Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009

Braves top Sharks to reach playoffs

MYRTLE BEACH -- Socastee can officially start planning for the playoffs.

The Braves, who defeated rival St. James on Thursday, are already scouting their potential first-round opponent. Several assistants will travel to the lowcountry with coach Tim Renfrow for tonight's Hilton Head-Bluffton matchup. If Hilton Head wins the game, Socastee will visit the Seahawks on Nov. 6. If Bluffton pulls off the victory, the Braves will have to wait until that region's tie-breaker scenarios are finalized Monday.

Deciding a course of action for this weekend was much easier than dispatching the Sharks on Thursday night.

St. James gave the Braves all they could handle before Socastee finally ended the Sharks' season with a 27-21 defeat.

"We know all them; we're real good friends with a lot of them," Braves quarterback Zack Elliman said. "But I think we're a better football team, and we prevailed.

"I think we accomplished everything we wanted to prove. St. James [was] 2-7 coming into the game.

"They're not a very good football team. At the same time, it's a rivalry game. Anything can happen. You know how that goes."

For the most part, the throw out the records cliche took hold of the game. It wasn't over until Socastee sacked St. James quarterback Chase Smith on the Sharks' final possession with a little more than 2 minutes left in the game.

Until then, St. James (2-8 overall, 0-5 Region VII-AAA) wouldn't go away, even after the Braves built a 13-point, second-half lead.

Much of that had to do with a productive Sharks offensive attack.

"St. James plays hard against us," Renfrow said. "It was a good ballgame. Our defense, we struggled a little bit and they moved the ball."

The first half turned out to be a slugfest in which there was more than 400 yards of combined total offense, 19 combined first downs and only one punt. Each team did nearly all of their damage on the ground, and both Socastee and St. James scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the game.

The Braves started off the game with a 10-play, 4:29 drive that covered 53 yards. It ended when Elliman punched it into the end zone from 3 yards out. St. James, however, didn't take long to return the favor.

Smith led the Sharks 74 yards en route to a Donald Duncan touchdown run.

Socastee needed just three plays to score again before the end of the first quarter, with P.J. Brave doing the honors from 5 yards out.

Each team then added another touchdown before halftime, giving Socastee (5-5, 3-2) a 21-14 lead at the break.

Socastee senior linebackers David Britt and Josh Boatwright missed the game, and although they are both expected to be back for next week's playoff game, Smith and Co. took advantage of their absence early.

Now, with the two players expected back - and the rest of the Braves apparently healthy - Socastee can get ready for the postseason.

"I can't wait to see who we play," Elliman said. "Our team, can we man up with whoever we play? It doesn't matter to me, as long as we get to play some more games."