#3 Gaffney Upset by Byrnes in South Carolina Title Game

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Byrnes did it again in the South Carolina Class AAAA Division I championship game.

Last season, the Rebels won the state title by avenging a regular season defeat by beating the #1 team in the state in the championship game.

Like Dorman last year, Gaffney, ranked #3 nationally by MaxPreps, felt the sting of payback in a 31-24 championship game loss.  Gaffney beat Byrnes 35-13 on September 16th.

The key in Saturday's win was Byrnes scoring two defensive touchdowns.  Skip Barnes scored on a 30-yard interception return; Melvin Armstrong scored on a 60-yard fumble recovery.

Gaffney quarterback Joey Copeland threw for 358 yards and two touchdowns.

The title was the 12th overall for Byrnes and eight in the past 10 seasons.

On October 27th, I spoke with Gaffney head coach Dan Jones on the High School Football America radio show about how tough it is to win a South Carolina state championship, because you usually see the same top teams twice in the season.

Click here to listen to the interview with Coach Jones.