What We Saw: Gaffney Runs Past Spartanburg

The matchup between two of the top quarterbacks in the state didn’t materialize. Instead, Friday’s rivalry matchup between Gaffney and Spartanburg turned into an old-fashioned slugfest. Gaffney rushed for 249 yards, including a pair of touchdowns in the game’s last seven minutes, to secure a 31-12 victory over the Vikings. The Indians’ one-two punch of [player_tooltip player_id="31310" first="Tyler" last="Smith"] and <strong>Ken Littlejohn</strong> proved too much for the Vikings, as Smith rushed for 123 yards on 15 carries, and Littlejohn notched 129 on 15 attempts. Each had their game-best attempt in the fourth quarter, once Spartanburg had made it a game. Leading just 17-12 with just under seven minutes left, Littlejohn ripped off a 47-yard touchdown to make it 24-12 and put Gaffney firmly back in command. Following an interception on Spartanburg’s next drive, Smith had a 41-yard dash to the Vikings’ 4-yard line, and scored on the next play for the final margin. "He helps me with my game, and I help him with his game," Smith said of his relationship with Littlejohn. "It’s a lot of film sessions behind the scenes that a lot of people don’t see. Just building that chemistry with each other is a good feeling. We came out with some juice tonight and just took over. They’re a good, sound football team but we prepared all week and we came out and showed it tonight." Controlling the line of scrimmage is something the Indians made a priority, OL [player_tooltip player_id="89326" first="Sawyer" last="Whitman"] said. "We knew from watching film that the game was going to be on us, win or lose," Whitman said. "If we can run the ball, we can win the game. That’s what we always say. We came out and ran the ball and did what we were supposed to do." They got some help from their backs’ physical running styles. Littlejohn wreaked havoc between the tackles, and Smith’s speed helped him outside, but he wasn’t shy about dishing out some punishment. On the game’s first drive, he hauled in a pass out of the backfield, headed to the Gaffney sideline, and laid out a defender as he headed out of bounds. "Tyler does that all the time," Whitman said. "He’s got speed and power. That gets you fired up when you see a running back doing that." <div>• With [player_tooltip player_id="89339" first="Raheim" last="Jeter"] out due to an injury sustained in the Vikings’ final jamboree, the matchup between two of the state’s top 2023 QBs didn’t happen. However, Gaffney’s [player_tooltip player_id="89340" first="Grayson" last="Loftis"] still gave a glimpse of what’s drawing Division I attention. Lawson threw for 136 yards on 10 completions, including an early touchdown to <strong>Kaliber Hoey</strong>. He looked adept at moving the pocket an throwing on the run, as well as buying time when he needed to. A play that didn’t count might have been Loftis’ best of the night. Under pressure, he rolled left, re-set, and fired a completion nearly 60 yards in the air to <strong>Deshun Corry</strong> inside Spartanburg’s 5-yard line, only to see the gain wiped out by a penalty.</div> <div></div> <div></div> <div>• Jeter’s absence also led Spartanburg to rely more heavily on the run game, and <strong>Drek Carter</strong> was up to the challenge. Carter carried 21 times for 148 yards and two touchdowns, showing the speed to break away and often seeming to seek out contact. His first score came on an option pitch, and saw him dive over a defender from the 2. The second came on a 41-yard run on which he started right and found nothing, broke back to the left, split defenders 20 yards into the run, and ran over another at the goal line to pull the Vikings to within five points late.</div> <div></div> <div></div> <div>• There were plenty of defensive standouts in the game as well. [player_tooltip player_id="89301" first="Judah" last="McJimpsey"] was seemingly everywhere for the Vikings, notching 6.5 tackles and a sack. [player_tooltip player_id="59498" first="Jesus" last="Dowdle"] had eight total tackles for Gaffney, while <strong>Keyshawn Hemphill</strong> and <strong>Eddie Tate-McDowell</strong> each snagged an interception.</div>