DEFENSIVE SLUGFEST LEADS BRAVES TO WIN OVER FALCONS
In Darlington County, the fans of these two schools were witness to a good old-fashioned defensive showdown between the Cheraw Braves, travelling on the road to play at the Falcons' nest against the Darlington Falcons. The Braves are coming off a 13-3 win against the Conway Tigers. The Falcons, however, are coming off a road 45-21 loss to Lugoff-Elgin. This game between both offenses combined had 277 total yards the entire game. The defenses were outstanding, but in the end, the Braves took home a big road win against the Falcons and continued their strong start to the 2025 season.
The game:
This game, as mentioned before, saw only 277 yards combined between both teams. One thing is certain: these two defenses came to play tonight. The first half of the game saw multiple three-and-outs on both sides. A plethora of stops behind the sticks, including a big-time highlight-worthy sack from Nico Wells. The Braves landed the first real punch of the night as Cheraw LB Brendan Pace picked off Darlington QB Jaylen Augustus, and that translated to seven points. Cheraw QB Kayden Thomas scrambled from six yards out to put the first numbers on the scoreboard. Darlington had a drive to tie the game before halftime, but the Cheraw defense held tough to keep the Falcons scoreless. In the second half, the Braves once again played excellently on the defensive side of the ball. The line stacked the box and kept Jaylen Augustus in check while the secondary handled anything in the air. Later in the 3rd quarter, the Braves' defense had yet another big play as Augustus attempted a home run ball, but Cheraw DB Nic Gordon intercepted Augustus for his second turnover of the night. Augustus and the Falcons' offense would then have their best drive of the night as he led a drive down the field and cashed in on a one-yard TD run to tie the game at seven in the fourth quarter. Then it was the Darlington defense’s turn for a big play as Cheraw drove down inside the 5-yard line and on 3rd down stopped the Braves to force a field goal. It should have been an easy chip shot for the big leg Cheraw kicker Daniel Rhodes, but the snap was bobbled, and Cheraw came away with no points, and the game remained tied. With just over 2 minutes left, the Cheraw Defense forced yet another Falcon punt. The Braves had just what they wanted: a short field with the opportunity to win the game. Thanks to some crucial Falcon penalties, the Braves would find the endzone, as RB Jamarion Banks scored with just under a minute left to give the Braves a 13-7 lead. Darlington had a chance to drive down the field, but again, late penalties haunted the Falcons, and the clock hit zero.
Quotes after the game:
We caught up with both Coach Jamie Johnson of Darlington and Coach Poole of Cheraw after the game. Coach Poole, when asked about the game, had high praise for both Darlington and his defense. “Both teams balled out on defense, both very technical defenses, great tackling on both sides. When you hold a QB like that to 7 points, you’ve had a good night.” We asked him about Kayden Thomas and his performance: “He’s a dog. He’s our field general, been here 5 years in our program, hardly makes any mistakes, and he keeps our guys calm.” Coach Johnson, when asked about the game and how the offense struggled he said: “We have to get better. We [gave] too many opportunities away… we have got to move the ball better on offense. I thought defense played their heart out, but I take full responsibility.” We also caught up with Cheraw QB Kayden Thomas, and when we asked him about the game, he said, “We played hard, got to be able to move the ball, the run game struggled a little bit, but I have faith in our [Offensive] Line. We should’ve scored 27 tonight.” Also caught up with the player of the game, Crawford Poole, when asked about the struggles of tonight’s game, he gave credit to Darlington. “They’re a scrappy football team… Offensively, we got some stuff to work on. Defensively, we got some dogs.”
My MVP: Cheraw Defense.
The Braves' defense is extremely talented across the board. The front 7 and the secondary do their part and do it well. The Braves forced 2 turnovers and held Darlington to under 200 total yards. When the offense clicks for Cheraw with this defense they have they can make some big noise with guys like Nic Gordon and Crawford Poole leading the charge. This Braves team is dangerous.
What’s next for these teams:
Darlington is home again next week as they look to get back in the win column against Lower Richland. As for the Braves, they are looking to keep their strong season going as next week they travel to River Bluff in Lexington.
