Area players take spotlight for North-South football game in Myrtle Beach

Call it the Seahawk blessed curse.

Myrtle Beach players selected to the SCADA North-South All-Star Football game aren’t simply some of the best in the state. They can’t simply endure the two-a-day practices and try to help the South squad get a much-needed win in the series against players from the Upper State.

If only it was that easy.

Between showing off the Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium amenities to talking about the success of Myrtle Beach football during the last five years, being a Seahawk during North-South week comes with loads of attention and extra responsibilities.

“The first day, I felt like the most popular guy on earth,” Myrtle Beach defensive tackle Trey Vivian said in advance of Saturday’s noon kickoff. “I mean, it was question, question, question, question. I got to tell everybody how it felt and what it was like.”

This week, that task fell on Vivian and teammate Tyler Knox. Much like last year, when quarterback Mitch Campbell and defensive back Alex Holloman played in the event, the current Seahawk seniors have played chaperone as much as football players.

For Knox, the questions have been as much as about his future as his past. The 6-foot-5 defensive end committed to North Carolina State earlier this year, although he said there’s always a possibility for a last-second change prior to February’s signing day.

“It was kind of good, but it got annoying,” Knox said. “People kept asking the same questions, and I kept giving them the same answers.

“As my coaches say, keep your options open. I still have [North Carolina State] at the top. I have them in my mind, in my future, and that’s where I’m going. But I gotta have an option A, B and C – a fall-back plan. I’m just keeping my options open right now.”

To a lesser extent, many of those same questions fell to the other three area players who were selected to this week’s game.

Carolina Forest cornerback Jarvez Holmes, Conway offensive lineman Bernard Brooks and Georgetown defensive tackle Leeshawn Cromedy were next in line. All three had significant experience playing at Doug Shaw as visitors.

But their selection to Saturday’s game was much more significant.

Holmes, the two-way Panther star, appears to be headed for a major-college scholarship of his own. He’s attracted interest from Georgia Tech, among others, and for good reason. Defensively, he packaged seven pass break-ups and five interceptions with 41 tackles.

The effort gave the selection committee more than enough reason to name him as the first North-South player in Carolina Forest history.

“It means the world to me,” he said. “It means a lot to my school, to me, my family. I’m just going to try to represent them to the fullest.”

Brooks earned the spot after spending the last four seasons as a starter on the Conway offensive line. As a senior, he was forced to protect one of the most enigmatic quarterbacks in the state in Mykal Moody.

Playing left tackle – Brooks will be at the guard position this week – he graded out just shy of 90 percent.

“We’d block for a pass, and he’d take off for a run,” Brooks said of Moody. “I liked blocking for him, though. He’s a talented kid.”

At Georgetown, Cromedy was the centerpiece of a Bulldog defense that started to turn around last season before making major strides in 2011.

Cromedy and Co. allowed fewer than 18 points per game during the regular season and held opponents to 231 yards of offense per game.

Individually, Cromedy piled up 69 tackles (17.5 for loss), three sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Still, he spun the credit back to second-year Georgetown coach Bradley Adams and the rest of the Bulldog staff.

“They helped me get here,” Cromedy said, “with the weight room and the right scheduling, dedication and assignment football.”

Together, the five Grand Strand players could have a major impact as to whether or not the South squad is going to reverse course in the series. The North leads the series 36-25-2, but more impressively, it has won 10 of the last 13 games.

“We really want to win this one to say we beat the North team,” Brooks said.

Said Cromedy: “It would give us bragging rights for our generation that played.”