Photo by LARRY HILLIAFD Gaffney offensive tackle Clay McKowen gets locked up with a Fort Mill lineman during first-quarter action on Friday. The Indians beat the Yellow Jackets, 41-14. Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said his Indians lacked focus and were flat at the start of the game.

It didn’t matter, though, as the Indians piled up 351 yards of offense and held the winless Fort Mill Yellow Jackets to only 28 yards through the air in a workmanlike 41-14 victory on Homecoming at the Reservation Friday evening.

Strickland frets so much about the distractions of Homecoming that he joked he would prefer the event would take place during basketball season.

“I thought we really came out flat with so many distractions,” Strickland said.

Gaffney quarterback DeEdward Burris didn’t appear distracted at all. He ran for two touchdowns and passed for another three in another strong performance.

“He’s still learning to be a quarterback and when he learns totally how to be, he’ll be a good one,” the Gaffney coach said.

And while the offense - which scored on six straight drives (three TDs on the ground and three more through the air) - seemed to be on cruise control against a defense powerless to stop it, the defense came up big, too, allowing a pair of late scores on the Indians’ second unit.

“The defense did a good job,” Strickland said. “We gave them some great field position and they weren’t able to score.’

Fort Mill used some trickery early, trying a successful onside kick on the game’s opening kickoff. The Yellow Jackets moved inside Gaffney territory but were forced to punt. On its next possession, Fort Mill got close enough for a 36-yard field goal attempt but it sailed wide.

The Gaffney offense then caught fire.

An 80-yard march was capped when Burris hit wideout Mike Wood on a 7- yard scoring toss. Gaffney got the ball back and on the first play from scrimmage, Kenard Lipscomb, who has been bothered by a sprained ankle. sprinted his way for a 50-yard touchdown and a 14-0 Gaffney lead with 11:37 left in the second quarter.

Burris scored on highlight-reel runs of 23 and 21 yards to give the Indians a 28-0 lead at halftime.

On the Indians’ first possession of the second half, Joe Craig hauled in a 44-yard pass to set up the Indians at the Fort Mill 21. On the next play, Burris found Quinshad Davis for a touchdown and a convincing 35-0 advantage.

After a Fort Mill fumble, Burris struck again, hooking up with Khris Brown for a 24-yard TD and a 41-0 lead with 4:24 left in the third quarter.

The second units went the rest of the way, allowing Yellow Jacket quarterback Asa Kryst and Max Simons to score on runs of 16 and 4 yards, respectively.

The Indians improve to 7-2 and 3-0 in the region, but the quality of competition picks up considerably with a road trip to Clover on Friday and a battle with defending region champion Northwestern to close the regular season on Friday, Nov. 6.

Game Notes ... Surprisingly, the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets dominated time of possession, 33:04 to 14:56. After his 9 for 11 performance, DeEdward Burris is now completing 53 percent of his passes.