Indians roll over Wave

Photo by SCOTT POWELL Gaffney quarterback DeEdward Burris breaks a Summerville tackle during first-quarter action on Friday. Gaffney beat the Green Wave, 40-10, to advance to the second round of the Class AAAA Division I playoffs. This was the kind of offensive performance Gaffney coach Phil Strickland hadn't seen much this season.

The 14th-seeded Indians struck the perfect balance between the run and pass, rolling up 262 yards on the ground and another 262 through the air to dominate No. 3 seed Summerville, 40-10, in the opening round of the Class AAAA Division I playoffs Friday night at John McKissick Field.

This game was in sharp contrast to the teams' two most recent playoff meetings which went down to the wire.

Gaffney advances to play at Sumter on Friday. The Gamecocks beat an injurydepleted Boiling Springs team, 49-13.

"I thought we were focused and had a good game plan," Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said. "We executed well and offensively it was our best and most complete game."

The Indians got another dynamic performance from sophomore quarterback DeEdward Burris.

"DeEdward did well," Strickland said. "Sometimes we forget that he's just a sophomore."

The Green Wave defenders won't soon forget.

Burris overwhelmed Summerville, rushing for 100 yards on 20 carries and completing 12 of his 21 passes for 250 yards and three touchdowns.

While the Gaffney offense was moving at will, the Green Wave offense, led by Shrine Bowl quarterback Danny McElveen couldn't get any traction after an early score. McElveen was 11 for 25 for 116 yards. He also was picked off once.

Summerville also found the going tough on the ground, gaining 107 yards on 19 carries. Take away DeAngelo Henderson's 79-yard touchdown run and the Indians held the Green Wave to just 28 yards on 18 rushes.

"We just got beat on both sides of the ball," McKissick said. "We just got outmanned and outplayed."

Gaffney took its opening possession and marched 80 yards for a touchdown when Burris scrambled to his left to avoid the rush and found a wide open Joe Craig in the end zone. After Henderson's long run and Dylan Zimmerman's field goal put the Green Wave up 10-7, it all fell apart for Summerville.

With Jeremiah Cochran eating up huge chunks of yards, the Indians drove 66 yards on 10 plays to go ahead 13-10 after a blocked extra point. Cochran finished with 99 yards on 19 carries.

A 9-yard punt gave the Indians good field position at the Summerville 36. Eight plays later, Cochran scored from 2 yards out to make it 20- 0 with Josh Harris' extra point.

Summerville coughed up the ball on its next two possessions and the Indians capitalized to lead 27-10 on Burris' 14-yard pass to Emison Hughes with 14 seconds left before halftime.

The Indians dashed any hopes Summerville had of a comeback by taking the second half kickoff and methodically driving 78 yards on 13 plays to lead 34-10. Jeff Brown made a leaping grab in the end zone to cap the drive.

Kenard Lipscomb provided the final margin of victory with a 3-yard run with 3:06 left in the game.

Gaffney, which improves to 7-5, now leads the overall series with Summerville, 8-6- 1. The Green Wave end the season at 9-3.