Cheraw Powers Past Marion In The Rain Cheraw 49 Marion 14 By Justin Driggers Florence Morning News	ANGELA E. KERSHNER/MORNING NEWS
	Cheraw quarterback Chad Wilkes (12) runs up the middle against Marion on Friday in Marion.
From the onset of Friday’s Region 8-2A matchup, the Cheraw Braves and Marion Swamp Foxes had to contend with the unrelenting downpour at Fox Field. Marion was also forced to contend with an unrelenting Braves offense. Cheraw scored six offensive touchdowns, all on plays of 33 yards or more, en route to a 49-14 rout of Marion. It is the Braves’ fifth straight victory after starting the season 1-3 and sets up a marquee matchup with Dillon next week in Cheraw for the region championship. Both teams are 4-0 in region play. “I don’t ever really get concerned about weather conditions,” Cheraw coach Johnny White said afterwards. “We kind of have a weather-proof offense, provided that we hold onto the ball.” And the Braves did just that, turning the ball over just once on a slippery night. Montrell Evans and Travis Small combined for 145 yards on the ground and two rushing touchdowns. Small also had a 48-yard touchdown reception from Gray Stafford in the second quarter. The Braves broke the game open in the second quarter after scoring four touchdowns: two rushing, one passing and one on a fumble return. “We’ve got a lot of good running backs, and our offensive line played very well tonight,” White said. “I think we’ve improved every game, and that’s one of our main goals.” Ben Hutson had the fumble return for a TD and backup quarterback Chad Wilkes got into the action as well with a 47-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Sammy Merriman and Ivy’on Richardson also had TD runs for the Braves, who finished with 257 yards on the ground. Cheraw’s defense was nearly as dominant. Marion had 10 plays that went for negative yards in the first half, and was held to no yards of offense in the second quarter.  Justin Gause was the lone bright spot for the Swamp Foxes, rushing 10 times for 145 yards. Gause broke off a 63-yard run on the first drive of the game that set up a field goal attempt for Marion. Trailing 42-0, Gause scored the first touchdown for Marion in the fourth quarter after picking up a Josh Hughes’ fumble and taking it 55-yards to the end zone. Gause also had a 90-yard kickoff return that went for a score. Cheraw 7 28 7 7 - 49 Marrion 0 0 0 14 - 14 First Quarter C - Montrell Evans, 49-yard run, (Ben Hutson kick) Second Quarter C - Travis Small, 33-yard run, (Ben Hutson kick) C - Travis Small, 48-yard pass from Gray Stafford, (Gray Stafford run) C - Ben Hutson, 16-yard fumble return, (Ben Hutson kick) C - Chad Wilkes, 47-yard run, (pass failed) Third Quarter C - Kenyatta Gary, 44-yard run, (Ben Hutson kick) Fourth Quarter M - Justin Gause, 55-yard run, (White to Gause) C - Ivy’on Richardson, 43-yard run, (Ben Hutson kick) M - Justin Gause, 90-yard kickoff return, (kick failed)