North stars shine brightest in all-star football game

MYRTLE BEACH -- The North can boast another win, and it can do so simply because it made fewer mistakes.

The SCADA North-South Football All-Star game was anything but clean, as the teams combined for 14 fumbles at rain-soaked Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium. But after losing just one of its eight fumbles, the North went on to win 23-6, its 10th victory in the last 13 years of the series.

"The conditions we had to deal with this week were pretty tough," said North coach Benny McMurray, the head coach at Lancaster. "It doesn't matter to either team. You can't tell the North kids [thought] it was cold, because we were on the winning side. They overcame a lot."

McMurray's team kept the North's winning way going by nearly abandoning the passing game altogether and getting some big plays early.

The way the offenses were moving the ball, the capper may have come at the end of the second quarter, when two North plays proved to be more than enough to win the game.

One of the two Blues' completions on the day was a 41-yard scoring strike from Nelson Hughes to Robert Joseph. The receiver got by his defender and when he turned at the goal line, the ball was in his stomach.

"I was thinking 'I can't drop this,' because we were only up three," Joseph said. "I had to catch it."

He did just that, and then his defensive teammates did the rest.

Two plays into the South's ensuing drive, North cornerback Daquan Brown intercepted a Loranzo Hammonds pass and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown. Brown, the smallest player on the field for either team at 5-foot-5, grabbed the errant ball out of the air, got past a couple of defenders and then dragged another one into the end zone.

"I went up and got it," Brown said. "I thought [the last defender] was going to kill me."

Brown's score put the North up 16-0 and it was all the cushion the Blues would need, mainly because the South had significant trouble holding on to the ball.

The Reds lost five fumbles, dropped plenty of passes and couldn't utilize the spread offense coach Ray Stackley of Stratford had hoped to employ. All three of his quarterbacks - Loranzo Hammonds (North Augusta), Derek Coblenz (Hanahan) and Mitch Campbell (Myrtle Beach) - either ran a spread or pistol offense this season.

"It affected everything we did offensively," Stackley said. "Somebody predicted Saturday was going to be a nice day, and then all of a sudden we have 80 percent chance of rain and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees."

The rain complicated the normal issues between centers, quarterbacks and running backs who had never played together. In total, the two factors led to seven turnovers for the South, and the North took advantage to the tune of 17 points.

Brown said he would be more than ready to sign up for another contest with the same teammates.

"I like playing with this team," Brown said. "I would love to play one more game with 'em. It's a good group of players."

The South's woes also helped extend the North's decade-plus run of success and push its all-time series record to 36-25-2 against the South.

"I'm just glad we could represent our side of the state," Joseph said. "A lot of people wished they could be here."

First quarter

N - Landon Ard 27 FG

Second quarter

N - Robert Joseph 41 pass from Nelson Hughes (kick failed)

N - Daquan Brown 39 interception return (Ard kick)

Third quarter

S - Jonathan Rumph 11 pass from Loranzo Hammonds (conversion failed)

Fourth quarter

N - Edward Williams 11 run (Ard kick)

RUSHING--North - Dawan Scott 11-51, Brandon Wilds 12-49, Edward Williams 17-36, Malcolm Harris 2-8, Justin Suber 10-(-)7, Nelson Hughes 8-(-)9, Tamyn Garrick 1-(-)9. South - Ryan Barnwell 11-42, Jerome Jordan 3-9, Rakeem White 7-5, Loranzo Hammonds 14-(-)5, Mitch Campbell 2-(-)9, Byron Mayes 1-(-)9. PASSING--North - Hughes 2-4-0, 49 yards, Justin Suber 0-2-0, 0 yards, Tamyn Garrick 0-2-0, 0 yards. South - Hammonds 5-14-1, 60 yards, Derek Coblentz 3-7-1, 14 yards, Campbell 1-4-0, 4 yards. RECEIVING--North - Robert Joseph 1-41, Dajohn Rowland 1-8. South - Jonathan Rumph 4-38, John Israel 2-35, Devohnte Thompson 1-7, Kentrell Disher 1-1, White 1-(-)3.