Jeff Watson

jwatson@thecherawchronicle.com

CHERAW-- For the fourth year in a row, the Cheraw Braves have won the Region VIII-2A championship by defeating the Central Eagles. This year the Braves handled the Eagles 17-0 to capture the crown.

The Braves will have home field advantage up to the third round of the state playoffs. Along with the four consecutive region titles, the Braves have won 22 consecutive region games.

The Braves stated the game with a drive that ended with a Travis Small 40-yard dash into the endzone.. Ben Hutson added the extra point to give the Braves a 7-0 advantage.

The Eagles looked like they would answer the Braves score, putting a drive together that would put the Eagles offense deep in Braves territory. The Braves stingy defense stopped the Eagles on fourth down and took over on downs.

The next scoring drive started with Josh Henderson finding Jaron Brown for a 26-yard pass. The Braves were unable to get into the endzone, but were in range for Hutson to hit a field goal to give the Braves a 10-0 lead.

The Braves defense continued to control the tempo of the game, and gave the Braves offense one more shot at extending their lead. Henderson connected with Bernard Kendall to put the Braves inside the red zone. Montrell Evans finished off the drive with a score. Hutson was successful on the extra-point attempt and put the Braves up 17-0.

Central was unable to get anything going in the second half and the Braves shut the Eagles out for the second consecutive year.