High School

Nine transfers fortify Gaffney football

Indians add six players who were standouts for their teams last season

Mike Duprez

Boiling Springs played Chapman at Boiling Springs High School on Sept. 1, 2023. Boiling Springs' Ryshaun Morgan (6) with the ball as Chapman's Chanson Mickles (22) tries to take him down.
Boiling Springs played Chapman at Boiling Springs High School on Sept. 1, 2023. Boiling Springs' Ryshaun Morgan (6) with the ball as Chapman's Chanson Mickles (22) tries to take him down. / ALEX HICKS JR./SPARTANBURG HERALD-JOURNAL / USA TODAY NETWORK

Rosters change on high school football teams every year due to graduation, players moving up from the junior varsity and freshmen entering the program.

In today’s game, transfers are also a factor.

Gaffney, coming off a 10-2 season, has seen its roster fortified by nine, transfers. All of them were important players on their former teams.

Joining the Indians are Blacksburg’s Shun Rogers, Dominic Gordon and Ross Ellis; Kareem Shaw and Ayden Montgomery of Daniel, J.L. Mann’s Kamari Williams, Chapman’s Chanson Mickles and Justin Dawkins; and Hampton Boykins, who is transferring from Crest High School, near Shelby, North Carolina. 

Shaw, Montgomery, Williams and Rogers are sophomores. Boykins, Ellis, Odom, Dawkins and Mickles are juniors.

Rogers was Blacksburg’s leading receiver and he turned in a time of 10.96 seconds in the 100-meter dash for the Indians at a recent track meet. Rogers had 1,023 yards receiving and 16 touchdowns last season. He had 395 yards rushing. He’ll be a top target for quarterback Jayvon Gilmore, who is an Arkansas commit. 

Shaw is a 5-foot-11, 185-pound running back/defensive back. He ran for 452 yards and seven touchdowns on 68 carries for Daniel last season. Shaw also caught 11 passes for 99 yards.

Montgomery is a 6-foot, 180-pound wide receiver/linebacker. In 2024 for Daniel, he caught eight passes for 112 yards. Montgomery was a major factor on defense with 51 tackles, including 8.5 for loss, two sacks, an interception, a fumble recovery and three pass breakups.

Williams is a 5-foot-11, 235-pound defensive end who was one of J.L. Mann’s best players. He had 63 tackles, including eight for loss, seven sacks, four quarterback pressures, three pass breakups and a forced fumble.

Boykins, a 6-foot-1, 188-pound wide receiver who announced his transfer in February on social media, caught nine passes for 97 yards and a touchdown last season.

Mickles, a 5-foot-10, 200-pound defensive back/linebacker, is originally from Gaffney. He was an all-region selection for Chapman last season.

Odom rushed for 902 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. The 5-foot-10, 185-pounder had 1,305 total yards.

Dawkins, a 5-foot-7, 180-pound running back, had 927 yards and 12 touchdowns for Chapman last season.

Ellis, like Mickles, is originally from Gaffney.

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Mike Duprez
MIKE DUPREZ

Mike Duprez became a freelance sports journalist for Scorebooklive.com several months after retiring from the newspaper business. A native of Oakland, California, Duprez moved around as a child due to his father’s service in the United States Marine Corps. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. Duprez, who lives in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, had 30 years of experience in newspapers as well as other endeavors before retiring at the end of 2021. He covers stories in both North Carolina and South Carolina for Scorebooklive.com.

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