BY  JAY BENNETT

Coach Johnny White remembers quite vividly all of the celebrating and taunting that his team had to endure last year after Marion’s 45-13 victory at Fox Field.  That was a very bad feeling and something that no one forgot, as the Braves had the rematch marked on their calenders all summer long.  Now, the shoe is on the other foot, except with no taunting, as the Braves laid a 41-7 whipping on Marion last Friday night at Meiklejohn Field in Cheraw.

The Braves won this game with a very balanced attack on offense, 208 yards in the air and 169 yards on the ground, along with a super-human effort from Marvin Lauderdale, who amassed 283 all-purpose yards and scored four touchdowns.  Malcolm Hunter also had a big night for the home team, as he threw for 189 yards and had three touchdowns, while Deion Sanders set a Cheraw High single-game record with six receptions for 86 yards.

“I’m really proud of the way we played tonight,” Coach White stated.  “This crowd really made us look bad last year and we wanted to change tonight.  It was just a great effort by our players and coaches.  Everyone came out with a purpose tonight and we did what we wanted to do against a pretty good football team,” Coach White added.

The win got the Braves back to the break even mark at 2-2 on the young campaign, while the Swamp Foxes fell to 1-2 with the lopsided loss.  Cheraw will now have an open date this Friday night before they entertain the Hartsville Red Foxes at Meiklejohn Field in two weeks.  That night will be a special one for many people, as Cheraw High School will honor former player and coach, Burney Bourne, by retiring his jersey.

The home team won the coin toss, but elected to defer to the second half, so Marion got the first crack on offense.  The Swamp Foxes have plenty of speed on the offensive side of the ball, but new coach Don Cribb has elected to go back to the wishbone formation.  The Braves were ready on the first drive and they stopped the visitors in their tracks, as Shawn Johnson sacked Keyonta Foxworth for a six-yard loss on third down.  Lue Clemmons then got off a low 39-yard punt and Deion Sanders brought the ball out to the Cheraw 42-yard line.

The Braves had excellent field position on their initial offensive possession and Marvin Lauderdale ripped off a 12-yard run on the first play from scrimmage.  The Marion defense stiffened though and that’s as far as the Braves would get, so Coach White brought on James Davis to try to pin the visitors back deep.  Davis did just that, as he lofted a high 33-yard punt, that Foxworth fair-caught at the nine-yard line.

Coach Cribb then moved the speedy Foxworth to halfback and that move immediately paid off, as he got around the left corner and dashed 25 yards or a Marion first down.  Thorn Bacote then went for 12 yards, right up the middle, but the Braves’ 45-yard stripe was as far as the Foxes would get.  Clemmons then got off a short punt and the home team got the ball back, at their own 19-yard line.

Lauderdale picked up a quick first down with two runs and then the Braves went to the short passing game.  Malcolm Hunter hit Deion Sanders in the right flats and the junior flanker dashed 22 yards, before getting pushed out of bounds at the Marion 41-yard line.  Hunter then went back to the air on the next play, flipping a pass in the left flats to Lauderdale, and the senior halfback did the rest on his own, as he broke free and left Isaac Myers in his tracks, on his way to a 41-yard touchdown run.  James Davis added the P.A.T. and the Braves had a 7-0 lead with 1:33 left in the first period of play.  The scoring drive was good for 81 yards in only six plays, with 63 of those yards coming in the air.

Marion then picked up one first down on their next possession before the first quarter came to an end with the home team holding a 7-0 advantage.  The Braves piled up 99 total yards and had four first downs in the first period, while Marion only had 57 total yards and three first downs.

Kavon Butler then made a big play, two snaps into the second quarter, as he broke through the line and stripped the ball from Thorn Bacote.  Butler also recovered the pigskin himself, giving the Braves the ball at the Marion 24-yard line.  The offense wasted little time in adding on to the lead, as Marvin Lauderdale scored his second touchdown of the night, on a  25-yard sweep play to the right.  The senior started to go wide to the right, but he found a hole and jetted towards the end zone for the score.  James Davis added the P.A.T. and the Braves’ lead was up to 14-0 with 11:04 left before intermission.

The Swamp Foxes came right back though, as that man again, Keyonta Foxworth, took a simple dive handoff and raced 81 yards for a touchdown, on Marion’s first play from scrimmage.  Foxworth found a hole on the right side of the line and no one was going to catch him.  Zi Huang added the P.A.T. and the visitors were right back in the game at 14-7 with 10:46 left in the second quarter.

Marvin Lauderdale almost broke the ensuing kickoff, but Chris Washington made a shoestring tackle at the Cheraw 45-yard stripe.  Things then went from bad to worse on the first offensive snap, as it appeared Malcolm Hunter simply pulled out early from under the center and D.J. Kelly recovered the loose football for the Swamp Foxes, at the Cheraw 47-yard line.

Coach Billy Amick’s defense had to hurry back out onto the field, after the turnover, but they did their job and stopped Marion on downs, as Devonte Gilbert’s fourth down pass sailed over the head of D.J. Kelly at the 25-yard stripe.

The turnover bug continued to plaque the Braves on their next drive, as  Malcolm Hunter’s deep pass to Storm Jacobs was overthrown and Devonte Gilbert picked it off for Marion.  Gilbert was just playing centerfield, from his free safety spot, and he drifted over towards the Cheraw sideline and made an easy interception of the deep pass.

Two short runs by Foxworth only netted five yards and then Durrell Hawkins blitzed on third down, catching Gilbert in the backfield for a nine-yard loss.  Clemmons then got off a booming 45-yard punt and the Braves got the football back, at their own 33-yard line, with only 2:07 left before halftime.

Coach White would have nothing to do with simply running out the clock, as he called  for the spread formation from his offensive unit.  A motion penalty backed the ball up to the 28-yard line, but Hunter moved the chains, on a 17-yard scramble.  Hunter kept running the football and the senior picked up another first down at the Marion 44-yard line.  Hunter then connected with Deion Sanders, on a crossing route, and Sanders was finally pushed out of bounds at the Marion 26-yard line, after a 18-yard completion.  It appeared that Hunter was just throwing the football away on the next play, but Storm Jacobs made a great catch and then twisted his way down to the 10-yard stripe.

Hunter then spiked the football to stop the clock, as there was only 9.6 seconds left before intermission.  The next pass was a thing of beauty, as Hunter threaded the needle and hit Deion Sanders, on a slant pass in the back of the end zone.  Hunter’s pass zinged right in between two Marion defenders and Sanders was able to hold on to the football for a touchdown.  After five-yard penalties on each team, James Davis added the P.A.T. and the Braves had a 21-7 lead with only 4.4 seconds left in the first half of play.

The ensuing kickoff was low and on the ground and the clock ran out when D.J. Kelly was tackled near the 30-yard stripe.  The Braves really had all of the game’s momentum after that 72-yard, 11-play scoring drive to close out the first half of play.

“I really can’t say enough about how well the offense executed on that last drive,” Coach White stated.  “We got down the field, with no timeouts left, and Malcolm used his arm and legs to get us there.  Deion also made a great catch, in the back of the end zone, and you could tell our kids were really pumped up at halftime,” Coach White added.

The Braves held a 21-7 lead on the scoreboard and they also had a lead in the statistics battle.  The Braves had 209 total yards and 11 first downs at the break, while Marion had 145 total yards and only five first downs.  Keyonta Foxworth had 112 of those yards on the ground, including 81 yards on one play, so the Cheraw defense had done a pretty good job of keeping the Marion offense at bay.

That late touchdown drive by the Braves carried right over to the second half, as Marvin Lauderdale electrified the home crowd with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, before everyone had time to settle back into their seats.  Lauderdale caught the football at the 15-yard line, found a hole up the middle, and then broke free down the home sideline.  Thorn Bacote was the last man that had a chance at him, but the speedy halfback hit another gear and raced down the sideline for his third touchdown of the night.  James Davis added the P.A.T. and the Braves now had a 28-7 lead, only :14 seconds into the second half of play.

“That kickoff return by Marvin really gave us a big boost coming out of the halftime break,” Coach White said.  “The kickoff return team did a great job of blocking, as he was hardly touched on his long run.  Marvin is a very talented and elusive player and I’m glad that we have him on our team,” Coach White added.

The Swamp Foxes picked up two first downs on their next possession, as Bacote got loose on a 28-yard run, on an isolation play.  The drive ended with another turnover though,   as Jahres Gordon collected his first varsity fumble recovery, when he fell on a fumble by Foxworth, at the Cheraw 45-yard stripe.

The offensive unit then went for the kill and it only took them seven plays to go the distance, with Hunter hitting a streaking Storm Jacobs on a 26-yard scoring pass.  Jacobs ran past D.J. Kelly near the five-yard line and Hunter’s pass was right on the money for the touchdown.  James Davis added his firth P.A.T. of the night and the Cheraw advantage was now up to 35-7 with 5:33 still left in the third quarter.

The Marion offense then went three and out and the Braves got the ball back, at their own 20-yard stripe, with 3:05 left in the third period of play.

Coach White still had some frustrations built up from last season’s fiasco, so he went back to the spread and continued to throw the football.  The drive ended though, at the Marion 47-yard line, thanks to an offensive holding call that nullified a first down, at the 33-yard line.

The Braves owned the third quarter, as they amassed 112 total yards and had five first downs, while holding Marion to only 24 total yards and two first downs.

Marion turned the ball over again on their next series, as Durrell Hawkins completed his dominant night on the defensive side of the ball, by recovering the loose pigskin at the Marion 47-yard line.

The offense would score one more time, as it only took three plays to go those 47 yards, with Lauderdale going 27 yards for his fourth touchdown of the contest.  Lauderdale took a handoff from Hunter and sprinted, untouched, right up the middle for the score.  James Davis then missed this P.A.T. attempt to the left, but the damage had been done and the Braves now had a 41-7 lead with 10:05 left in the contest.

Coach White then emptied the bench, on both sides of the ball, and the reserves now got their chances to impress the coaches.  Austin Hart came with a leaping interception on Marion’s next possession and the senior linebacker returned the ball 17 yards, all the way down to the Marion 45-yard stripe.

Three short runs and two procedure penalties by the home team lost one yard, so James Davis came on and backed the Swamp Foxes up to the own three-yard line, with a 41-yard punt.

It appeared with Keyonta Foxworth had gotten loose for a 97-yard touchdown run, on the very next snap, but an illegal procedure penalty nullified the long scoring run, as Foxworth laid in the end zone or a few seconds, from exhaustion.  The visitors did get back into scoring position though, thanks to a 35-yard pass from Gilbert to D.J. Kelly and a 29-yard burst from Foxworth, but Navarro Hillian got his first varsity interception and ended that scoring threat to close out the one-sided contest.

The Braves ended the contest with 377 total yards and 18 first downs on 53 offensive plays, while Marion had 286 total yards and 10 first downs on 48 offensive snaps.  Marion only had 169 total yards through the first three quarters, as they picked up 117 of their total yards against the reserve Cheraw defenders in the final period of play.  Keyonta Foxworth finished the contest with 143 rushing yards on 14 carries for Marion and he had that 97-yarder called back.

“We had a very good night on the offensive side of the ball and we were able to be very productive out of the spread and the wishbone formation, Coach White stated.  “I want everyone to know that we have not ditched the wishbone and being a power-running football team, but we want to be able to operate out of both formations and do them both well.  Being able to do that will make us a very dangerous offensive football team and very hard to prepare for.  We still haven’t put everything in on offense or used all of our weapons yet,” Coach White added.

“I would also like to praise our defensive effort out there tonight,” Coach White said.  “We just held a very explosive offensive team to only seven points and that was a great job by our defensive players and coaches.  We still had a few breakdowns and let them get in the open field, but it was a good job overall,” Coach White added.

“Now, we get a week off before we face another very talented team in Hartsville,” Coach White stated.  ”They were the #5 team in the Class AAA ranks, but they lost to Airport tonight.  We have never beaten them, so I can promise you that our kids will be ready to play. Our confidence is increasing with every win and I am really excited about what this team can do this season.  We still have a lot of room for improvement and we hope to get a lot better before we hit the field to play a great Hartsville team,” Coach White added.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

#28            Senior halfback, Marvin Lauderdale, had 283 all-purpose yards in Cheraw’s 41-7     win over Marion.  He had 122 yards rushing, 41 yards receiving and 120 return yards.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

#33            Senior linebacker, Durrell Hawkins, led the Cheraw defensive effort with 12 tackles, a fumble recovery, and a sack.  He anchored the unit that held Marion to only seven points.