Border Showcase Classic IV

The Border Showcase Classic IV was held Friday August 15, 2008 at Byrnes High School’s Nixon Field in Duncan, SC. It was billed as a showcase between teams from North Carolina and teams from South Carolina, but it could have billed as an exhibition of what is great about South Carolina High School football! Spartanburg High School played first against Polk County High School, and then came Gaffney High School against Crest High School, and finally the host Rebels of Byrnes High School took the field to compete against Shelby High School. Each game consisted of two 12 minute halves.

Two of the South Carolina teams that played (Byrnes and Gaffney) have combined to win 9 State Championships since 2002! Byrnes played in Class 4A Division II until the 2006-2007 football season where they won an astounding 4 straight State Championships. Spartanburg has a history of winning the State Title as well winning three straight championships in the mid-1990s.

While Spartanburg played in game number one it was the #1 ranked team in the nation (according to calpreps.com, #2 according to prepnation.com) Byrnes Rebels that dominated the evening. They played against the Shelby Golden Lions in the third and final game of the evening and sent their fans home talking state championship with an overwhelming 31-0 victory. They were led by junior quarterback Chas Dodd who threw for two touchdowns before being replaced by sophomore quarterback Zach Blair who threw for another Rebel TD. Junior running back Marcus Lattimore got things started off early by running approximately 40 yards for the game’s first TD within the first 50 seconds of the game. Lattimore and junior wide receiver Torian Richardson caught touchdown passes from Dodd.

In a 31-0 game the defense has to have standouts as well and the Rebels certainly had their share. Senior Riyahd Richardson intercepted a pass early in the game to help start the rout (which is what the game became). Senior linebacker Colby Connor and junior Xavier Wright each recovered a fumble to secure the rout of the Golden Lions. Connor’s recovery came exactly one play after Byrnes had fumbled the ball away. The highlight of the game had to be when junior defensive back Cejay Thomas ran across the field and fifty yards down the field to tackle the only Shelby player that had a chance of scoring on the night. One more side note on this game; the clock stopped working with 7:14 seconds left in the second half, appropriately enough since Shelby’s offense and defense had both stopped working long before that.

Defense was the key to the game played between the Gaffney High School Indians and the Crest High School Tigers. Gaffney attacked the ball carrier so ferociously in the first half that they were able to jump out to a 21-0 lead. The Crest Tigers (who were unable to cross the fifty-yard line in the first half) made adjustments at halftime and closed the gap to a 13-point deficit losing to Gaffney 27-14. The Indians were led by Player of the Game, running back Jeremiah Cochran, with two rushing touchdowns. Senior Josh Woods added a touchdown on a pass reception from fellow senior quarterback Robert Davidson and junior Kenard Lipscomb added another rushing touchdown. Junior Joe Craig split time with Davidson at the QB position.

Now back to the first game of the evening the Spartanburg Vikings versus the Polk County Wolverines. This marked the beginning of a new era for the Vikings who were without their longtime head coach Doc Davis. He resigned after last year and has been replaced by new head coach Fred Brown. Coach Brown has brought with him a new spread-offense which is in sharp contrast to the ground and pound style that Viking fans were accustomed to seeing under Coach Davis. This new offense was led by junior quarterback Cornelius Jones, who ran for one 33-yard touchdown and threw a 53-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 remaining on the clock to secure the victory for Spartanburg 14-0. Just prior to the second TD for the Vikings senior Darrin Foster knocked down a Polk County pass in the end-zone to ensure the shutout for his team. With a new coach and a new offense one would think that the Viking faithful would be cautious about the fortunes of the team for the upcoming season. Quite the contrary, Ernst Ferguson of Spartanburg “if we beat Dorman…it is on” (he had been asked about his teams chances at winning the State title this year). He went on to add “we will be smoking by the 4th or 5th game” Well Mr. Ferguson that will be interesting as it looks like that is just in time for a match-up against the Gaffney High School Indians!

One thing was made clear by the end of the evening. Not only do these teams (Byrnes, Gaffney and Spartanburg) traditionally dominate South Carolina High School Football apparently they dominate North Carolina High School football as well. They outscored their opponents (Shelby, Crest, and Polk County) 72-14. Mark your calendars for the following three games: Byrnes at Gaffney Sept. 26, Gaffney at Spartanburg October 3, and Byrnes at Spartanburg October 10. The attendance at the Border Showcase Classic IV held at Byrnes High School’s Nixon Field was estimated to be 6,000-8,000.