BRAVES GOING BACK TO COLUMBIA

By Shawn Singleton – Florence Morning News

Chilly temperatures at Meiklejohn Stadium on Friday night sent both Cheraw’s and Central’s offenses into a deep-freeze for much of the game. Luckily for Cheraw, the Braves had Travis Small.

The junior running back’s two touchdowns were all Cheraw needed as the Braves beat Central 21-0 to claim the Class 2A lower state football championship.

The Braves (12-2) have reservations for the state title game next Saturday at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. They will face Chapman, which beat Columbia 28-12.
“It’s exciting to be heading back to Columbia again,” Small said. “But if it weren’t for my team and the fans we have here, I wouldn’t be here.”

Central (9-5) knew it had to play a near-perfect game to compete against the Braves. That notion disintegrated on the Eagles’ first play.

Travis Rivers couldn’t handle Steven Smith’s pitch, and Cheraw’s Trey Jones fell on the ball at the Central 39.

The Braves didn’t convert, but it set the tone for the rest of the night.
“Our defense was outstanding tonight. They’ve taken control of the last two games,” Cheraw coach Johnny White said. “They’ve been playing better and better every week.
“Our coaches have done a great job preparing them each week.”

“We tried to do some things we don’t normally do, and it backfired on us,” said Central coach Joey Mangum, whose Eagles have failed to score in their last 14 quarters against the Braves. “We had our opportunities and we missed on them tonight.”
The Eagles were unable to keep the Braves off the scoreboard on Cheraw’s next possession, though. Keyed by a 15-yard roughing-the-passer penalty and a 34-yard run by Small, Cheraw went 55 yards on five plays.
Small, who finished with 155 yards on 19 carries, capped the drive with a 5-yard scoring run. Ben Hutson added the PAT, and Cheraw took a 7-0 advantage at the 3:26 mark of the opening quarter.

From there, Cheraw’s defense took over. The Braves held Central to 32 yards in the first half and denied the Eagles on their best scoring chance by stopping a fourth-and-goal late in the second quarter.
“I thought we were in the game but we couldn’t punch it in,” Mangum said. “Credit Cheraw for stopping us when they needed to.”

After a scoreless third quarter, the Braves defense set out to seal the game. On the first play of the fourth quarter, defensive end Bernard Kendall deflected Smith’s pass into the hands of teammate Desmond Chambers at the Central 26.
Three plays later, Montrell Evans powered in from the 5 and Cheraw led 14-0 with 10:58 remaining.
“Our game plan was to keep playing hard and never give up,” Small said. “We had some offensive line problems early, but we got those squared away in the second half.”