What We Saw: Gaffney Defense Smothers Byrnes

Jed Blackwell November 19, 2022 @ 07:43 AM

Gaffney' LB [player_tooltip player_id='268582' first='Brayshawn' last='Littlejohn'] and DE [player_tooltip player_id='443491' first='Nathan' last='Johnson'] are finally healthy at the same time.   For the Indians' opponents, that's a scary prospect.   Littlejohn and Johnson ran over, under, and through the Byrnes offense on Friday, helping lead the Indians to a 34-28 victory over the Rebels, avenging a week 10 loss, and setting up a highly-anticipated matchup with Dutch Fork in the Upper State final. That game will be a rematch of last year's 5A state title game, which Gaffney won largely on the backs of their defense.   "We knew that Brayshawn was finally 100 percent, which he hadn't been in more than a month," said Gaffney co-defensive coordinator Randy Birch. "We knew getting 100 percent, that makes it tough to block him, and it frees up Nate a little bit, too. He's been a little dinged up as well. Both of them had multiple sacks, and that's what we expected out of them. We knew they (Byrnes) were gonna have some trouble with inside pressure."   Littlejohn had nine tackles for the Indians, while Johnson added eight. Four of the Indians' seven sacks came from the pair. They added a ton of QB pressures, and did so many other things well. Littlejohn just overran a sack that would have pinned Byrnes inside the 10, but came back and made a tackle. Johnson forced a fumble that was returned for a score, and turned in perhaps the most impressive play of the night: the big DE chased a swing pass down outside the opposite numbers for just a two-yard gain.   Johnson, who missed a couple weeks with an injury, said he's motivated to help the Indians any way he can.   "They got us back in Week 10, and we wanted to come out here and show what we're made of," Johnson said. "I just want to give a hundred percent effort every play. Plays come to you when you give effort."   The return of the two led to Gaffney's defensive scheme being tweaked to move Littlejohn around, which freed up Johnson even more.   "We tried to move Bray around so they wouldn't realize he was coming from the same side all the time," Birch said. "He had a great week of practice, and we were able to move him all over the field. We even had a couple of zone blitzes where he showed he was coming and then got out of there. That really helped us neutralize their screen game early, I think. When we got a couple touchdown lead and knew they had to try to throw it, it's easy to kind of pin your ears back with those guys."   Littlejohn said he doesn't have a preference where he lines up.   "I really just like being all over the field," he said. "I think it's one of the things I do best. I can come from anywhere. It messes with their mind a little bit, wondering where I'm going to be. I love it."   Littlejohn also loves the freedom that playing alongside Johnson gives them both.   "I love Nate," he said. "He came in this summer, we both put so much work in, and this season he's been outstanding. With me and Nate on the field, I just feel more comfortable. He's got one side of the field locked down, I've got the other. If you double one of us, the other comes free. That's a good thing for us."   It's not so good for opponents, as Friday night showed.   Indians Offense Does Plenty   While the defense threatened to steal the show, Gaffney's offense put together a solid game to all but put it away before a pair of Rebels' TDs made it close at the end. [player_tooltip player_id='89340' first='Grayson' last='Loftis'] threw for 265 yards and a pair of TDs. Both scores went to Drew Medley, who added another catch and finished with three for 160 yards. [player_tooltip player_id='473029' first='Jaiden' last='McDowell'] returned from an injury that slowed him down a bit, saw some limited action, and rushed for 44 yards on just six carries. And Andrew Ruppe made the most of his opportunities in Gaffney's short-yardage package, finishing with three carries, five yards, and two touchdowns.   Weaver Provides Spark   Despite rushing for -4 yards on the game, Byrnes made it a contest in the middle and at the end. [player_tooltip player_id='272705' first='Armoni' last='Weaver'] returned a kickoff 77 yards for a score that cut the Gaffney lead to 13-7 early in the contest, where it stayed for much of the second quarter. And Colby Shaw tossed a pair of late TDs, one to Ethan Morris and one to [player_tooltip player_id='272708' first='Chamarryus' last='Bomar'], and ran for another as the Rebels forced Gaffney to recover an onside kick with less than a minute left to secure the win.