By AJ Lee
Gaffney made the three-hour drive down from Cherokee County, SC to face the Fort Dorchester Patriots on a chilly September Friday Night. These two teams have only met twice before. The Indians traveled to Fort Dorchester in 2014 when the Patriots escaped with a narrow victory. They would not play again until last year back in The Reservation in Gaffney, where the Indians would escape with a narrow victory of their own.
Gaffney would start hot as Jaiden McDowell caught a screen pass and took it in for a 21-yard touchdown. Just over a minute later, Riley Staton would find Jamarcus Smith for a 45-yard touchdown. The Patriots would answer with three minutes left in the 1st quarter as Charles Watson connected with Ryan Campbell. Less than a minute later it would be Jamarcus Smith again with his 2nd touchdown of the night—the point after would be blocked. The Patriots were not done yet as Jalen Barry caught a touchdown pass from Watson. Once again, the Patriots would score again before the end of the 1st quarter. After the longest 1st quarter in history that lasted an hour, we were all tied at 20.
In the 2nd quarter, it took four minutes in for the scoring to start when Emazon Littlejohn would get into the endzone. With 2:24 left in the 2nd quarter, Marquis Muhammed got the Patriots back to a tie score of 27-27, which would hold heading into halftime.
In the 3rd quarter, it was Jaiden McDowell again into the endzone to give the Indians the lead. Per usual, the Patriots answered as Charles Watson ran into the endzone on a quarterback keeper. That is all the scoring we had in the 3rd quarter as we were still tied 34-34.
Only 20 seconds into the 4th quarter, it was Emazon Littlejohn who found the football in the endzone. Not even a minute later Jaiden McDowell would get his 2nd touchdown of the night and the Tribe opened up a 14-point advantage. Fort Dorchester would score one more time, but it still would not be enough. The Indians make the 3-plus hour drive down to Charleston and walk back with a victory by the score of 48-40.
Coach Dan Jones said postgame, “We came into the hornet’s nest, and we were the hotshots”. He also mentioned his injuries on the team and he hopes that the team can get some of them better as a bye week is upcoming for the Indians before they open region play on October 6 at Spartanburg.
Riley Staton shined for the Tribe, as he went 23 for 31 for 327 and 5 touchdowns. Jaiden McDowell ran for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns on 30 carries. He also chipped in 5 receptions for 58 yards and a touchdown. Emazon Littlejohn and Jamarcus Smith both had 2 receiving touchdowns on the night.
The Patriots will remain at home as they begin region play against Ashley Ridge in Week 6.
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