#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.

Last Night's High School Football America Radio Show Now Available On-Demand

by Jeff Fisher
High School Football America

Listen to internet radio with HighSchoolFootballAmerica on Blog Talk Radio

In this episode of High School Football America, host Jeff Fisher talks with MaxPreps' Steve Spiewak about what should be a record-setting weekend ahead.

Also on the show is Dan Jones, head coach at Gaffney High School in South Carolina. The Indians are currently ranked #6 in the nation by MaxPreps. Gaffney has won the most South Carolina state high school football championships.

Jeff will then be joined by Carm DeFrancesco, head coach at Mt. Carmel HS in Pennsylvania. Last Friday, Mt. Carmel became just the fifth school in America to win 800 games.

The show closes with Armwood (FL) head coach Sean Callahan. Friday, Callahan's team, that is ranked #2 this week by MaxPreps, will face unbeaten Plant HS.