SPARTANBURG, SC - As the weather started to have a crisp cool feel in the air at the Centurion Stadium, it was a hot first half from Chapman junior quarterback Coleman Gray that led the Panthers to their sixth straight region title with a 32-6 victory over Broome on Friday night.
Chapman head coach Harry Cabaniss said that he knew his team struggled early but the competition they faced helped them get to the point that they won the championship on Friday night. "We knew going into the season we were young, but we continued to grow each week," said Cabaniss. "Our guys bought into our process and that's why we got better. It's great to keep this region championship streak alive that started with Coach Hodge and it's all because of these players." Chapman got their offense started going on the first drive of the game as the offense marched the ball forty-five yards before settling for a 28-yard field goal from sophomore Jackson Visoury just four minutes into the first quarter. The Panthers added another score on their third drive when running back Mathai Scott ran over the left side of the line for a three-yard scoring run to put Chapman ahead 11-0 after a successful two-point conversion. They backed that drive up with another impressive drive on their next possession as Gray connected on a 43-yard touchdown pass down the left side of the field to Shawn Cunningham to push the Panthers lead to 18-0 over the Centurions. Gray added another score with just twenty-three seconds left in the half finding a Panther's receiver on a four-yard touchdown pass to give them a 25-0 halftime lead. While Gray didn't find the endzone on each drive in the first half, he was a key part of each drive as he rushed for 115 yards and threw for 87 yards in the first half. He gave credit to his offensive line for his successful first half performance that saw the Panthers rack up 274 yards of offense on Friday night. "We knew we wanted to come out strong and pound the ball on the ground," said Gray. "Our plan was to come in and win the championship early and want to give a shoutout to my offensive line because they blocked their tails off tonight. I couldn't of ran like I did tonight without them taking care of business upfront." Coach Cabaniss said the growth of Gray at quarterback from the start of the season is one of the big reasons that this team won their sixth straight region championship. "It's night and day from the start of the season," said Cabaniss. "He's gotten better as the season goes along and understands he has to carry the ball for us to be successful. We know for us to make a run we have to be able to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense which we did both of tonight." The Panthers also got a strong first half from their defense as they limited Broome to sixteen yards of offense. Broome started the second half with their only score of the game when quarterback Kamajay Brackett-Brann found Carlos Cohen down the left sideline for a 37-yard touchdown pass to put the Chapman lead at 25-6. At the start of the fourth quarter Gray found Mathai Scott on a 27-yard touchdown screen pass over the right side that saw Scott make an impressive run that included a spin, a dodge, and a dive to put the Panthers up 32-6 over the Centurions. Chapman finished the night with 403 yards of offense while their defense limited Broome to 150 yards of offense. With the victory the Panthers claimed the Region III-3A championship and will now host their first-round playoff matchup to start the 3A playoffs next week. Their opponent in that matchup will be officially announced on Saturday. |
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