BY  JAY BENNETT

The dominating ground game that has been missing for most of the 2010 season, came back with a vengeance last Friday night, as the Cheraw Braves rushed for a season-high 379 yards in route to their 36-14 region win over Andrew Jackson in Kershaw.

Darius Little led the way for the Braves with 187 yards on 17 carries, while Tierell Smith added 154 yards on 26 carries and he scored two touchdowns.  The Cheraw ground game averaged 6.7 yards a rush last Friday night, while the Braves kept the ball for 29:40 of the game.  Coach Billy Amick’s defense limited the Volunteers to 213 total yards in the contest, including only 37 yards on the ground in 22 attempts.

The victory upped Cheraw’s overall record to 2-6, but 2-1 in the region, while Andrew Jackson fell to 3-5 with the loss and 1-2 in region play.

“I’m very proud of the way that we played tonight,” Coach Johnny White stated.

“It was a great job by our players and coaches, coming off a very disappointing loss at Indian Land last week.  I’m hoping that we can build off this effort and continue to get better the rest of the season,” Coach White added.

The Volunteers got the football first and they immediately went to the air.  Darrian Henderson hooked up with Tremaine Jackson on the game’s first play and the 24-yard completion moved the ball out to the midfield stripe.  That was as far as the home team would get though and Tyler Dinkins’ 28-yard punt backed the Braves up to their own 22-yard line.

The Cheraw offensive unit came out in the spread formation and also went right to throwing the football.  Two incomplete passes, a blocking in the back penalty, and a procedure call moved the ball back to the four-yard line.  Brad Bradley was standing near the back of his endzone, but he did a great job and got off a booming 38-yard punt.

The home team got the pigskin in great field position and it didn’t take them long to score.  Four plays moved the ball down to the 22-yard line and then Henderson fired a strike to Quincy Grier near the Cheraw sideline.  Demetrius Miller was waiting on the out route, but he was just a little late getting there and Grier raced the rest of the way for the touchdown.  Tyler Dinkins added the P.A.T. and the Volunteers had a quick 7-0 advantage with 7:07 left in the first period of play.

The Cheraw offensive unit got the ball at their own 29-yard line, after a 21-yard return by Darius Little, but they continued to self-destruct with another procedure penalty.  Two running plays moved the ball to the 30-yard stripe, where the visitors faced a third down and nine.  Storm Jacobs then dropped back to pass and hurled the ball as far as he could.  Kedarian Drake was streaking down the Cheraw sideline and he outjumped

Tremaine Jackson at the 40-yard line.  Drake then had to dodge Quadarius Fair at the

20-yard stripe, which he did, and the junior receiver went the rest of the way for a touchdown.  James Davis then added the P.A.T. and the Braves had knotted the contest up at 7-7 with 5:36 still left in the opening quarter.

“That long touchdown pass was a very big play for us,” Coach White said.  “It came on a third down and long situation and it got us rolling on the offensive side of the ball.  Our offensive line did a super job of blocking them tonight and allowing us to move the football.  Their defensive front looked very impressive on film, but our guys came to play and that was the story of the ballgame,” Coach White added.

The Cheraw defensive unit seemed to be fueled by the tying touchdown and they held the home team in their tracks on the next possession.  Charles Kinser and David Durant forced an intentional grounding penalty on the third down play and Tyler Dinkins came on to punt the ball out of his own endzone.  Dinkins only got off a 32-yard punt and the Braves took over the football at the Volunteers’ 40-yard stripe.

Eight running plays got the ball down to the 11-yard line and then an offside penalty against the home team moved the pigskin even closer.  The Braves faced a third down and four at the six-yard line, as the first quarter finally came to an end.

The Braves ended the first quarter with exactly 100 total yards on 14 offensive snaps.  The visitors had 34 yards on the ground and 66 yards through the air.  The Volunteers totaled 72 yards in the first period, including 11 yards rushing and 61 yards

in the air, on 11 plays.

Coach White then called two consecutive pass plays.  The first was overthrown to Brad Bradley, in the back of the endzone, and the second one was over Demetrius Miller’s head in the back right corner.  The two incompletions turned the ball over on downs at the six-yard line, as the ten-play drive netted no points.

The home team then went to their ground game and they moved the ball out to the 38-yard line, but the Cheraw defense held and forced another punt.  Dinkins got off a

spiraling 37-yard punt that rolled out of bounds at the Cheraw 25-yard stripe.

It appeared that lightning had struck on the first play from scrimmage, as Tierell Smith broke free off left tackle and raced 75 yards for a touchdown.  A penalty flag was dropped at the 38-yard line and the holding call nullified Smith’s electrifying run.  The flag only delayed the inevitable, as the Braves marched 75 yards in six plays to take the lead.  Darius Little had runs of 14 and 39 yards on the drive, but it was Smith that hit paydirt, on a one-yard plunge over the left side.  James Davis’ P.A.T. attempt was wide to the right, but Cheraw had a 13-7 lead with 6:22 left in the first half of play.

The Volunteers came right back on their first play from scrimmage, as the Cheraw

secondary bit on the pump fake and Quincy Grier got behind Darius Little.  Little jumped as high as he could, but the pass was just out of his reach and Grier hauled in the football at the 35-yard line and he went the rest of the way to complete the 69-yard scoring play.

Dinkins’ P.A.T. was right down the middle and the home team had a 14-13 lead with 6:06 left before intermission.

Back to the ground game for the Braves and it continued to pay dividends, as they marched 80 yards in only six plays to take the lead for good.  Darius Little and Tierell Smith each carried the ball three times on the drive, but it was Smith that finished things off with a two-yard burst off the left side.  Little had runs of 11 and 29 yards on the drive, while Smith’s 25-yard scamper got the ball down to the 10-yard stripe.  Little was stopped in his tracks on the two-point conversion, but the Braves had a 19-14 lead with 4:06 left in the first half of play.

The home team then tried the pump and go pass play once again, but Gerald Ewing stayed at home this time and he picked off Henderson’s aerial at the midfield stripe.  Ewing went up high with Quadarius Fair and the senior defensive back came down with the pigskin.

The Braves still had 3:52 left on the scoreboard clock and they went right back to running the football on the left side.  Coach White had found a weak spot along the right side of the Andrew Jackson defense and he kept pounding away, play after play.  Darius Little got free for 29 yards on the march and it was Xavier Taylor that hit paydirt, as the sophomore halfback lumbered in from three yards out.  Little then ran in the two-point conversion and Cheraw had increased their lead to 27-14 with only :27.4 seconds left before halftime.

The home team then ran out the rest of the clock in the first half and the Braves took a 27-14 advantage into intermission.  Cheraw had completely dominated the second period of play, as they piled up 217 rushing yards and 20 points, while the home team tallied 94 total yards, but only seven points.

Neither team was able to move the football on their initial possession of the third quarter, but the Braves got some good field position on their next series, as Brad Bradley sacked Henderson at the 25-yard stripe. Dinkins got off a 35-yard punt and the visitors took over at their own 40-yard stripe.

Tierell Smith got loose for 16 yards on the first play and then Darius Little had a 42-yard scamper for a touchdown nullified by a holding call at the 38-yard line.  Little refused to let the penalty hold him back though, as he went 35 yards on the very next snap to pick up a first down at the 13-yard line.  Smith ran the ball three consecutive times, but the Braves turned the ball over on downs, just short of the three-yard line, as Xavier Taylor was stopped inches short of the first down.

Two runs moved the ball out to the five-yard stripe, but David Durant unloaded on Henderson, on third down, and the safety upped Cheraw’s advantage to 29-7 with 2:54

left in the third period of play.

Darius Little then continued his stellar play by returning the free kick 60 yards to set up Cheraw at the 11-yard line.  Three runs by Smith only got the ball to the five-yard line, so Coach White called on James Davis to attempt a 23-yard field goal.  The ball was on the left hash mark, so Davis overcompensated for the angle and he pushed the kick to the right, leaving the Braves’ lead at 29-7 with only :52.2 seconds left in the third quarter of play.

Three completed passes to Greir moved the ball out to the 42-yard line, but Demetrius Miller put the final nail in the coffin on the next snap. The senior anticipated an out-route to Quadarius Fair, stepping in front, tipping the pass and then took it back

40 yards for the game-clinching score.  James Davis added the P.A.T. this time and the Cheraw lead was now 36-14 with 10:44 still left in the contest.

Kris McCoy got a sack on the next Andrew Jackson possession and Miller went back to work, returning the next punt by Dinkins, 76 yards for another touchdown, but a

controversial blocking in the back penalty nullified the score.  Cheraw then got down to the eight-yard line once again, but they turned the ball over on downs and Coach White’s squad finished off  the 36-14 region win.

“Once again, I cannot say enough about how offense moved the football tonight,” Coach White stated.  “I was very skeptical if we could run the ball at all against them, but our offensive front controlled the line of scrimmage and both Tierell and Darius had great nights running the ball.  That’s what we need to do to win and we did it perfectly tonight,” Coach White added.

“The defense also played great tonight, as they gave us some good field position with two takeaways.  We still had two breakdowns on their two long scoring passes, but we regrouped at halftime and shut them out in the second half.  We also had too many penalties tonight and we left three touchdowns on the field, as we turned the ball over on downs, three times inside the 10-yard line.  We need to punch those in, but all in all, it was a great effort and it’s always good to get out of here with a win,” Coach White stated.

“We’ve got Buford next and it will be good to get back home.  This will only be our third home game of the season and it is a big one in the region standings.  We can win this one and then be playing Central for a share of the region championship the next week.  We simply need to keep up the intensity that we had tonight and continue to work hard to get better.  We will focus on one team at a time and this week it is Buford,” Coach White added.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

(OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK)

#6                        Senior halfback, Darius Little, had a season-high 187 yards

rushing on 17 carries and he also had a 60-yard kickoff return

in Cheraw’s 36-14 win over Andrew Jackson.

(DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK)

#38                        Junior linebacker, Forrest Privette, led Cheraw’s defensive effort

with nine total tackles; including three primary stops and six assists

in the 36-14 region win by Cheraw.