Gilmer's Gospel

A few weeks ago I posted the schedule for the Charter Communications games of the week.

It was brought to my attention that WYMA Channel 40 is also doing a game of the week.

Here is that schedule.
Friday – Laurens vs. Hillcrest
Sept. 12 – Seneca vs. Greenville
Sept. 19 – Gaffney vs. T.L. Hanna
Sept. 26 – Hillcrest vs. J.L. Mann
Oct. 3 – Greenville vs. Wade Hampton
Oct. 10 – T.L. Hanna vs. Easley
Oct. 17 – Dorman vs. Boiling Springs
Oct. 24 – Riverside vs. Chapman
Oct. 31 – Byrnes vs. Mauldin

     If you’re a prep sports fan and need to know where to go this week for some non-football action, here’s your chance to catch-up on what’s happening and what will be good to watch.

     Tuesday
     Spartanburg at Mauldin, swimming: Mauldin has been the cream of the crop for swimming in Region II-4A in recent years. It was a place the Vikings held for a while. Now, the Vikings must swim well to take back the region championship. This will be a good meet.
     Broome, Chapman at Landrum, volleyball, 5:30 p.m.: Broome and Chapman battled for the Region II-2A title last season in a tiebreaker. Landrum is the two-time defending 1A state champions. This three-way match will be fun for everyone because the volleyball will be so exciting.

     Wednesday
     Southside Christian at Woodruff, girls tennis, 4:30 p.m.: Woodruff has some solid tennis players and this will be a good early-season test.
     Byrnes at Dorman, girls golf, 4:15 p.m.: This match, held at the Carolina Country Club, pits one of the top 4A teams against an up-and-coming team. Byrnes is a relatively new program and is looking to get to the same level as Dorman.

     Thursday
     Dorman at Riverside, volleyball, 7 p.m.: These are two of the top volleyball programs around and some of the girls play on the same club team.

     Saturday
     Eye Opener, Milliken Park, 9 a.m.: This cross country event is exactly what it’s called: it’s an eye-opening event. Teams find out a little about themselves and about their opponents.
     This is one of the biggest early-season events around and it’s also one of the best run events.
     Watch for Dorman’s boys and Spartanburg’s girls to be in the hunt.

     Go out and watch some high school athletics.

Greer quarterback Efferlan Williams ran for 115 yards and one score. (Photo by Alex Hicks)

After a good night of football, it's time to look back at who in the area starred.

Dominique Parks, Greer RB: Parks rushed for 213 yards on 28 carries.

Efferlan Williams, Greer QB: Williams ran 12 times for 115 yards.

Cedric Proctor, Chesnee QB: Proctor finished the 25-7 win against Chase (N.C.) with 228 passing yards on 13 of 22 throwing and rushed for 38 yards.

Taylor Pate, Landrum QB: Pate threw two touchdown passes.

Thomas Copeland, Chapman DB: Copeland ran a kick off back 91 yards for the Panthers' lone score.

Marcus Lattimore, Byrnes RB: Lattimore ran for 179 yards on 23 carries and ran for two touchdowns.

Walt Canty, Dorman: Canty scored the only points in the Dorman-Gaffney game on a three-yard run.

Dorman's defense: The Cavaliers defense pulled off a shutout.

Dylan P. Thompson, Boiling Springs QB: Thompson threw for four touchdowns (20, 28, 38 and 48 yards). He was 9 of 13 passes for 190 yards.

Josh Murph, Boiling Springs RB: Murph ran for 149 rushing yards on 21 carries and had two rushing touchdowns.

Markeith Hailstock, Spartanburg RB: Hailstock had 96 yards on eight carries. He had a 50-yard touchdown run.

 

There were a lot more, but there are some of the top ones.

Dorman defensive back Taylor Sowell intercepted a pass and then batted another down in the end zone in overtime to help the Cavaliers secure a shutout of Gaffney. (Photo by Tim Kimzey)

     Walt Canty took the opportunity to zing me.
     After he and his defensive mates shut out the Gaffney Indians on Friday night, I spoke to Canty about the game.
     I wanted to talk to him about his one offensive series, the one in overtime where he ran from three yards out to score the lone points in a 6-0 victory.
     He talked about that. Then made sure I saw what was on the scoreboard.
     “You see our defense got a shutout and some people predicted they were going to put up 30 points on us,” Canty said. “But, hey, we had to come out and prove them wrong.”
     Hint – replace “some people” with “some idiot named Gilmer” and “prove them wrong” with “prove you wrong” and you understand what Canty was really saying.
     Alright. You got me Walt.
     You and the defense proved me wrong. I now have more faith in the defense.
     …
     My first impression of the new Reservation? I’m lost.
     There is no longer a door in the front of the press box to get in. I walked around and looked for the door and then had to ask directions from someone else.
     The smart thing was that students were stationed at the entrances to help fans to their seats.
     If you want to see a beautiful high school football facility, go to Gaffney.
     This place is immaculate.
     (And the paint crew, as always, did a fantastic job. Love the faded look in the colors in the end zone)
     The field is in good condition, there’s plenty of seats and it looks like everyone had a good time watching the game.
     “I think Gaffney fans would have liked it more with a victory,” Gaffney coach Phil Strickland said.
     …
     The opening of the stadium was a sight.
     On the video scoreboard, a short movie showed the school mascot dig into the earth at W.K. Brumbach Stadium, pull out a football and then put some dirt in a bag. He then hopped onto a helicopter and flew to the new stadium.
     The real helicopter came into view and the mascot hopped out when it touched down to midfield.
     He had the game ball and sprinkled the dirt from the old field onto the new field.
     “If that don’t give you cold chills, nothing will,” field painter Kevin Wray said.
     It did.
     …
     The press box TV was turned away from the Weather Channel to the Byrnes game when the radio guys started packing up.


Gotta love this view of the new Reservation. Photo by Tim Kimzey.

     … better than a good day at work.

     Football lingo is often used in life.
     Boss to employees: “Come on guys, its fourth-and-4, let’s make this deal go through.”
     Employee to boss: “I couldn’t think of an idea, so I dropped back and punted.”
     Well, my wife is an excellent example of how I outkicked my coverage.
     She’s way too good for me.
     This week I’ve been on vacation with my wife and her family.
     The beach has been about throwing poor spirals, Tarzan yells, good food, watching kids play and soaking up the sun. I’ve read 3.25 books, played the new Madden and college football games and enjoyed a River Dogs baseball game.
     I’ve also learned another reason why my wife is too good of a catch for me.
     It’s because she’s a good catch.
     We went fishing this week and she caught more than me.
     (Raise your hand if you read that last sentence and said, ‘How do you get your wife to fish?’)
     We went twice and here was the tally: Summer 3 fish, 3 blue crabs. Jason 2 fish.
     This isn’t the first time it’s happened. Last summer, she caught a shark and another fish off a bridge, while I simply got to take her photo.
     Yup, I outkicked my coverage.
     Don’t worry, I’m not alone. Many of you have, too.

     Next week I'm back in the office and back to more frequent blogs. I'm headed to the Gaffney-Dorman game Friday night. Give me a yell if you see me.