Football Preview: Cheraw Braves vs. North Central Knights
Two dominant backs in Cam McClendon and Jonathan Clarkson are getting ready to go toe-to-toe. The Cheraw Braves will face off against the North Central Knights at 7:30 p.m. on Friday. Both come into the match bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Last Friday, Cheraw didn't have too much trouble with Central at home as they won 30-13. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Braves.
Cheraw can attribute much of their success to McClendon, who rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and Kadin Thomas, who threw for 104 yards and a touchdown on only nine passes. McClendon is becoming a predictor of Cheraw's success: when he posts at least two rushing touchdowns the team is 3-1 (and 1-2 when he doesn't).
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for North Central, who bounced back after a loss on the road back in September. They managed a 40-35 victory over Chesterfield last Friday. The win was a breath of fresh air for the Knights as it put an end to their three-game losing streak.
Clarkson was his usual excellent self, rushing for 252 yards and three touchdowns while picking up 7.9 yards per carry. Another player making a difference was Brayden Price, who rushed for 66 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries.
He was just one part of a punishing run game: North Central was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 378 rushing yards. That's the most rushing yards they've posted since back in October of 2023.
Cheraw pushed their record up to 4-3 with the victory, which was their third straight at home. As for North Central, the win got them back to even at 3-3.
Cheraw strolled past North Central when the teams last played back in October of 2023 by a score of 20-6. The rematch might be a little tougher for Cheraw since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
