Dress rehearsal

Photo by LARRY HILLIARD Backup quarteback Joey Copeland and his Gaffney teammates will face highscoring Woodruff at today in the American Community Bank Jamboree. Football fans who like offense, should be positively giddy about today's American Community Bank Cherokee County Jamboree matchups.

The teams, including York, Laurens, Broome, Wade Hampton, Woodruff and Gaffney, have displayed potent offenses in their previous scrimmages and jamborees.

"It should be an exciting offensive night," Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said. "All the teams have done fairly well (putting up points) in the preseason."

The gates will open at 6 p.m. There will be no reserved seating or parking.

The jamboree will begin at 7 p.m. with York facing Laurens, which lost to Gaffney 21-10 in a game-type scrimmage here on Tuesday.

Broome and Wade Hampton will take the field about 8 p.m. with the Indians and Woodruff scheduled to meet about 9 p.m.

Strickland said the Wolverines, which beat highly-rated Dorman in a jamboree, will be a tough test.

Woodruff returns five players on defense and nine players on offense, including heralded quarterback Jake Lambert, a 4-year starter and the school's all-time passing leader.

That means the Indians' inexperienced secondary must grow up in a hurry, the Gaffney coach said.

"Woodruff will throw the ball on us," Strickiand said. "They have one of the top quarterbacks in the state, so we'll get tested back there."

Although the game won't mean anything in the record books, Strickland believes a winning performance would help establish a positive attitude with this season's squad. The Indians lost to Crest on a last-second touchdown at the Border Showcase this past Friday.

"We need to get back on track and it would be nice to get a victory," he said.

The Indians came out flat against Crest. Strickland said his players must show more emotion today.

"What I'm looking for is that we need to be more enthusiastic," he said.

With the regular season just seven days away, Strickland said the coaching staff is still evaluating players, partly, because some players have been banged up and have missed valuable practice time.

"We are still searching to get the best people in the right place," he said. "Overall, we just have to get more consistent. We've had a couple of linebackers out hurt and have had some blown assignments. I'm just looking for more consistency."

AMERICAN

COMMUNITY BANK

JAMBOREE

York vs. Laurens 7 p.m.

Wade Hampton vs. Broome 8

p.m

Gaffney vs. Woodruff 9 p.m.

Tickets are $6. There is no

reserved parking or seating.