What We Saw: Gaffney 42, JL Mann 40, OT

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>GREENVILLE </strong>| Of course, Friday's showdown between Gaffney and JL Mann was going to be decided on a play near the Indians' goal line.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After the Patriots had TEN plays inside Gaffney's two-yard line over four quarters, it just had to.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>This one was actually at the three-yard line and it was a two-point conversion in overtime but just like most of those goal-line plays in regulation, the Indians found a way. <strong>McLeod Darnell</strong> threw a pass to <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1249825' first='Keyshun' last='Henderson']</strong> in the end zone and just before it got there, a pair of Gaffney defenders knocked it away. The celebration was on for the Class 5A No. 2-ranked Indians as they escaped with a 42-40 win over sixth-ranked Mann before an overflow crowd at Slaton Field.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I love competing and I love winning, but the biggest thing is I like for the kids to be excited after the game is over especially when they give the kind of effort they gave tonight," Gaffney coach Dan Jones said. "I tip my hat to our defense. They made a lot of loss of yardage plays that really put them (Mann) in a tough position. Thank goodness it did ... because that team is a force."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The fact that the game made it to overtime was a testament to the will of Mann, which never broke against a suffocating Gaffney defense. Of the Patriots' combination of 52 runs and pass completions, 23 went for two yards or fewer including 16 that didn't advance past the line of scrimmage. Sophomore linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1036755' first='Kendaris' last='Bailey']</strong> set Gaffney's defensive tone for the night with a pair of first quarter sacks.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Indians' lone turnover came on a muffed punt that Mann recovered on the Gaffney four-yard line early in the game. The Patriots actually broke through for the game's opening score in that goal line situation on a one-yard run by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1249774' first='Nacyus' last='Morrison']</strong> two plays later.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Indians answered on their ensuing possession when a big night for wide receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1254122' first='Jamarcus' last='Smith']</strong> (pictured) began with a 27-yard touchdown reception from <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='284134' first='Jayvon' last='Gilmore']</strong> on a fourth-and-five play. A blocked punt late in the first quarter helped Gaffney take the lead two plays into the second quarter and the Indians built that advantage to 19-10 at the halftime break.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"It all comes down to trust with our quarterback. He trusts our linemen, we trust him and our coaches trust us to get us the ball in clutch situations," said Smith, who finished with seven receptions for 201 yards and two touchdowns. "We had some ups and some downs, but we just fought together as a team and got it done."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Indians took that nine-point lead into the locker room thanks to their first goal line stand of the night. After Greer had first-and-goal at the two, Georgia State-bound running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1012565' first='LaDainnian' last='Martin']</strong> was stopped on first and second down. A sideline penalty backed Mann up five yards and after a third down incompletion, Darnell was heavily pressured and his pass was picked off by freshman <strong>Zyon Dawkins</strong> in the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Patriots trailed 27-13 late in the third quarter when a 37-yard pass from Darnell to Henderson and a 21-yard run by Morrison gave them first-and-goal at the one. Three runs netted minus-one yard and on fourth down, Darnell's pass fell incomplete.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With 7:51 left, Mann made sure to not get tackled at the one as an end around, flea flicker resulted in a 38-yard touchdown pass from Darnell to <strong>Toby Wilkins</strong> to cut the lead to seven. Two plays later, Gaffney answered when Gilmore found Smith on a 73-yard touchdown and the Indians were seemingly in command leading 34-20 with 7:26 left.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>But on Mann's first play of its next possession, Martin finally broke through for a 22-yard gain. Prior to that, he'd been held to 18 yards on 13 attempts. That drive ended on fourth-and-19 when Henderson made a phenomenal leaping catch of a 22-yard touchdown as he fell to his back in the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gaffney went three-and-out on its next possession thanks to back-to-back tackles-for-loss by Mann linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1249737' first='Wyatt' last='Ward']</strong> and a third-down pass breakup by <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1579133' first='Josh' last='Lee']</strong>.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A 31-yard pass from Darnell to <strong>Zak Stewart</strong> ended with him being tackled at the one-yard line. Unbelievably, the Patriots had first-and-goal at the one again, this time with the game on the line. On first down, Darnell was sacked by <strong>Sherman Tate</strong> for a loss of eight. On second down, <strong>Caleb Williams</strong> held on for a catch despite a big hit that resulted in him helicopter spinning down at the one again. On third down, Morrison was stopped for a loss of one. On fourth down, <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='1259367' first='Obadiah' last='Jones']</strong> finally was able to just barely turn the left corner for a touchdown with 1:23 left that helped force overtime.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>After Gilmore opened overtime with a seven-yard run, a personal foul on Mann moved it to the two. Senior linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='605522' first='Andrew' last='Ruppe']</strong> came on and bulled his way into the end zone for his second short touchdown run of the night. After the Patriots were flagged on the extra point attempt, Gaffney's offense replaced the special teams unit and Ruppe rammed in the two-point conversion. That decision made so much sense considering Gaffney's goal-line defense all night should Mann have to go for two as they did.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"I've been running heavy for a little while. I didn't get to run it much last year because I broke my shoulder in the Clover game, but I love it," Ruppe said. "To get the ball, put my head down and run people over? I'm a linebacker. That's what I do. ... I knew there'd be a game that would come down to one final play (for Ruppe). I didn't know it'd come so soon.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>"You've got to give props to everybody on the team. We all played a great game against a great team."</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Martin scored on a 10-yard scamper on Mann's first play of overtime. That gave him 48 yards on 17 carries. Darnell completed each of his final nine passes to finish at 16-of-31 passing for 269 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Henderson caught six passes for 70 yards. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Gilmore, who's committed to Arkansas, finished with 275 yards on 13-of-28 passing with three touchdowns and no interceptions for Gaffney.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->