Gaffney defensive coordinator Dan Jones knew the pieces were in place to meld a good defensive unit.

But this good?

The Indians’ defense is giving up an average of just 78 rushing yards a game. “I thought we would have a pretty good defense because of our speed,” Jones said. “The biggest factor is that we had a lot of experience

coming back.

And those players

have played a lot of

good teams.”

The defensive line

and linebackers have

been a team strength,

with the return of linemen Clay Champion and Greyson Gentry, inside linebackers Julius Wilkerson and Bryce Smiley and outside backers Rashaun Harris and O’bryan Littlejohn.

“We felt great about the line and linebackers,” he said. “We had Greyson and Clay and all of our linebackers coming back.”

Defensive lineman Alex Evans has also showed promise, he said.

The secondary was the question mark heading into the season.

“We miss Andy (Strickland) and Jeffery Galmer in the secondary,” Jones said. “We knew our secondary was the place where we didn’t have a lot of experience.”

But the secondary has improved with Cameron Tate, Aaron Harris and Garrett Bridges at the corners and Kendrick Tate at free safety.

It’s not always about talent. Jones said the players also are self-starters.

“They don’t need me to motivate them to play well,” he said. “They play as hard against Hillcrest as they do against Spartanburg or Dorman. We just have a mature group with a lot of senior leadership. Each one wants to make the big play.”

As for Saturday’s matchup with Summerville, Jones said he expects the Green Wave to try to establish the run.

“Two years ago, they got in that eight offensive line look and just pounded the ball at us,” he said. “I think we’ll see that, so we have to rise up to the challenge.”

Another challenge will be to stop 6-4 Green Wave wide receiver A.J. Green, who has been compared favorably to former Gaffney star Sidney Rice.

“We have to know where he is,” Jones said. “But they have a tailback that is shifty and a quarterback who throws the ball well. The key is that we’re not going to try to confuse them. We aren’t going to outcoach ourselves.”