all time series 3-1-1.

The Red Devils were State 3A Champs a couple of seasons ago but, they had a down year last season with a 4 and 7 record. They were a better football team than their record showed, as they lost all seven games by seven points or less. They are a football team that likes the power running game, as they probably run it about 85% of the time. They lull you to sleep and then they like to hit you with a big play with play action. They have a big and physical offensive line. Defensively they run a 4-2-5 which is very similar to Gaffney. They are a very disciplined defense that will fly around to the football. Two of their players play both sides of the ball.

The Indians need to learn from what they didn't do right last week and then put it behind them and not let it happen again. They had some bright spots last week, as WR Eddie Studyvance made an impact on offense and QB Luke Lancaster played well at times. They need to execute better on offense this week and get the ball to Shaq Davidson to help him get his confidence back.

The Gaffney defense needs to tackle better and play with more intensity. They need to force some turnovers and stop the run to force Clinton to pass.

Keys To The Game For Clinton.....(1) Establish their running game to take time off the clock. (2) Hit a couple of big plays in the passing game. (3) Force some turnovers.

Keys To The Game For Gaffney..... (1) The big key for Gaffney is to come out with intensity to play football. They need to be emotionally ready to play. (2) Execute on offense and get an early lead. (3) Hit some big plays on offense.

Game Prediction..... I really do expect the Indians to come out with a better effort this week. I look for them to execute better and tackle better. If they do these things they will take care of business and come back down I-26 with a win..... Gaffney 34  Clinton 14

Until Next Time.