Indians paste ’Dogs

LEDGER PHOTO BY LARRY HILLIARD Gaffney’s Cameron Tate escapes the clutches of a Boiling Springs’ defender for a 35-yard touchdown Friday night. It was billed as a showdown between two explosive offenses. Instead of Brett Slater vs. Malcolm Long, the Gaffney defense stole the show Friday.

The Indians’ defense had six interceptions and limited the Boiling Springs’ offense to just 133 yards in a convincing 48-0 homecoming victory.

Garrett Bridges had two interceptions and Julius Wilkerson had three, including an interception return for a touchdown, as the Indians scored three second-quarter touchdowns to take command.

LEDGER PHOTO BY LARRY HILLIARD Gaffney’s Ventae Tate turns the corner on his way to a 6yard touchdown run against Boiling Springs on Friday. “We came into the game saying that we couldn’t give (Slater) much time to throw,” Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said. “We went after him. We shot at least one linebacker at him.”

Slater, who entered the game averaging more than 200 yards passing a game, had just 99 yards against the Indians and completed just 12 of his 28 throws.

The mistake-prone Boiling Springs’ offense turned the ball over on two of its first four drives. On another firstquarter drive, Boiling Springs turned the ball over on downs on a fourth-and-three at the Gaffney 32 when Kendrick Tate tackled Leemar Wallace for a yard loss.

Charles Smith set the tone for the night for the Indians when he took the opening kickoff, veered to the right, then cut sharply up the middle before racing down the left sideline for a 94-yard touchdown.

While the Gaffney offense isn’t yet a well-running machine, it had its moments too. The Indians rushed for more than 100 yards and Long finished with 196 yards on a 12 for 23 day. Smith led the Indians in rushing with 68 yards on 10 carries. The offense could have put up more yards, but Strickland played his reserves for most of the fourth quarter.

“We fumbled too much and we got caught with too many penalties,” Strickland said. “We have to shore that up if we want to be a quality football team.”

The Bulldogs entered the game at 3-0, but it’s the Indians who now have a three-game winning streak.

The Indians turned Bridges’ second interception into points on Smith’s 22-yard TD run on a screen pass. The extra point was blocked, leaving the Indians on top 13-0 with 10:19 left in the second quarter.

Gaffney was opportunistic again following a fumbled punt by Bulldogs Derrell Kinard. On the next play, Long and Cameron Tate hooked up on a 35-yard scoring strike to increase the Indians’ lead to 20-0.

After his punt return to the Boiling Springs’ 36, Tate capped the short drive with a 3-yard catch to made it 27-0 just before halftime.

Things didn’t improve for the Bulldogs in the second half as Wilkerson returned an interception 35 yards to extend the Indians’ cushion to 34-0 midway through the third quarter.

Short touchdown runs by Quinton Hemphill and Ventae Tate finished off the scoring for the Indians.

Gaffney will play at topranked Byrnes on Friday.

SMOKE SIGNALS ... Julius Wilkerson and Garrett Bridges are tied for the team lead in interceptions with three ... Malcolm Long has only been picked off twice in 84 passing attempts this season ... Charles Smith is averaging an impressive 6.5 yards a rush this season.