Clover defense keeps top-tier SC offense in check, but Gaffney takes Region 3-5A crown

Consider this: One of the best offenses in South Carolina high school football marches into Clover to take on a team led by an aggressive play-caller of a coach who’s never seen a fourth down he didn’t consider going for — and you get … a defensive duel?

Guess so.

At least that’s what happened on Friday night in Memorial Stadium in Clover, where the No. 3 Gaffney Indians — who’d won all their games coming into Friday night and did so by scoring 39 points a game — beat a Clover team 21-3 despite only notching 47 total yards of offense at halftime and only accruing two offensive scores all night.

However you looked at it, the result was a bit strange: Gaffney won, yes — improving to 9-0 and 3-0 in region to win the Region 3-5A crown outright for the second time in as many years.

But still, Friday night validated the talent of a not-quite-at-full-strength Clover team (3-4, 2-1 region): The Blue Eagles did something no one has been able to do against Gaffney yet this year — hold Gaffney to less than 30 points — and they also proved that they were still the same team that stunned Dorman in August and the same team that could perhaps stun other 5A powers in November.

“Our defense has been ballin’ out,” head coach Brian Lane said postgame. “We just gotta get people healed on offense. I mean, we’re missing four starting receivers. The four starting receivers we had against Dorman are not playing right now.”

Those four receivers? Seniors Darius Bowser (a player with offers from Army and Navy) and Chance Sanders (a key contributor last season); junior Hunter Jaime; and talented sophomore Imon Caldwell.

“It’s just one of those deals where you might struggle a little bit,” Lane said. “But guess what? You gotta play.”

Clover holds Gaffney to only two big offensive plays

Gaffney seized a lead it wouldn’t relinquish early in the first quarter: After four three-and-outs, two from each team, Gaffney defensive back Eddie Tate-McDowell picked off a Clover pass and ran it back 28 yards for a touchdown to make the game 7-0. (Yes, there was a touchdown before there was a first down in this one.)

Clover had one promising drive in the first half, melting 5:37 off the clock and converting two fourth downs late in the second quarter, but it resulted in a turnover on downs — an early omen for the game’s entirety.

Then, in the second half, the game was effectively put away in three plays:

1. The first was a Gaffney pass from quarterback Grayson Loftis to running back Tyler Smith, who beat his defender on a wheel route for a 51-yard touchdown. 14-0, Gaffney.

2. Then after another near-six-minute Clover drive that saw the Blue Eagles get to the 7-yard line, an intentional grounding penalty on third down forced Clover to kick a field goal (which was converted on from 34 yards out by Carter Jackson). 14-3, Gaffney still up.

3. And then on the next play from scrimmage, Gaffney’s speedy running back Smith took a handoff, bounced to the outside and streaked down the left sideline for a 58-yard touchdown. That play delivered a 21-3 lead for the Indians and an early dagger for the Blue Eagles who’d hung tough for as long as they could.

Lane told his players in the postgame huddle that he was proud of them, and that they still have unfinished business for next week: A win over Nation Ford gives Clover the No. 2 spot in the region.

“Man, our defense played great,” Lane reiterated to The Herald Friday. He even made note of some defensive playmakers playing well on offense: Jy Martin, a senior defensive back, and Cooper Zohner, a talented junior linebacker, both made impacts at receiver on Friday.

Clover was led by Boyd, who completed 22 of 37 passes for 190 yards to eight different receivers on Friday night. The Blue Eagles saw other special efforts from Martin (seven catches, 63 yards), Myles Chisolm (3 catches, 51 yards) and Kaevon Gardner (13 carries, 56 yards, all of which came in the second half).

“That’s a really good team we played right there,” Lane said of Gaffney as the visitors walked out of Clover Memorial Stadium victorious. “And we played hard.”

This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 11:55 PM.

Alex Zietlow

The Herald

Alex Zietlow writes about sports and the ways in which they intersect with life in York, Chester and Lancaster counties for The Herald, where he has been an editor and reporter since August 2019. Zietlow has won nine S.C. Press Association awards in his career, including First Place finishes in Feature Writing, Sports Enterprise Writing and Education Beat Reporting. He also received two Top-10 awards in the 2021 APSE writing contest and was nominated for the 2022 U.S. Basketball Writers Association’s Rising Star award for his coverage of the Winthrop men’s basketball team.