Photo by LARRY HILLIARD The Gaffney Indians will battle host Crest at 8 p.m. tonight at the Border Showcase. It marks the fifth straight year the Indians and Chargers have met in the high-profile jamboree. Tonight, it's all about the lights.

Jamborees, especially first ones like the Border Showcase, aren't so much about winning but preparing the team for the regular season.

That means getting the kinks out of the kicking game and working on execution.

"It's good to get under the lights," Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said. "You are able to get a game-type situation."

It's difficult to evaluate special teams in practice, but Strickland said the jamboree will give his special teams a chance to make some plays - and make some mistakes.

"It'll be the first time running the special teams in and out of the game and we know there will be some mistakes," he said. "But we have to get the right combination of players."

The Indians will be matched against the host Crest Chargers for the fifth straight year. And it's that familiarity and proximity that have turned a normally ho-hum jamboree meeting into a good rivalry.

"They do get up to play us and I think our kids enjoy playing them," Strickland said. "They have a good football program."

The jamboree has a couple other marquee matchups, including a pair of defending state champions in Byrnes and Shelby and a matchup between Polk County and up-and-coming Spartanburg.

"It's headlined with some pretty good teams," Strickland said. "A lot of folks are interested in seeing these teams play."

Despite games with Spartanburg and Byrnes in the regular season, Strickland said he intends to open up the playbook.

"I'm a believer in working on things that we need to work on," he said. "I'm sure we're not going to show everything, but we are going to run what we run. We need to get good at what we do."

Strickland said he's anxious to see if the new wrinkles on offense, including putting the quarterback under center and using a H-back in goal line and short-yardage situations, will pay dividends.

"We are trying to get more physical," he said.

The top priority in today's jamboree is to continue to improve.

"We just want to work on our execution to get better," the Gaffney coach said.

BORDER SHOWCASE AT CREST HIGH SCHOOL

Spartanburg vs. Polk County
at 7 p.m.
Byrnes vs. Shelby 8 p.m
Gaffney vs. Crest 9 p.m.
Tickets are $10.