Gaffney Rallies For 28-27 Win Over Greenville To Earn Region 2-AAAA Title, Indians have Bye In First Round of Playoffs

By Billy G. Baker

Publisher 

Gaffney---It is not often that the top AAAA ranked Gaffney Indians trail a team 14-0 in the first half at The Reservation, but the Greenville Red Raiders came to play last Friday night with the Region 2-AAAA crown on the line. and top seeding in the playoffs, hanging in the balance for both teams. 

Greenville went up 14-0 with 3:35 left in the first half on a 15-yard run by junior QB Kiishawn Farrow and a 62-yard pass from Farrow to Hamp Renfrow with Grayson O’Toole making both PAT’s. 

Gaffney fought back with a six-play 76 -yard scoring drive that resulted in a four-yard TD run by top RB Amire White with 1:37 to go before the break. CollinAllison added the PAT for Gaffney. 

Greenville received the third quarter kick-off and marched 15 plays, putting together a 64-yard scoring drive, culminating in an 8-yard pass from Farrow to junior WR Bryson Mosley with 6:12 left in the third period. O’Toole’s PAT made it 21-7 with 6:12 left in the third. 

Gaffney needed to answer and they did. It took the Indians just four plays to cut the deficit to 21-13 after the PAT was no good.

Kendarius “Peanut” Bailey broke several tackles on a 24-yard run with 4:18 left in the third period to cut the deficit to 8 points.

Greenville scored their final TD with 8:45 left in the game when Farrow tossed his second scoring pass to Mosley in the game from 64 yards and the PAT failed to make it a 27-13 game.

Over the final 8 minutes of the game the Gaffney defense stiffened while their offense came alive. On the ensuing kick-off, after a great return by AydenMontgomery, Gaffney took over at the Raider 35-yard line. On second down Taylor passed 35-yards to Quentis Hines for a TD with Allison’s PAT cutting the deficit to 27-20 with 7:55 left in the game.

With the Gaffney crowd cheering them on the Indians forced a punt and took their final possession of the game at their own 32-yard line with around four minutes left in the contest. A pass interference call kept the drive going. With 22 seconds on the left Taylor passed to a wide-open TE Hank Davidson for a touchdown. Peanut Bailey ran the two-point conversion in to give the Indians a dramatic come=from-behind 28-27 win that also gave the Indians the Region 2-AAAA title and a bye in the first round of the AAAA playoffs starting this week.

After the game, head coach Donnie Littlejohn shared his feelings with the HSSR. “Ever since we got a bitter taste in our mouths after losing to Northwestern (58-40) late in the playoffs last year, we have been focused as team of players and coaches, at working hard towards competing for a state title this season,” said Coach Littlejohn. “Our first goal was to make sure we won the region title, and hopefully we will have a high enough RPI so we can host the upper state championship if we keep winning. These kids understand the legacy of Gaffney football, and we always have a chance, and they have been bred and raised to be Gaffney Indians, just like I was. 

“There are a lot of great things I can say about my town and community, and we love football and football loves us, so I feel good about where we are right now,” said Coach Littlejohn. “We are going to have some time to get our people healed up and make some corrections going into the play-offs and we are focused at being the best we can be.”



Trailing at the half, what were Coach Littlejohn’s adjustments. “I’ll be honest with you, my half-time adjustments included a lot of screaming and yelling,” said Coach Littlejohn. “As far as game planning, I feel like we have the best coaching staff in the state of South Carolina and they are here for a reason. My job is to hire men of faith, character, integrity, and passion to get the job done and as you saw tonight, they eventually got the job done. 

“The message was to trust the game plan and get the kids to execute better and do what they were supposed to do,” said Coach Littlejohn. “I felt like we played much better in the second half.” 

Coach Littlejohn describes his Shrine Bowl LB Kendarius “Peanut” Bailey as the best all-around football player in the state. “Peanut is a Mr. Football Finalist for a reason,” said Coach Littlejohn. “We just knew he was going to make the two- point conversion at the end of the game, and we have confidence in him as a leader of this team. He is the best football player in the state as far as I am concerned.”

Coach Littlejohn is also high on the play of soph QB Corey Taylor. “I keep forgetting that he is just a sophomore, but after 10 games now I consider him a junior,” said Coach Littlejohn. “He made some good throws to night, and he had several runs that helped us with his feet also.”

Gaffney will also be represented in the Shrine Bowl by OL CJ Brooks. DB Ayden Montgomery (5-11, 190) and DB Adreyan Kendrick Monroe (5-10, 175) will represent Gaffney in the North-South all-star game at Myrtle beach in December. 

Greenville will be represented in the North-South all-star game by DL Julian Renwick (6-2, 225) and DB Cayson Carson (6-0,180). 

Greenville head coach Scoot Watson told the HSSR after the game with Gaffney. “Our quarterback has been stepping up all season and throwing the ball very well,” said Coach Watson. “I felt like our team came in ready to play a good game tonight.

“We made a too many mistakes in the kicking game and their return men helped them with good field position on their returns in this game,” said Coach Watson. “I feel like we have played a very competitive schedules this season and we are looking forward to the playoffs.”

Greenville will play region foe Greer this week in the first round of the AAAA playoffs. 

For the game with Greenville, Taylor completed 16-of-23 passes for 182 yards and two TD’s. White led the Gaffney rushing attack with 60 yards on 18 carries and one TD. The top WR’s for Gaffney were Trason Smith (4-for-61), Davidson (two-for-210 and one TD), along with Marquis Young (four-for-53).

The top Gaffney tacklers on defense were DL Marquel Smalls (5 tackles), DB Zion Dawkins (four tackles), LB Peanut Bailey (four tackles), and DB MoneyMonroe, and LB AJ Logan, had three tackles each. 

Greenville QB Farrow completed 17-of-26 passes for 227 yards and three TD’s. The top WR’s were Trip Bryant (5-for-69), Mosely (3-for-57 and two TD’s), along with DeAndre Dogan (5-for-42). Farrow was the top rusher (10-for-75 and one TD). 

The top Grenville tacklers versus Gaffney included LB Ethan McNatt (7 tackles), DL Kamari Williams (7 tackles) and LB Ayden Burton (four tackles). 

Entering the playoffs, Taylor has completed 97-0f-147 passes for 1,384 yards and 14 TD’s. White leads Gaffney rushers with 787 yards on 108 carries and 9 TD’s. The top WR’s are junior Marquis Young (20-374-3 TD;s), along with Smith (16-for-298-1 TD). 

The top six tacklers for the Indians on defense include: Dawkins (40 and 3 caused fumbles), LB Karien Good (43), Monroe (37), Bailey (32 and five sacks), LB T. McGill (26 tackles), along with Smalls (23 tackles and three sacks).