By AJ Lee
The Gaffney Indians started their season down Highway 150 in Boiling
Springs, NC. For people here in South
Carolina, the Crest Chargers were the
second-ranked team in 2A in North
Carolina. In May, the head coach of the
Indians, Dan Jones, got a phone call.
That call was from the head coach of
the Chargers, Jim Sosebee. Sosebee
wanted to play the Indians and Coach
Jones accepted the challenge. Coach
Jones said earlier this week that
whenever anybody calls wanting to play
Gaffney, it normally means they are
very good, but nobody saw what was
coming.
The Crest Chargers treated this as their “Super Bowl”. After both teams
went 3 and out on their first possession, Crest decided to take the lead. With 6:26
left in the first quarter Ny’tavious Huskey threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to
Javarious Green. Crest had some kicking issues on Friday night which led to
numerous missed extra points. Three minutes later, the Indians answered with a
field goal by Jake Spadavecchia. Another three minutes later Crest running back
Aidan Carson took off for a 67-yard touchdown run.
With 11:48 left in the second quarter, Riley Staton threw his first touchdown
in the black and gold to Jamarcus Smith for a 48-yard score. Just over 20 seconds
later, Huskey had a 19-yard pass to Javarious Green that went for six points. Nine
minutes remained in the 2nd quarter when Jaiden McDowell got his first touchdown
of the season for the tribe on a 5-yard rush. Four minutes later he got his second
one, but this one was a 49-yard rush to give Gaffney its first lead of the game. On
the last play of the first half, Huskey escaped three Indians almost on top of him to
somehow find Malachi Addison wide open in the end zone to give Crest the 26-24 lead
going into halftime.
In the third quarter, Riley Staton threw his best pass of the game to Emazon
Littlejohn for a 51-yard touchdown. As usual, Crest would answer. This time it was the Chargers' running back, Aidan Carson, with a three-yard touchdown run to give Crest a 34-31 lead after three quarters of play. Jaiden McDowell was not done scoring yet as he
went in for a third time on the evening to put Gaffney back in front. Huskey would
have one more touchdown pass as this one went to AJ Adams. Crest would add on
a field goal late. The Indians were driving with a chance to tie or take the lead but
faced a fourth and reasonable until the Tribe had a false start. Riley Staton
would be sacked on the ensuing play which would send the stadium into pandemonium.
When coach Dan Jones was asked about the performance after the game he
said, “Their quarterback had wheels, we would get to him with pressure, and he
would step up and find an open receiver”. He would continue to say, “In the 2nd
half we tried to do an umbrella on him because he is faster than our defensive
lineman, probably faster than anybody we have on the team”. Coach Jones was
asked about the positives he could take away from this game and he said, “Well,
we got down and kept competing, but the kids just made some mistakes”.
When I asked the head coach of the Chargers Jim Sosebee, about his team’s
performance he said, “What a great effort, you cannot question that at all, our guys
are high character guys, and I knew they were gonna play the entire 48 minutes as
hard as they could”. When asked about his quarterback, Huskey, he responded with, “He’s
pretty freakin good isn’t he? We practiced that in scrimmages, and he keeps his eyes
downfield well”. I also asked him what it felt like to knock off a premiere South
Carolina powerhouse and he said, “It’s the first time we beat them in school
history, so it feels awesome”.
The star of the night for the Chargers was their quarterback. Huskey went 21
for 30 for 326 yards and four touchdowns. Riley Staton for Gaffney went 14 for 25
for 279 yards and two touchdowns.
Jaiden McDowell led the night for the tribe with 20 carries for 142 yards and
three touchdowns.
All of this led to a 44-38 win over the Gaffney Indians for the Crest Chargers and one of the biggest wins in school history.
The Chargers will travel to Lawndale, NC next week to take on Burns, while
the Indians will return home to the Reservation to host Union County.
Comentários