By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Gaffney - Region foe Byrnes, ranked second in the latest HSSR Sweet 16 Ranking, spoiled Senior Night for the Gaffney Indians with a 33-21 win at the Reservation on October, 27th that clinched the region title for the Rebels.
From the field, after the game, Byrnes head coach Reggie Shaw shared his thoughts, “We came out fired up and social media can be a blessing or a curse, and our guys have learned to stay off of it, and use what they see as a motivator,” said Coach Shaw. “There was a lot of stuff put out on social media and our guys used it as a motivator no doubt.
“Also, our game with Gaffney last year left a bad taste in our mouths and we felt like we gave one a way,” said Coach Shaw. “We were down four guys last year when we came up here in the playoffs last year. Losing that game 34-28 last year was on our minds getting ready to play tonight. Our kids played lights-out tonight and I am very proud of all of them.”
Coach Shaw was very high on his senior quarterback Drew Stevens. “He is very composed and he does not get rattled and he is a great kid who loves his teammates,” said Coach Shaw. “He took a shot early in the game but he came right back and led us down the field on a score in our next possession.
“Also proud of our freshman running back Tre Segarra and he is a nationally ranked elite soccer player; ranked among the top 15 soccer players in the country,” said Coach Shaw. “His father is our assistant Principal and his mother is a former star soccer player as well. No body out-works this kid.”
This week Byrnes will host region foe Dorman in the first round of the AAAAA playoffs. “See what happens,” said Coach Shaw. “We win the region, get a top seed, and we are rewarded by having to play Dorman in the first round of the playoffs.”
Gaffney will host Lexington this week. Head coach Dan Jones talked with the HSSR after the game, “We failed to execute for most of the game tonight and there at the end of the game (after second fumble recovery trailing 27-21) we just could not get it done,” said Coach Jones. “We had a fumble and an interception that helped defeat us tonight for sure. We also had a couple issues with center snaps tonight that hurt us.
“Right now, we have to make sure that we are healthy get our legs under us and simplify a few things and concentrate on playing error free football,” said Coach Jones. “We still have great potential with the playoffs starting if we can get focused. In this game tonight we just had a hard time flipping the field.”
The game featured six players headed for post-season play in the Shrine Bowl and North- South all-star games. Gaffney will be represented in the Shrine Bowl by DL Jarriel Jefferies and OL Jake Buerk while Emazon Littlejohn will see action as a WR and Caron Foster will be a DL at the North South.
Byrnes will be represented in the North- South by DB Knai Cook and LB James Oates.
Byrnes took advantage of three first half turnovers, including two snaps over the quarterback’s head, to gain a 17-0 lead at the half. Talented freshman running back Tre Sagarra scored on a three-yard run, capping off a five play 50-yard drive, with 6:25 left in the first period to get the Rebels on the board. Place kicker Jacob Corman added two PAT’s in the first half plus a 25-yard field goal with 2:27 left in the opening period to give Byrnes a 10-0 lead over the error-plagued Indians in the first half.
Byrnes made it 17-0 at the half when Wildcat QB ZY Landrum scored on a seven-yard run with just 17 seconds left in the second period.
In the third period, Rebel’s QB Drew Stevens connected to Segarra on a six-yard pass and Cormon’s PAT stretched the lead to 24-0 with 10:08 left in the third period.
Gaffney scored their first touchdown of the game with 8:37 left in the third period when Staton passed 7 yards to Shane Davidson (6-5, 180) in the end zone. Jake Spadavecchia’s PAT cut the deficit to 24-7.
On their next drive the Rebels covered 86 yards on 11 plays but had to settle on a 20-yard field goal by Corman with 4:25 left in the third to pull-ahead 27-7 at that point in the game. On this drive Stevens completed a 41-yard pass to Chamarryus Bomar to keep the drive alive.
Gaffney scored on their next first two possessions of the fourth period. Staton tossed a four-yard scoring pass to Drew Medley with 9:54 left in the final period and the PAT made it 27-14.
Gaffney recovered a Byrnes fumble at their 48-yard line after kicking off to the Rebels. Nine plays later sophomore running back Jaiden McDowell scored from seven yards out and the PAT made it 27-21 with 6:14 left in the game.
Gaffney forced another fumble recovered by Imari Foster-Boyd with 3:49 left in the game at the Indians 36-yard line. However, Staton was sacked on a fourth down play from the 45-yard line as the Rebels took over. Byrnes scored their final touchdown of the game when Stevens found a wide- open Armoni Weaver on a 72-yard touchdown play. The PAT failed resulting in a final score of 33-21.
For the game Stevens completed 14-0f-22 passes for 264 yards and two TD’s. Weaver caught six passes for 134 yards. Segarra led Rebel rushers with 44 yards on 17 carries.
The Gaffney offensive leaders were Staton who completed 15-of-34 passes for 150 yards and one TD. His top target was Emazon Littlejohn with six catchers for 87 yards. McDowell led Gaffney rushers with a net of 58 yards on 20 carries and one TD.
On defense, Byrnes was led by senior LB James Oates with six tackles and an interception while Gaffney was led by sophomore LB Zyon Ratchford with 10 tackles.
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