By LARRY HILLIARDLedger Sports Editor

Malcolm Long had a strong outing at the USC Passing Tournament on Saturday. The Indians finished the tournament with a 3-2 mark.

The Gaffney Indians showed at Saturday’s USC Passing Tournament they might not miss graduating wideouts Donald Sims and Andy Strickland after all.

“We found some guys who can catch and who ran some good routes,” Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said.

After dropping their first two games, the Indians finished the tournament with three straight wins.

“We got off the bus flat and we didn’t play well,” Strickland said. “We dropped some balls, but I was pleased with the way we bounced back. It was unfortunate that we didn’t make the championship round but there were a lot of good teams.”

Four teams advanced to the championship round, where the Byrnes “A” team won the tournament by beating Greenville, 35-21, in the final.

The Indians were sluggish in their 14-0 opening loss to Darlington. In the second game, quarterback Malcolm Long and his wide receivers elevated their play to tie the Byrnes “B” team 21-21 at the end of regulation. The Rebels won the tie-breaker by completing a pass for more yards than the Indians.

Gaffney then topped Georgia’s Savannah High, 28-7; before rolling over Dutch Fork, 21-7; and Lexington, 28-14.

Long took all the snaps for the Indians since Nick Melton attended the University of Kentucky’s evaluation day for rising senior prospects. Last year’s jayvee quarterback, Drew Howard, played wide receiver.

“Malcolm did well,” Strickland said. “He was a little out of sync at the beginning. But once he settled down, he put a lot of touch on the ball.”

Twenty-four teams participated in the 1-day event. Starting at their 40-yard line, teams had four downs to either score or advance to the 20-yard line. Teams then had four more downs to score from inside the 20.

The Indians will have this week off before the summer weight-lifting program begins on June 13. Gaffney’s next passing league is slated for June 22 versus Stephens County High.