Indians fight back, but lose on late field goal

Photo by LARRY HILLIARD Gaffney running back Jeremiah Cochran looks for running room against Clover on Friday. Cochran gained 18 yards on eight carries. With one game remaining in the regular season, the Gaffney Indians have come to this: They are a half-good football team.

The second half, that is.

Once again, the Indians fell behind a quality opponent before rallying in the second half to make it a game. But after erasing a 16-point deficit to take a 1-point lead, Joshua Varilli nailed a 20-yard field goal with :17 left in the game to give Clover an improbable 37-35 victory Friday in a game with more momentum swings than the stock market.

Aided by a fake field goal that gave the Indians possession at their own 39, quarterback DeEdward Burris, who rushed for 121 yards and threw for 231 yards, found Joe Craig at the Clover 15. On the next play, Burris hit Emison Hughes in the end zone to tie the score at 34. Josh Harris' extra point gave the Indians their first lead at 35-34 with 1:20 remaining.

Gaffney, which also fell behind early against Byrnes and Spartanburg but regrouped to play a solid second half, seemed headed for a win that would have kept their hopes for a region championship alive, but the defense couldn't stop Clover in the game's waning seconds.

The Blue Eagles started the drive at the 20, and the field position got worse after quarterback Aaron Miller was sacked for a 6-yard loss.

On the next play, Miller revived the Clover faithful's hopes with a long, sidelinehugging pass that Josh Clawson hauled in near midfield before breaking a couple of tackles for a 78-yard gain.

After Miller downed the ball twice to stop the clock, Varilli kicked the game-winning field goal, sending the Indians to their fourth loss of the season at the Reservation.

Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said the team celebrated prematurely.

"We celebrated too early after the sack," Strickland said.

But, for the most part, Strickland praised his team's effort, especially their ability to bounce back from a slow start.

"They didn't give up," he said. "A lesser team would have given up. We lost because we didn't make a play at the end."

It was easy to pinpoint the reason for the Indians' firsthalf slumber on Friday - turnovers.

Gaffney lost four fumbles in the first half, allowing the Blue Eagles to build a 28-6 first-half lead.

"We have to hold onto the football," Strickland said.

The Indians took the opening possession and scored on Burris' 9-yard pass to Jeff Brown.

But Gaffney got sloppy after that, losing the ball on three of their next four possessions. The Blue Eagles capitalized on a Craig fumble to go up 7-6 on Miller's 13-yard pass to Chris Lindsay and Varilli's extra point.

On the ensuing kickoff, Craig was victimized again when he had the ball taken out of his hands by Tra Latta who returned the fumble 25 yards.

Ricky Moore added a a 1 yard run and Lindsay caught a 72-yard TD to extend Clover's lead to 28-6 with 4:37 left in the first half.

On the next play from scrimmage, Hughes, who was selected on Thursday to the North-South All-Star game, provided the Indians with a much-needed spark when he took a pass and outraced Clover for a 64-yard touchdown. Hughes finished with five catches for 119 yards.

The Indians' internal clocks finally awakened them in the fourth quarter, as Burris scored on runs of 1 and 20 yards and hit Hughes and Brown for 2-point conversions that tied the game at 28.

Clover responded with a methodical 12-play drive, capped by Tryon Douglas' 4- yard run. But Varilli's extra point was blocked, leaving the door open for the Indians to take the lead with a TD and extra point.

The stats were as even as the final score. Gaffney outgained Clover 396 - 393. But Clover dominated in time of possession, keeping the ball for 32 minutes.

Gaffney (6-4, 3-1) concludes the regular season Friday at Northwestern. Strickkland suggested the Indians might need to win the game to secure a playoff bid.