Blue Eagles shift focus to Gaffney
Clover High School head football coach Chad Smith is looking for fewer turnovers and more offensive production as the Blue Eagles make the trek to Gaffney Friday night.
The game begins at 7:30 p.m. at The Reservation.
“The weather’s changing, that’s what’s happening in Gaffney,” he said. “When it gets cold, they start playing. Luckily, it’s gonna warm up a little bit before Friday, so they won’t think it’s a playoff game.”
The Indians, who had a bye last week, feature quarterback Bryson Ward at the controls. Depending on the field position, Ward often will put the ball in the air on fourth down, looking for receiver Scott McCluney. Running back D.J. Logan is a breakaway threat for the Indians.
“Gaffney is Gaffney,” said Smith. “They’ve won 17 state championships. To me, even though Northwestern’s probably got the better team this year, Gaffney represents the premier program team in the state of South Carolina.”
The Blue Eagles lost to Northwestern 63-0 at Memorial Stadium.
With quarterback Gage Moloney leading the way, the Trojans dotted the scoreboard twice in the first quarter and found the end zone on three occasions in the second quarter.
“Northwestern is a great football team,” Smith said. “Honestly, the last three years when I was at Easley, we played them. I think this is the most complete team they’ve ever had.”
Smith lauded the effort of the Blue Eagle players.
“I was proud of our kids,” he said. “I thought they played hard, regardless of the score. Defensively, we were actually where we were supposed to be. They just made more plays.”
Smith said the Blue Eagles need to shore up some things on the offensive side.
“We’re turning the ball over way too much,” he said. “But at the same time, even Friday night, I couldn’t fault our kids’ effort. It says a lot about their character.”
Smith added: “We look forward to good things in the future. But at the same time, we need to compete now. We want to send these seniors out on a high note and we’ve got three games left to do it.”
Cumulative offensive stats entering week nine show that junior Willy Clark has 447 yards rushing at 6.67 yards per carry.
Clark, a kickoff return specialist, leads the team in pass receptions, hauling in eight Noah Lindsay aerials for 198 yards and four touchdowns.
Lindsay, a senior signal-caller in a run-oriented double-wing offensive scheme, has 463 yards passing, including five touchdowns and four interceptions.
Another junior, Tanner Tolson, is the second leading rusher with 372 yards.
Senior Cody Payne, who has been injured, has rushed for 351 yards at 5.48 yards per carry.
This story was originally published October 20, 2015 at 10:25 AM with the headline "Blue Eagles shift focus to Gaffney."