INMAN, S.C. – With time winding down and in need of a few yards, Chapman did what they had done most of the night – run the football. Keanu Na broke through the left side for a 13 yard gain and a first down as Chapman edged Broome 38-35 in front of a capacity crowd for the Region 3-3A crown.
This also marks the seventh region championship in as many seasons for the Panthers and extends their region winning streak to 32 games (with 19 occurring at home in that span). The region winning streak dates back to October 28th, 2016, where the Panthers earned a 33-7 road win over the Centurions. Broome drew first blood with a seven-play, 75 yard drive to open the contest as Kamajay Brackett-Brannon took the option keeper down the far sideline for a 25 yard score. After a Chanson Mickles tackle on third down led to a Broome punt, Chapman answered with an eight-play, 70 yard drive where Coleman Gray scored on a 14 yard run, tying the game at 7 with 5:58 left in the opening frame. Four minutes later, Mathai Scott capped a tidy five-play, 75 yard march with a four yard touchdown run that put Chapman ahead 14-7. On the next possession, a 43 yard completion on third down from Gray to Hudson Moss set up a one yard plunge by Scott and a 21-7 lead for the Panthers. “(The offensive line) did what they do every day at practice, and worked their tails off,” Scott quickly pointed out. “We just run behind them. It just comes down to wanting it. All I wanted to do is to give everybody another chance. When I got to the second level, (my thought was) the first guy is not going to take me down.” However, Jaylen McGill fielded the ensuing kickoff and returned it 83 yards for a Centurion score, cutting it down to a seven point game. With under three minutes left in the half, Scott punched it into the end zone and extended the Chapman lead back to two scores, 28-14. Broome opened the third quarter by forcing a Chapman three-and-out and finding pay dirt on a one yard McGill run, again cutting the score down to seven points. Late in the frame, the Panthers countered as Gray weaved his way through traffic on a 24 yard jaunt for a 35-21 advantage. “I trust my guys in front of me and know that I can count on them whenever I’ve got the ball in my hands,” exclaimed Gray. “When I run, I’m running angry because I want to get - if not a touchdown - a big run to get my guys going and have that energy for the rest of the night.” “I have two older brothers that made me run angry because I’ve always wanted to be better than them. We kept our foot on the gas pedal and kept on pushing. Like Coach Cab says, think of this game for 24 hours and then after that, you’re done. We’re onto the next game and that’s what we’re going to do.” Jackson Visoury knocked through an 18 yard field goal for a 10 point Panther lead, but another McGill touchdown cut it to a three-point deficit with 3:49 left in regulation before Chapman recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock. “That’s us,” said Chapman head coach Harry Cabaniss. “We went to our next three in Keanu Na, Coleman Gray, and Mathai Scott. I’ll lean on those guys all day long and with our offensive line playing the way they’re playing, we’re not going to change it up.” “Hudson Moss had a couple of big catches for us, and Max Carter played awesome early on. Whoever we put in, it's the next man up. I knew our guys were going to answer (just like) they have all season.” Scott finished with 19 carries for a game-high 161 yards and three touchdowns, while Na had 13 carries for 115 yards. Gray completed 12 of his 13 pass attempts for 112 yards, while also recording 17 carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns. Moss tallied four receptions for 61 yards, while Max Carter had three receptions for 25 yards. McGill compiled 22 carries for 155 yards and four total touchdowns (three rushing) for the Centurions, while Brackett-Branndon recorded 13 carries for 112 yards and a touchdown. Chapman (9-1) will host the fourth seed from Region 1-3A in the first round of the 3A Upper State playoffs on Friday, November 3rd, with a scheduled kickoff of 7:30 PM. Comments are closed.
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