SUBSTATION II TOURNEMENT CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

TRIBE WINS SUBSTATION II CHAMPIONSHIP!!

The Gaffney Indians got a strong 4th quarter surge to pound the Chesnee Eagles 81 to 59. Gaffney senior post player Chase Smith won tourney MVP honors as the Indians won the Substation II Tournament Championship for the 1oth time in 11 tournaments. The Tribe has a 21 and 1 record in the tournaments 11 year history. Gaffney's record improves to 7 and 0 on the young season.

EARLY SEASON OPINION ON THE GAFFNEY BOYS

I personally went to see the Tribe play both games in the Substation II Tournament and I came away not as impressed as I thought I would be. They had a very lackadaisical performance against Spartanburg Christian and their defensive intensity was not there in the game against Chesnee. For the Indians to contend for a State Championship this season they are going to have to play with more defensive intensity and they are going to have to rebound the ball a whole lot better than they have so far this season.

UPWARD CLASSIC AT DORMAN HIGH SCHOOL

The Indians are competing in the Upward Classic this week on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The Tribe played their first game yesterday against Peachtree Ridge from Georgia. The Indians suffered their first loss of the young season by a score of 87 to 70. Josh Corry had a game high 27 points but it wasn't enough for the Tribe to remain in the winners bracket. Gaffney plays Butler from North Carolina today.

LADY HILLTOPPERS CLASSIC

The Gaffney Lady Indians dropped their game on Monday in the Lady Hilltopper Classic to the host school R.S. Central by a score of 59 to 41. The Lady Indians record falls to 4 and 3.

TRIBE TO TRAVEL TO BYRNES

The Gaffney Indians and Lady Indians will play at Byrnes on Saturday January 2nd for their first games of the new year.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Sidney Rice continued his stellar NFL season on Monday night as he and Brett Favre hooked up for the game tieing TD that sent the Minnesota Vikings and the Chicago Bears to overtime. Rice caught a 6 yard TD pass from Favre on 4th down with 16 seconds left to tie the game at 30. The Bears went on to win the game in overtime 36 to 30. Sidney Rice had 6 catches for 56 yards in the loss.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM TRIBE BLITZ!!!

SUBSTATION II TOURNAMENT UPDATE

The Tribe basketball team is hosting their annual Substation II Holiday Tournament this week. Last night the Indians had a lackadaisical performance against Spartanburg Christian Academy, as they defeated the Warriors 68 to 64. The Indians will play Chesnee in the Championship game tonight at 7:30 at The Burial Ground. Spartanburg Christian plays Woodruff in the consolation game at 6:00.

In the Tribe's victory over Spartanburg Christian, Chase Smith led the Indians with 19 points. Josh Corry had an off night shooting the ball, but still had 16 points. Quinshad Davis continues to give the Tribe a tremendous lift off the bench as he had 12 points.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Sidney Rice played his first game on Carolina soil since he was at the University of South Carolina as he and his Minnesota Vikings teammates played in Charlotte against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night. Rice had 4 catches for 69 yards, but had a critical fumble in the 3rd quarter when the game was still close. The Panthers spoiled Rice's homecoming with a 26 to 7 victory over the Vikings.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM TRIBE BLITZ!!

BASKETBALL RECAP/ ALL REGION PLAYERS

INDIANS GO 3 AND 0 FOR THE WEEK!

The Gaffney Indians defeated the Spartanburg Vikings 86 to 68 on the road this past Tuesday. The Tribe trailed at the half, but were able to turn the defensive pressure up a couple of notches in the second half and rolled to victory. The Indians also went on the road at 3rd ranked Dorman, and the 2nd ranked Indians defeated the Cavaliers 66 to 60. The Tribe got 30 points from Josh Corry in the big road win at Dorman. The Tribe came home last night and hammered the Byrnes Rebels 72 to 45. The Indians used a balanced offensive attack, as they had eleven players to score against the Rebels. Chase Smith and Josh Corry led the way with 15 and 14 points. Quinshad Davis continued his strong play as he had 11 points. The Gaffney Indians record improves to 4 and 0 on the young season. The Tribe plays host to the 3rd ranked Dorman Cavaliers on Saturday night. The Indians will then play host to the annual SubStation 2 Tournament next Monday and Tuesday.

LADY INDIANS GO 2 AND 1 FOR THE WEEK

The Gaffney Lady Indians week got off on the wrong foot as they dropped their game at Spartanburg on Tuesday night 59 to 44. The Lady Vikings jumped out to an early lead and held on for the impressive win. The Lady Indians then went into Dorman on Friday night and came home with an impressive 64 to 60 win against the always powerful Dorman Lady Cavaliers. The Lady Indians were led by Keisha Leach with 22 points and Kierra Phillips with 15 points. The Lady Indians finished their week with a home win against the Byrnes Lady Rebels 56 to 42. Kierra Phillips led the way for the Lady Indians with 29 points. The Lady Indians record is 3 and 1 so far in this young season. The Lady Indians will host the Dorman Lady Cavaliers on Saturday night. Then the ladies will play in the Lady Hilltoppers Tournament at R.S.Central High School.

SEVEN INDIANS MAKE ALL-REGION 3 4A

The seven Gaffney football players that made the 2009 All-Region 3 4A were senior WR/DB Joe Craig, senior Linebacker Chris Adams, senior Offensive Lineman James Costello, junior WR/DB Khris Brown, freshman Defensive End Jaylen Miller, junior QB DeEdward Burris and sophomore DB Shonquille Byers. Four of the seven All-Region players are underclassmen and will return, along with several other talented players, to form the nucleus for next season's Gaffney Indians football team. The Tribe's future looks very bright.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Donald Sims who played on the 3-peat Gaffney State Basketball Championship teams is currently playing for Appalachian State of the Southern Conference. Sims is leading the Mountaineers in scoring with a 15.9 points per game scoring average. His average ranks him 4th in the Southern Conference.

THE 2009 SHRINE BOWL

Gaffney Offensive Lineman James Costello will play for the South Carolina squad at the Shrine Bowl of The Carolinas at Wofford College's Gibbs Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Until Next Time.

BASKETBALL PREVIEW

GAFFNEY BOYS

The Gaffney boys basketball team, coached by Head Coach Mark Huff, opens the season ranked where they ended last season at NO. 2 in the state in Class 4A. The Indians return last season's 4A Player of The Year Josh Corry who has already signed to play his college basketball at Wofford. Corry averaged 21.3 points per game last season and was named one of the prestigious "Elite 5" players in South Carolina. The other starters, when the season starts, will be senior Chase Smith in the post, who averaged 12.0 points per game last season. Senior Bo Wray will be the other post starter. The wings will be Corry and senior Dominique Byers. The point guard will be junior Dershawn Dawkins. The Indians will lack size, with no one over 6'3", but they will rely on their speed and pressure defense. The Indians also have a lot of very good shooters and a very deep bench. I look for another great season for the Gaffney boys and another run for a State Championship is very possible.

GAFFNEY GIRLS

The girls team, coached by Head Coach Stacey Parris, returns all five starters from last seasons team that went 14 and 8 overall and 7 and 3 in the Region. The starters will be senior point guard Keisha Leach, Kierra Phillips a senior that averaged 13.6 points per game, junior Paris Davidson, junior Ashlee Tate and senior Tierra Morris. The Lady Indians also return 10 of their 11 players from last years team. I expect the Lady Indians to be a serious contender for the Region 3 4A Championship this season.

INDIANS AND LADY INDIANS WIN OPENER!

The Indians boys blew out Union County 92 to 57, behind a game high 24 points from Chase Smith. The Tribe played the game without reigning 4A Player of the Year Josh Corry, who was suspended for the game, and jumped on the Jackets from the start of the game racing out to a 15 to 0 lead. The Indians never looked back as they rolled to an impressive opening game victory. The Indians pressure defense forced 26 Jacket's turnovers.

The Lady Indians rolled to a 69 to 26 victory over the Union County Lady Yellow Jackets. The Lady Indians were led by Kierra Phillips with 18 points. The Lady Indians raced out to a 33 to 17 lead at the half and never looked back.

The Tribe will play at Spartanburg Tuesday night, Dorman on Friday night and come home to host Byrnes next Monday night.

Until Next Time.

UPPERSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME RECAP

INDIANS SACKED BY CAVALIERS!

The Gaffney Indians went toe to toe with the Dorman Cavaliers on Friday night, but came up short in their bid to advance to the Division 1 4A State Championship Game in Columbia this coming Saturday at high noon. The Indians and Cavaliers battled through a scoreless 1st half, each missing field goal attempts. The Indians had to overcome three 1st half turnovers with a great defensive effort to keep the score tied at 0 to 0. The 2nd half started with Dorman driving 80 yards in 9 plays with A.J. Booker passing out of the wildcat formation to QB Johnny Foster for a 25 yard TD. During the regular season meeting Booker scored 4 TDs out of the wildcat formation in Dorman's victory over the Tribe. After the Dorman score, the Indians put together a drive into Cavaliers territory only to have the drive stopped by an interception at the Dorman one yard
line. The Cavaliers would drive into Indians territory, but would have to settle for a 32 yard field goal and a 10 to 0 lead with 11:14 left in the game. The pride and tradition of the Gaffney Indians would not let the Indians give up, as they would drive to the Dorman nine yard line. The drive would stall and Josh Harris would attempt a 25 yard field goal that would be blocked by the Cavaliers. The game appeared over, but Gaffney would intercept a Johnny Foster pass at the Cavalier's 23 yard line. The Gaffney offense could not do anything with the opportunity to get back in the game as QB DeEdward Burris would be sacked on 4th and 17 to all but end the night and the season for the Tribe. The story of this game was Dorman forced 4 Gaffney turnovers and sacked Burris 7 times. The Gaffney defense played their best game of the season as they held Dorman to 249 yards and 10 points well below their season averages in both categories. The young Gaffney Indians grew up quiet a bit this season making it to the state semi-finals and finishing with a 10 and 4 record.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Malcolm Long led his South Carolina State Bulldogs into the FCS playoffs at Appalachian State. Long was 18 of 36 for 189 yards and a season high three interceptions in the Bulldogs 20 to 13 loss to the Mountaineers. Long was also named to the MEAC's all-conference second team.

Julius Wilkerson a linebacker for South Carolina State was also named to the MEAC's all-conference second team.

Well it is the holiday season, Gaffney's football season is over, so it is time for Coach Mark Huff and his NO. 2 ranked basketball Indians. They open up their season at home on Friday night against the Union County Yellow Jackets.

Until Next Time.

2ND ROUND OF PLAYOFFS RECAP/ 3RD ROUND OF PLAYOFFS PREVIEW

INDIANS CHEERLEADERS 7TH IN STATE!!

Competing in only their 2nd State Championship Competitive Cheerleading competition the Gaffney cheerleaders finished 7th in the state. The cheerleaders finished three spots higher than they did last year when they finished 10th. Summerville finished as State Champs for a 2nd consecutive year.



INDIANS RALLY FOR WIN AT SUMMERVILLE !

The Gaffney Indians spotted the Green Wave a 21 to 0 2nd quarter lead mainly due to turnovers. The Tribe had two turnovers on their first two possessions that led to a 14 to 0 Summerville lead about 5 minutes into the game. The Indians cut the Wave's lead to 21 to 7 at the half as QB DeEdward Burris hit Quinshad Davis with an 80 yard TD pass. The 2nd half started with Gaffney's Khris Brown intercepting a Dalton Saunders pass at the Indian's 5 yard line returning it 79 yards to set up a score for Gaffney. The Indians would score 28 straight points to erase the 21 to 0 deficit, and had the lead 28 to 21 at the end of the 3rd quarter. Summerville would tie the game at 28 in the 4th quarter. Gaffney's Burris would put the Indians up for good with 6 minutes left on a 19 yard run. Summerville tried to rally, but QB Dalton Saunders pass was intercepted by Gaffney's Jaquan Barnes at the Indian's 10 yard line with 30 seconds left to preserve the victory for the Indians. The Tribe forced five Summerville turnovers in the second half including four interceptions of Summerville QB Dalton Saunders. The Tribe would score 21 points off the Green Wave's turnovers. The Tribe now gets ready to travel to Dorman on Friday night for a rematch with the Cavaliers for the Upper State Title.

TRIBE FACTS-- Gaffney Head Coach Phil Strickland has a 4 and 1 record against Summerville since he has been at Gaffney.

WEEK 14 UPPERSTATE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Gaffney @ Dorman..... The Gaffney Indians head to Roebuck to face the Dorman Cavaliers on Friday night for the 4A Division 1 Upperstate Championship. This will be a rematch of the opening game of the season won by Dorman 42 to 17. Dorman in the playoffs had to battle down to the wire to defeat Clover 31 to 28 in the 1st round and defeated Irmo in a defensive battle 14 to 0 in the 2nd round. The Indians are doing what Gaffney does, they have kicked it up a few notches in the playoffs. The Indians coming off the disappointing loss to Northwestern played perhaps their most complete game of the season in defeating Stratford 31 to 0 in the 1st round of the playoffs. Then the Tribe bounced back from a bad start to defeat Summerville on the road 35 to 28 in the 2nd round. The Gaffney Indians are a much improved team from the one that lost to Dorman in August, as the defense has gotten better, they have faced adversity and learned from it, the young players have matured and are making plays when they have to and QB DeEdward Burris has matured as the leader of the offense. I look for a tough tight physical battle between these two old rivals and I see the young Indians taking the next step..... Gaffney 24 Dorman 21

TRIBE FACTS-- The Gaffney Indians have only lost at the new Dorman stadium once, back in August of this season.

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Sidney Rice had six receptions and two TD's Sunday in the Minnesota Vikings 35 to 9 win over the Seattle Seahawks.

Until Next Time.

1ST ROUND PLAYOFFS RECAP/2ND ROUND PLAYOFFS PREVIEW

INDIANS TURN IT UP A COUPLE OF NOTHES AGAINST STRATFORD!


The Gaffney Indians had an impressive 1st round of the playoffs performance Friday night with a 31 to 0 victory over the Stratford Knights. The Tribe's defense played lights out against the high powered and balanced offense of the Knights, holding them to nine 1st downs and 194 yards of total offense. The defense redeemed themselves after the disappointing performance of a week ago against Northwestern. The Indians offense got rolling in the 2nd quarter as they built a 17 to 0 lead at halftime. The Indians added a TD in the 3rd quarter and another in the 4th to end the scoring. The Indians offense was led by all everything QB DeEdward Burris as he was 16 of 21 for 207 yards and 2 TD passes. He also added 67 yards rushing on 19 carries. Sophomore RB Robert Grandy added 57 yards rushing and 1 TD and sophomore WR Quinshad Davis had 6 receptions for 82 yards and 1 TD. The story of the night for the Indians was the young Gaffney defense, as they were more aggressive and was able to get a pass rush on Knights QB Chris Hanna as they pressured him into a 14 of 33 passing night for only 116 yards and 1 INT. The Gaffney secondary played the ball better than any time during the season as they broke up several passes. The Tribe's secondary was helped by playing senior Joe Craig and junior Khris Brown most of the game at DB. The Indians now have a record of 9 and 3 and go on the road to play NO. 2 seed Summerville on Friday night.


TRIBE FACTS-- Friday nights playoff game was the 1st playoff game and 1st playoff win at The New Reservation.


WEEK 13 SECOND ROUND OF THE PLAYOFFS


Gaffney @ Summerville..... Two of the most storied programs in South Carolina High School football history get together again Friday night at McKissick Stadium in Summerville as Gaffney with their 16 State Championships battles Summerville with their 11. The Green Wave is 11 and 1 and the NO. 2 seed in the Division 1 4A playoffs. They are 6 and 0 at home this season and they're offense averages 34.3 points per game. The Summerville defense gives up an average of 16.4 per game. The Indians went into Summerville last season in the 1st round of the playoffs and pounded the Wave 41 to 10. The Indians come into the game averaging 31.5 points on offense and they are giving up 21.3 on defense. These two programs have had some classic playoff battles over the years and this very well could be another one. I think the key for Gaffney will be to get off to a good start and get Summerville to thinking, oh no not again. I see the Indians going on the road and playing well and coming home with a win..... Gaffney 31 Summerville 23

FORMER INDIANS UPDATE

Sidney Rice had a career day for the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday with seven receptions for a career high 201 yards as the Vikings defeated the Detroit Lions.

Malcolm Long threw four TD passes and was 21 of 32 for 319 yards in leading SC State to the MEAC Title in their 37 to 13 victory over Morgan State.

Lets all go down to Summerville and cheer the Tribe to victory over the Green Wave on Friday night.

Until next time.