Indians to simplify offense

The Gaffney defense continues to shine, but the offense must begin to execute better, according to the Gaffney coaching staff. Ledger photo by LARRY HILLIARD Moving the ball hasn’t been that much of a problem for the Gaffney Indians.

Scoring when they’ve have reached their opponents’ 20-yard line has been difficult.

That’s why Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said the Indians will likely limit their plays, beginning Friday at Spartanburg.

“We may be trying to do too much,” Strickland said. “We need to settle in what we want to do offensively.”

Against the Byrnes Rebels, the Indians drove inside Byrnes territory six times, but managed just one touchdown. Gaffney turned the ball over twice, including a Cameron Tate fumble and a Malcolm Long interception. The Indians also had problems scoring inside the red zone in their only other loss of the season at Dorman.

Strickland blamed the offense’s struggles on poor execution by a variety of players.

“We didn’t execute when we needed to,” he said. “We are always having one or two players who aren’t doing what they are supposed to do.”

Strickland said don’t count the offensive line among the problem spots on offense.

“They graded out fairly well,” he said.

Strickland also applauded the performance of the defense, which gave up a lot of yards but held the Rebels to just 10 first-half points.

“I thought they played extremely well,” Strickland said. “We just left them on the field too long. Just take away two big plays from Byrnes and the defense played very well.”

At 3-2, Strickland said the team’s season could at a turning point.

“It’s only one game but we need to learn from it,” he said. “Either we can go forward or we can go back. We are at a crossroads right now. That game isn’t the whole season. We can still be a very competitive, good football team. But we have to pull together.”

Strickland hopes this team regroups in the same manner the 2003 team did after a lopsided loss at Nixon Field. The 2003 team, featuring Antonio Gaffney, A.J. Littlejohn and Sidney Rice, started clicking offensively and went on to finish at 14-1 and capture the state championship.

Notes ... Gaffney punter/placekicker Justin Harris was named the player of the game for his performance. He averaged 40 yards on his five punts and added a 25-yard field goal.