Live updates: Myrtle Beach Seahawks shoot for second straight state title

Updates

>>Clinton gets the first down and has pulled off the upset for the Class AAA state title. The Red Devils were a No. 4 seed entering the playoffs and won all five playoff games away from their home field. Clinton finishes the season 12-3 while Myrtle Beach ends at 13-2. Clinton 35, Myrtle Beach 26, FINAL

>>Myrtle Beach tries an onside kick, but Clinton recovers at the Seahawks' 49-yard line. Myrtle Beach calls its final timeout with Clinton facing a third and 3 from the 42. Myrtle Beach forces a fourth and inches play by Clinton, who has called their second timeout of the half. If Myrtle Beach doesn't hold here, it is over. Clinton 35, Myrtle Beach 26, 1:51 fourth quarter

>>Clinton punts the ball back to Myrtle Beach with 3:58 on the clock. Seahawks get a long pass play from Everett Golson to Donte Sumpter before Golson runs it in from 7 yards out. A Golson to Sumpter 2-point conversion pass is good. Myrtle Beach has only one timeout left. Clinton 35, Myrtle Beach 26, 3:12 fourth quarter

>>Clinton's Lavadrick Glenn returned the kickoff 97 yards to give Clinton a commanding 35-18 lead. The Red Devils set up for an onside kick by Myrtle Beach and everyone on their return team was within five yards of the 50-yard line with Glenn the only man back. He cut in and out of Seahawks defenders for the score. On Myrtle Beach's first play following the score, quarterback Everett Golson threw deep but was intercepted at the Clinton 13-yard line. Clinton now has a second and 1 from their 22-yard line with 7:27 left in the game. Clinton 35, Myrtle Beach 18, 7:27 fourth quarter

>>Myrtle Beach senior Morgan Byrd made a leaping catch over a defender in the end zone on a jump ball from Everett Golson for a 15-yard touchdown catch but Golson's pass on the 2-point conversion was incomplete as the Seahawks cut the lead to 10. Myrtle Beach drove 73 yards in 3:07. Clinton 28, Myrtle Beach 18, 8:15 fourth quarter

>>Clinton running back Taviouzie Booker scored his fourth rushing touchdown to put Clinton up 28-12. The Seahawks need to score quickly, but the problem is that would just put its defense back on the field and the Seahawks' D needs a rest. Clinton 28, Myrtle Beach 12, 11:22 FOURTH quarter

>>We are at the end of the third quarter and Clinton is on the verge of putting another score on the board. The Red Devils have driven from their own 30 to the Seahawks' 7 with several big runs up the middle of the Myrtle Beach defense. Myrtle Beach is looking tired on defense and Clinton is looking stronger as the game wears on. This one feels like it is slipping away from Myrtle Beach. It's second and three from the 7 to start the fourth. Clinton 21, Myrtle Beach 12, start fourth quarter

>>That's now four second-half possessions and four punts. Myrtle Beach converted third downs twice, but penalties wiped out both of them on its second series of the half. Clinton 21, Myrtle Beach 12, 3:52 third quarter

>>Clinton gets a first down but that is about it and punts back to Myrtle Beach. The Seahawks may have found a way to stop the Clinton rushing attack, but they still need to find some rhythm on offense. Clinton 21, Myrtle Beach 12, 5:18 third quarter

>>Myrtle Beach returns the favor and goes three and out. Myrtle Beach quarterback Everett Golson is getting tons of time to throw, but Clinton is doing a good job of staying on the Seahawks receivers. Clinton 21, Myrtle Beach 12, 8:10 third quarter

>>Myrtle Beach forces a quick three and out on Clinton's opening possession of the second half. Myrtle Beach takes over at its own 35-yard line with 10:20 to go in the third quarter. Clinton 21, Myrtle Beach 12

>>Clinton gets the ball to start the second half and takes over at its own 35-yard line.

>>The stat of the half is the one Clinton had hoped to dominate. The Red Devils held the ball 17 minutes and 29 seconds of the 24-minute first half. Clinton has rushed 36 times for 175 yards and has 200 yards on 41 plays overall. Myrtle Beach has had just 21 offensive plays with 4 carries for 15 yards on the ground and 134 yards through the air, with 52 coming on the final pass of the first half. Myrtle Beach quarterback Everett Golson is 8-for-17 passing for the 134 yards and a 20-yard touchdcown pass to Donte Sumpter. Clinton's Taviouzie Booker has 19 carries for 67 yards and all three Red Devils touchdowns. Lavadrick Glenn is Clinton's leading rusher with 74 yards on 7 carries.

>>It's halftime and Myrtle Beach was able to get a fieldc goal at the horn. Taking over at its 33-yard line with 13 seconds left, Everett Golson threw a 52-yard pass to Dallas Goodman with three seconds left on the clock. Jordan Butler kicked a 32-yard field goal as time ran out. Clinton 21, Myrtle Beach 12, Halftime

>>Clinton is doing exactly what it needs to do to win this game. Taviouzie Booker scored his third touchdown of the game, this one a 2-yard run with 20 seconds left in the half. Clinton 21, Myrtle Beach 9, 0:20 left in second quarter

>>The Seahawks have been plagued by a case of the drops so far. They have five drops of Everett Golson passes, including on back-to-back plays following Clinton's free kick that forced the Seahawks to punt. Clinton took over possesions at its 21 and in three plays have moved to the Myrtle Beach 33 with 1:45 left in the half.Clinton 14, Myrtle Beach 9, 1:45 left in second quarter

>>Myrtle Beach went three and out again after the second Clinton score, but a holding penalty on Jordan Butler's punt pinned Clinton inside its 10-yard line. The Myrtle Beach defense forced a punt from the 11 and a low snap on the play allowed the Seahawks to get to the punter in the end zone for a safety. Clinton 14, Myrtle Beach 9, 2:44 left in second quarter

>>Clinton converted a fourth-and-three from the Myrtle Beach 29 on its way to scoring the go-ahead touchdown. An option around the right end, a play Myrtle Beach coaches argued for a chop block on linebacker Steven Cobb, went for 15 yards on the fourth-down play. On the next play, Clinton fumbled the ball forward and the Red Devils recovered it on the 3 for a first-and-goal from there. Three plays later, Taviouzie Booker punched it in from the 1. That drive took 6:04 off the clock. Clinton 14, Myrtle Beach 7, 5:49 second quarter

>>The Seahawks are on the board. Donte Sumpter went up over a defender on the left side of the end zone and made an acrobatic catch on a 20-yard touchdown pass from Everett Golson on the first play of the second quarter. Clinton returned the ensuing kick to its 47. Myrtle Beach 7, Clinton 7, 11:00 second quarter

>>Myrtle Beach held Clinton to a three and out on the Red Devils' second drive. The Seahawks finally started moving the ball on their third drive, moving from their own 27 to the Clinton 20 as the first quarter came to an end. Start of second quarter, Clinton 7, Myrtle Beach 0.

>>Myrtle Beach goes three and out again. On both drives the Seahawks have had a receiver drop a first down pass on easy opportunities. Myrtle Beach has minus-2 yards in six offensive plays. With 3:32 left in the first quarter, Clinton takes over at their own 34.

>>Taviouzie Booker scored from 1 yard out to give Clinton a 7-0 lead with 4:54 left on the clock. Clinton's drive was 13 plays for 71 yards and took 6:44 off the clock. Clinton 7, Myrtle Beach 0

>>6:30 p.m. -- Looks like there is about 1,000 Myrtle Beach fans here. Clinton has picked up two first downs on its opening drive. The Red Devils have a second and eight at the Myrtle Beach 46.

>>6:25 p.m. -- We're underway. Myrtle Beach's Khiry Watts returned the opening kickoff 21 yards to the Myrtle Beach 29. Myrtle Beach went three and out on its first drive with two imcompletions. The Seahawks did not gain a yard. Clinton takes over at their own 29. 10:50 left in first quarter.

>>6:22 -- Myrtle Beach student Norman McQueen sang the national anthem. Myrtle Beach won the toss and elected to receive. The pregame clock is at zero and the teams are on the field waiting to start the game.

>>6:15 p.m. -- I was down on the field when the team came out and it feels very cold. The temperature says 50 degrees right now. Still 9 minutes left in the pregame. Both teams have headed back into the locker rooms and the field is empty.

>>6:08 p.m. -- Still 16 minutes left in the pregame. Myrtle Beach and Clinton are both doing their pregame drills. The Seahawks are the home team in this one. The stands have about 500 Myrtle Beach fans right now while the Clinton side has probably 2,000, but there are still a lot of Dillon fans hanging around. Dillon beat Pageland Central 21-20 in the Class AA title game.

>>5:01 p.m. -- There doesn't appear to be live video available from today's game, but audio is available at htcnetracer.net. The radio broadcast is on 93.7-FM and 1050-AM. A pregame broadcast starts at 5:30 p.m. Station 93.9-FM will have the Myrtle Beach broadcast beginning with the pregame show but will switch from the football game to Coastal Carolina basketball coverage at 6:30 p.m. Coastal Carolina plays at Liberty beginning at 7 p.m. and the pregame begins at 6:30 p.m. Dillon leads Pageland Central 21-14 with 1:54 left in the third quarter.

>>4:50 p.m. -- The clouds in the area are moving out and it's a nice light blue sky over Williams-Brice Stadium. So it doesn't look like rain will play a factor in tonight's game. But the cold could. The forecast is for it to be down to 49 degrees by the 6 p.m. kickoff and down to 44 by 8 p.m. It's currently 53 here. Dillon's up 21-8 midway through the third quarter.

>>4:30 p.m. - It's halftime of the Class AA state title game. Dillon is up 14-8 on Pageland Central. The day started with Dorman shocking Byrnes 28-17 in the Class AAAA, Division I title game. Byrnes, who has been ranked No. 2 in the nation in USA Today's national poll for most of the season, turned the ball over four times. Trailing 17-14, Dorman scored the final two touchdowns -- a 2-yard run by A.J. Booker with 5:26 left and a 56-yard interception return by John Parker with 3:04 remaining as Byrnes was driving for the potential winning points. Official attendance listed for the game was 12,000. Byrnes outgained Dorman 389-211 in yards but Dorman had just one turnover. Byrnes had beaten Dorman 17-10 during the regular season. On Friday night, Berkeley beat Northwesterm 33-24 to win the Class AAAA, Division II state championship.

>>2 p.m. - The game between Myrtle Beach and Clinton is set to start at 6 p.m. from Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia. Come back to www.TheSunNews.com for updates.

Here's a breakdown of tonight's game

Clinton (11-3) vs. Myrtle Beach (13-1)

The game | The Seahawks make a return trip to the Class AAA state title game. This is the Seahawks' eighth appearance in the state championship game and they will be going for the program's sixth state title. The Seahawks have outscored their opponents 624-218 while the Red Devils have a 389-230 edge on their opponents. Clinton's three losses have come by a combined five points.

The Red Devils entered the postseason as a No. 4 seed and have won four straight road playoff games, including last week's 35-28 upset of previously unbeaten Daniel. These two teams have met in the state title game twice before. Clinton beat Myrtle Beach 14-6 in 1975 while the Seahawks beat Clinton 14-13 in 1983. The 1975 game was Myrtle Beach's first state championship game appearance in football. Myrtle Beach's title in 1983 was the first of back-to-back state titles - the last time the Seahawks repeated - and the third of four championships the Seahawks would win from 1980-84.

This has been billed as a matchup of smashmouth Clinton versus high-flying Myrtle Beach. The Red Devils run for 228 yards per game, but they also average nearly 114 through the air. On defense, Clinton is giving up 107 yards on the ground and 122 through the air on average and have 17 interceptions this season. Myrtle Beach has averaged 114 rushing yards and 270 passing yards per game while the defense has given up 148 on the ground and 108 through the air each time out.

For his career, Myrtle Beach junior quarterback Everett Golson is 642-for-1,028 passing for 9,593 yards, 124 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. This season, Golson is 207-for-323 passing for 3,258 yards, 45 touchdowns and only two picks. His career passing yardage puts him 28th all-time in the national records. On his current pace, he will make the national record book for career stats in completions, passing attempts, passing yards and touchdowns.

Favorite | Myrtle Beach