Dorman shuts-out Gaffney 20-0, & The Cav’s Will Win Region 2-AAAAA With a Win Against Eastside This Week
Dorman Seniors, Nick Means getting the handoff from Meek Slydell in their victory over Gaffney.
By Billy G. Baker
Publisher
Spartanburg—Dorman (7-2, 5-1) likely clinched the Region 2-AAAAA title, with a 20-0 shut-out win over rival Gaffney at home on October 24th with both teams concluding the regular season with 5-1 region records, with one region game left on Halloween night, for both teams.
Dorman will play at Eastside (4-5) while Gaffney hosts Wade Hampton (0-9) this week.
Dorman head coach Jake Morris, who graduated from Dorman in 2010, described the game as his biggest win in the three seasons he has been the head coach at his alma mater. “We have been on the edge all-season, just playing real aggressive, and we have a lot of special talent on this team, and we have tremendous leadership, with a great senior group, and a very good underclassmen group of players coming up behind them,” said Coach Morris from the field after the big win. “They have all bought into what it takes a win. We have refocused ourselves as a team after that heartbreaking loss to Spartanburg in the final seconds of that game.
“We had a big win at Wade Hampton last week, followed up be a tremendous week of practice this week, and these guys just put it all together on the field tonight against Gaffney,” said Coach Morris. “I am proud of them. All the credit goes to the kids because they are the ones who play. We coaches put them in a position to make plays and they responded with some big plays tonight on both sides of the football.”
Coach Morris cited the play of nose guard Zay Meadows (6-1,265) and James Porter (6-1, 235) in the defensive front along with Nehimiah Miller who has stepped up for an injured player on defense with one interception. Ja’bez Thomas stepped us on defense also with two key interceptions tonight.
“Then you look on the other side of the ball, and we have a veteran group of offensive linemen with experience,” said Coach Morris. “Those players include junior tackle Nate Gambrell (6-2, 240), senior guard Nathan Chhoy (5-9,235), and senior center Jessie Rosales does a great job at center. These guys, on both sides of our line just buy into our game plan and hats off to the way all of them played.”
Coach Morris also praised the potential of freshman running back Carter Nash who scored a TD in the final period on a great run. “Carter actually started on our varsity baseball team as an 8th grader and he is a heck of an athlete with a great future in both sports,” said Coach Morris.
“This win tonight is right up there with our biggest win since I became the head coach three years ago,” said Coach Morris. “We beat Gaffney last year (9-7), but this win is big because it puts us in the driver’s seat to win the region. We still have to keep focused and play well against Eastside next week to win the region.”
After the disappointing loss Gaffney head coach Donnie Littlejohn told the HSSR, “Having three turnovers in the red zone really hurt us,” said Coach Littlejohn. “They spied our quarterback (Banks Bouton) the entire game with one player, and we had not seen that this season.
“Give Dorman credit; they played nearly flawless on defense, and they limited our big-play potential,” said Coach Littlejohn. “Until the fourth quarter we had limited them to one touchdown and two field goals, so we played pretty good on defense ourselves. However, our offense made too many mistakes and that was the main difference in the game.
“In practice this week we will focus on reestablishing our identity on offense, and keeping the players focused and motivated on defense as we close out the regular season against Wade Hampton.” said Coach Littlejohn. “We are healthy for the most part coming out of the game with Dorman.”
Dorman is four points away from being undefeated in the season, with close losses to Greenwood and Spartanburg earlier in this season. Against Gaffney, the Cavaliers three interceptions against the Indians in the red zone, helped them shut out the Indians for the first time since the play-offs in 2009 when Dorman also won that game 18-0.
Dorman scored their first points on a 24-yard field goal by Ranson Farr with 1:04 left in the first period. Cavalier senior running back Nick Means (5-8, 174) made it 10-0 on a 19-yard rushing TD with 9:12 left in the second after Farr’s PAT. With .04 left in the first- half, Farr made it to a 13-0 Dorman half-time lead with a 19-yard field goal.
In the second half both team’s defenses stepped up. The only score of the half came with 2:55 left in the game when talented freshman RB Carter Nash broke several tackles on a 20-yard run. Farr’s PAT made the final score 20-0.
For the game, Dorman tallied 293 yards of total offense on 54 plays with Meek Slydell (6-2, 190) at QB. The Cav’s controlled the clock by rushing for 234 yards on 42 carries. In the air, Dorman completed 8-of-12 passes for 59 yards.
Gaffney had 277 net yards on 56 plays and senior QB Banks Bouton completed 17-of-29 for 226 yards but the three interceptions stopped potential scoring drives. On the ground the Indians were 27-for-51 yards.
The top rusher for Dorman was Means who netted 112 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. The top WR was junior Tre’Gan Mickler (5-8,, 153) with three catches for 24 yards.
The top rusher for Gaffney was Josiah Hall who gained 64 yards on 13 carries. The top receivers for the Indians were Chas Smith who caught 9 passes for 155 yards and Quentis Hines who had four catches for 32 yards.
On the tackle index Dorman was led by Clemson DB commitment Kentavion Anderson (6-2, 185) with six tackles, while junior Tylon Edwards (6-1, 185) and junior Nehemiah Miller chipped in with four each. Junior Ja’bez Thomas (5-11, 185) contributed two huge interceptions for Dorman while Miller had one pick.
Gaffney’s Kareem Shaw had one pick. The top tacklers for Gaffney versus Dorman, were Kamari Williams 10, while Adreyan Moore, Zyon Ratchford, and Kendarius “Peanut” Bailey each contributed six tackles.
