Silver Foxes win on final play

CHERAW — Throughout the second half, Cheraw’s defense and dropped balls accounted for Lamar quarterback Trevor Norris completing just one pass before the Silver Foxes’ final drive.

But Norris and wideout Matthew Mitchell made sure the only pass people will remember is the last one.

On the game’s final play, Norris connected with Mitchell in the left corner of the end zone to give Lamar a 24-21 win Friday night at Meiklejohn Field.

The victory snaps Lamar’s four-game losing streak against the Braves.

“I saw the cornerback was in a little bit on that last play, and Matt ran a great route and I just floated it to him,” Norris said. “Hopefully, we can build on this and just take it game by game.”

Norris was glad to have his favorite receiver of the night in there. Mitchell had been injured a few plays earlier and had to leave the game.

“I knew my team was counting on me to make a big play,” Mitchell said. “I knew if I ran the route right and got open, (Norris) would get it to me.”

Norris threw for 158 yards and two scores with 89 yards coming at the hands of Mitchell.

The win capped a back-and-forth contest that saw the Silver Foxes squander a double-digit lead, survive two third-quarter red zone trips by the Braves and a late TD that appeared to put the game away.

But unlike previous meetings when things looked bleak, Lamar didn’t fold.

“We got in a little bit of a funk there in the second half when they started driving the ball,” Lamar coach J.R. Boyd said. “But unlike before, after they went up late, these guys didn’t hang their heads and they believed they could win.

“The whole team made a big play there at the end.”

The Silver Foxes built a double-digit lead in the first half behind Norris. The Lamar quarterback completed nine of his 17 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown.

Jerel Humbert scored from 2 yards out to put Lamar up 6-0 early in the first quarter. Lamar went up 12-0 when Norris connected with Anthony McAllister early in the second quarter.

Meanwhile, the Braves couldn’t get anything going offensively and didn’t get a first down until midway through the second quarter.

But an 11-play drive capped by Sammy Merriman’s 3-yard run pulled the Braves within 12-6 at the half.

Cheraw’s rushing attack found its footing in the second half as the Braves racked up 155 yards over the final 16 minutes.

The Braves tied the score with quarterback Chad Wilkes’ 7-yard scamper into the end zone and then took a 14-12 lead on a safety by J’Kwan Toney.

Two fumbles inside the 25-yard line, including one at the 1, kept the Braves from extending their lead, however, and another 2-yard TD run by Humbert early in the fourth quarter helped Lamar regain an 18-14 lead.

“We had some penalties, some turnovers and some missed assignments that hurt us,” Cheraw coach Johnny White said. “But we made a couple of big plays there at the end and scored there at the end.

“But those are things we will have to correct, because that’s things as coaches we need to do a better job of. But give credit to Lamar because they played a great game and I was very impressed with them.”

Cheraw scored on its final drive that started with just over five minutes to go. With Wilkes out with an injury, former junior varsity quarterback Malcolm Hunter completed 2-of-4 passes in the drive. A 15-yard TD strike to Demetrius Miller gave the Braves a 21-18 lead with just under a minute remaining.

A good runback on the kickoff by Lamar set up Norris’ heroics.