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Indians pass by Clover
You might want to add pass the ball, as well. Burris completed a remarkable 19 of 27 passes for a career-high 268 yards and two touchdowns in leading the Indians to a huge 35-28 victory over region rival Clover on Friday. The victory sets up a winner-take-all matchup Friday against visiting Northwestern (5-5, 4-0) for the region championship.
Gaffney (8- 2, 4-0) continues to improve after losing two of its first five games of the season. A big reason for the team’s improvement has been the development of Burris, who came out on fire with a couple of first-quarter TD passes against the Blue Eagles. Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said the game plan was to put the ball in the air. ”We felt like we had to pass,” Strickland said. “They only rushed four and had one of their linebackers spying (Burris) in case he ran.” Which he did, 16 times for a team-high 92 yards. ”Burris did really good,” Strickland said. “He stayed in there and ran when he had to.” The Indians played without starting wideout Joe Craig, who injured his hand away from the football field. Sophomore wideout Quinshad Davis had a big game with four catches for 66 yards. The Indians’ defense had its hands full against the Blue Eagles’ vaunted doublewing attack. Tyron Douglas did the most damage with 169 yards on 23 carries. Quarterback Aaron Miller had 46 yards before leaving the game in the second quarter with a sprained ankle. After the Indians built a 14-0 lead, the Blue Eagles rallied to lead 28-27 on a 12-yard run by Douglas with 6:14 to play. But the Indians responded with a methodical, 10-play, 65-yard drive to go ahead 34-27 on Robert Grandy’s 3-yard run with 3:08 remaining. The key play in the drive was a pass from Burris to Davis for a first down on a thirdand seven at the Clover 47. Burris scored on the 2-pt. conversion to make it 35-28. Clover got the ball back with a chance to tie and moved to midfield on a halfback option pass. Two plays after Clover had a long scoring run called back on a motion penalty, Gaffney’s Snoop Byers sealed the big win with an interception. Up 21-14 at halftime, the Indians went ahead by two scores on a 12- play, 80-yard drive that was capped by Burris’ 2-yard run. Burris came up big on the drive, scrambling for a first down on a third-and-15 at the Gaffney 30. After that momentum-changing run, Burris hit Davis, Rodney Rogers, Khris Brown and Rogers again for first downs to set up a first-and-goal at the Clover 2. Gaffney kicker Justin Harris missed his first extra point of the season, leaving the score 27-14 The Blue Eagles wouldn’t go away, though, as Douglas had a big run to set up his own 9-yard touchdown run with 11:53 left in the fourth quarter. The Indians failed to pick up a first down on their possession before Clover used a short field to go up by a point. Clover gained 375 yards of offense, with 331 coming on the ground. The Indians had 372 total yards. The Indians had to overcome 11 penalties, including four holding calls. The Blue Eagles turned the ball over four times, while the Indians had just one turnover. Indians Statsheet
First quarter GAF - Brown 37-yard pass from Burris (Harris kick.) GAF - Wood 23-yard pass from Burris (Harris kick.) CLV - Miller 30-yard run (Faile kick.) GAF - Burris 9-yard run (Harris kick.) Second quarter CLV - Elliott 6-yard run (Faile kick.) Third quarter GAF - Burris 2-yard run (kick failed.) Fourth quarter CLV - Douglas 9-yard run (Faile kick.) CLV - Douglas 12-yard run (Faile kick.) GAF - Grandy 3-yard run (Harris kick.) Individual Statistics Rushing: GAF - Burris 16- 92, Rogers 3-6, Lipscomb 1- 3, Grandy 1-3. CLV - Carothers 5-17, Douglas 23- 169, Hinton 1-3, Miller 6-46, Elliott 20-76, #45 2-20. Passing: GAF - Burris 19- 27-1 268 yards. CLV - Duke 1-1 6 yards, Miller 1-6-2 17 yards and Elliott 1-1-0 17 yards. Receiving: GAF - Rogers 5- 48, Ellis 3-32, Davis 4-66, Wood 2-25. CLV - Hinton 1- 17 and Jackson 2-27. BLACK OUT Gaffney fans are encouraged to wear black in support of the Indians, who face Northwestern for the region championshiip Friday at The Reservation. |
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