Gilmer's Gospel

 

It was announced earlier this week that Bruce Springsteen will play the halftime show for the Super Bowl.

Will it look like this?

 

 

 

Someone has way too much time on their hands... but dang it's funny.

Here's the poll voted on by high school sports writers at The State, Rock Hill Herald, Island Packet, Myrtle Beach Sun and Herald-Journal.

4A
1. Byrnes (50)
2. Northwestern (41)
3. South Pointe (40)
4. Dorman (38)
5. (tie) Sumter (24)
5. (tie) Beaufort (24)
7. Lexington (11)
8. (tie) Gaffney (10)
8. (tie) Laurens (10)
8. (tie) Rock Hill (10)
Others: Berkeley (5), Conway (5), Aiken (3), Boiling Springs (3), Orangeburg-Wilkinson (1)

3A
1. Myrtle Beach (50)
2. Daniel (42)
3. Marlboro County (35)
4. Crestwood (32)
5. Fairfield Central (30)
6. Greer (28)
7. Pickens (24)
8. North Myrtle Beach (12)
9. (tie) Airport (9)
9. (tie) Lugoff-Elgin (9)
Others: J.L. Mann (2), St. James (2)

2A
1. Timberland (50)
2. Abbeville (44)
3. Central (38)
4. Strom Thurmond (32)
5. Chesnee (24)
6. Batesburg-Leesville (20)
7. Dillon (19)
8. Columbia (12)
9. Woodruff (11)
10. Pendleton (8)
Others: Kingstree (6), Cheraw (4), Gilbert (4), Keenan (3)

1A
1. Blackville-Hilda (44)
2. Bamberg-Ehrhardt (41)
3. Chesterfield (40)
4. Calhoun County (33)
5. (tie) Lake View (22)
5. (tie) Lamar (22)
7. Williston-Elko (21)
8. Carvers Bay (17)
9. (tie) Christ Church (16)
9. (tie) Ninety Six (16)
Others: Great Falls (2), Hannah-Pamplico (1)

     Quarterbacks often put up big numbers in the Byrnes offensive system.
     The same can now be said of the Woodruff offensive scheme, which now has a former Rebel quarterback and assistant coach calling the plays.
     Woodruff, a school known for its hard-nosed rushing style, seems to have been converted to a new offensive style.
     Because of this, quarterback Jake Lambert (above, in a John Byrum photo) has started his assault on the Wolverine record book.
     On Friday night he broke two school records and tied another as he went 25 of 34 for 305 yards and tossed five touchdowns.
     His completions and touchdown passes were all records for one game.
     His 305 yards tied a record set by Frankie Walker in 1974.
     “I challenged him before the game,” Woodruff coach Brian Lane said. “The week before we played Chapman and he missed some throws by overthrowing guys. He stepped up to the challenge.”
     The one record that looms is career passing, which Tony Rice set during his illustrious career at 3,866 yards.
Lambert already has the record for yards in a season, with last year’s 1,584. He has 1,264 yards in just five games.
     He needs only 918 yards to go to break Rice’s career mark.
     Lambert certainly made a leap toward that mark with Friday’s record-breaking performance.
     “Jake is really adapting well to the offense,” Lane said. “I hope we have more games like this to come.”

     The loudest concert I ever attended was a Junior Brown show at The Handlebar in Greenville (the old one in the mill, not the new one). Brown is a country musician who plays an instrument called a “guit-steel.” It’s a mixture of a regular electric guitar and a steel guitar (see video clip at bottom to get a visual).
     I sat on the front row of that concert and left with my ears ringing louder than any other time. This was five or six years ago and I still remember the feeling. It felt like my soul was ringing, not just my ears.
     I bring this up for this reason. I remembered on Saturday that swim meets are some of the loudest athletic events around.
     The Pine Street YMCA hosted the Region II-4A championship and there was a pretty good throng of people when I walked in.
     Swim meets are odd for people who’ve never been. They move quickly. Without a program you don’t know what’s going on.
     The smell of chlorine feels your nostrils and the enclosed space makes it so sound waves reverberate around your head.
     And when a relay gets started, the swimmers start yelling and the parents start yelling and it gets really loud.
     It was a fun event to attend and it made me think of some things I’ve noticed in life that are “loud” and “louder.”
     Here goes:

     Loud: The Byrnes crowd on Friday night when the Rebels scored a touchdown on the Indians.
     Louder: The Byrnes crowd on Friday night when a WSPA weather person was shown on the video scoreboard and made a comment about Gaffney winning the game.

     Loud: The Spartanburg Vikings crowd when Zycorrian Robinson hit a shot at the buzzer to win a state championship in basketball.
     Louder: The Spartanburg Vikings crowd when the show was waved off.

     Loud: Son Volt playing at Magnolia Street Pub in Spartanburg.
     Louder: Smashing Pumpkins playing at The Orange Peel in Asheville.

     Loud: The sounds coming from a boys’ locker room after a big win.
     Louder: The sounds coming from a girls’ locker room after a big win.

     Loud: A collision of football players on a kickoff.
     Louder: The pop of a bone breaking during a game without pads.

     Loud: The voice of Rick James talking about “four thumbs down” on the Piedmont PickUm Show on Friday.
     Louder: The 10 seconds of silence that followed.

     I found this Junior Brown clip on YouTube, it is him playing some classic rock standards. It's a big long, but you can certainly tell just how talented this guy is. See how many songs you can name that he plays.

 

 

Byrnes wide receiver Nick Jones had five catches for 93 yards on Friday night. (Photo by John Byrum)

    

     Here are some standout performances from Friday night’s action.

First off, a couple of big rushing nights:

     Marcus Lattimore, Byrnes: The bruising tailback ran for 220 yards and two scores. He set the Byrnes school record for career yards. And he’s just a junior. The best part? He is probably the most humble player out there. He’s a classy kid who just cares about his team and not about his own personal records.

     Josh Murph, Boiling Springs: Murph ran for 284 yards on 23 carries (12.34 yards per carry) and scored four times (57, 3, 1, 53).

     Ash Butler, Dorman: Butler had another 100-yard game – his fifth of the season. He ran for 164 yards on 14 carries (11.7 yards per carry) and scored one touchdown (48 yards).

     Efferlan Williams and Dominique Parks, Greer: The tailback-quarterback combo combined to run for 197 yards and three touchdowns. They didn’t play much in the second half.

     Cedric Proctor, Chesnee: The quarterback finished with 70 rushing yards and 75 passing yards. He ran for three touchdowns, threw for a score and ran an interception back for a touchdown. He scored two touchdowns in 34 seconds, at one point.

How about a passer?

     Jake Lambert, Woodruff: Lambert threw five touchdowns passes, including four in the opening quarter. He finished 22 of 31 for 295 yards.

Receiving?

     The Weick brothers of Byrnes: First, older brother Lee catches a 14-yard touchdown pass. Then, younger brother Craig snags a 29 yard touchdown pass. It was the first time they’d caught touchdown passes in the same game.

     Nick Jones, Byrnes: Jones had five catches for 93 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown on a screen pass.

     Brandon Thomas, Dorman: The Cavaliers connected on one pass, but it was a 58-yard scoring pass to the big tight end.

     Dominique Woodruff, Woodruff: Woodruff caught six passes for 69 yards, including scoring catches of 14 and 24 yards.

Defense?

     Coby Beckham, Gaffney: I have no clue how many tackles the defensive lineman had, but it seemed like we kept seeing the No. 51 all over the place.

     Ronald Bell, Woodruff: Bell fell on a fumble in the end zone for the Wolverines final touchdown.

     Drell Smith, Union County: Smith had two tackles for loss, but it was his fumble recovery in the end zone that meant the most. Those points were the first score in the game and helped the Yellow Jackets win.