North Myrtle Beach routs Wilson, earns Region VII-4A’s top seed
North Myrtle Beach secured its best regular season in program history on Friday night along with a share of the Region VII-4A title, cruising past Wilson 47-0 for a ninth regular-season victory.
The win also matches the highest single-season win total ever for the Chiefs, who went 9-3 in 2013 and 9-4 in 2002 with postseason wins.
North Myrtle Beach secured the No. 1 seed in Region VII-AAAA with a 3-1 mark and help from Marlboro County, which knocked off previously unbeaten Myrtle Beach 56-55 on Friday, forcing a points tie-breaker that gave the Chiefs the edge despite losing to the Seahawks 43-23 on Sept. 30.
North Myrtle Beach will be at home next week in the first round of the playoffs against Dreher.
“I want our guys to be pleased with what they’ve done this year but have a mindset that we aren’t going to dwell on it, we’re going to build on it,” North Myrtle Beach coach Blair Hardin said. “I’m very proud of our guys. I want them to stay humble and have that blue-collar mentality and be ready to come back on Monday, because I’m really going to challenge them. The season begins now.”
The game also marked the return of North Myrtle Beach senior quarterback Ronnie Bass, who had missed two games with an injured ankle suffered against Myrtle Beach.
Bass was as quick and accurate as ever in his return, throwing for four touchdowns – three in the first half – as the Chiefs charged out to a 34-0 lead at halftime.
Bass finished with 103 yards through the air on an 8-of-11 passing effort with no interceptions, and rushed for 41 yards on five carries.
“I thought Ronnie was a little rusty, but he did a really good job just being consistent. Wilson is a very athletic team,” Hardin said.
North Myrtle Beach got its first touchdown after a bad snap and 2-yard punt left Xavier Clarida with a clear path to the end zone from 43 yards out.
Bass hit Reece Finch on a 5-yard scoring pass in the final minutes of the first quarter, and took advantage of great field position after a Wilson punt was downed at the Tiger 42, running for 18 yards on a quarterback keeper, then hitting Tyler Gore on a screen pass to left side that went for 24 yards and a score.
Bass connected with Cullin Mitchell for a 43-yard score, and Kered Class scored on a 5-yard run with 19 seconds to play in the first half.
Mitchell had a 13-yard touchdown catch from Bass early in the fourth quarter, and Nick Vereen scored on a 25-yard run with 4:19 left to close scoring.
Wilson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | XX |
NMB | 13 | 21 | 0 | 13 | — | 47 |
First quarter
NMB-Xavier Clarida 43 punt return (kick failed) 7:07
NMB-Reece Finch 5 pass from Bass (Andrew Smith) :39
Second quarter
NMB-Tyler Gore 24 pass from Bass (Smith kick) 7:31
NMB-Cullin MItchell 43 pass from Bass (Smith kick) 3:23
NMB-Kered Class 5 run (Smith kick) :19
Fourth quarter
NMB-Class 13 pass from Bass (Smith kick) 11:51
NMB-Nick Vereen 33 run (kick failed) 4:19
Individual leaders
Rushing: Wilson: Tylon Grainger 17-72; Raymon State 18-64; Shaiquan Scott 1-4, Jacob Quillen 3-0. North Myrtle Beach: Kered Class 6-78; Nick Vereen 8-67; Ronnie Bass 5-41; TJ Gore 6-33.
Passing: Wilson: Quillen 5-14-2 48. North Myrtle Beach: Ronnie Bass 8-11-0 103.
Receiving: Wilson: Antwan Smith 2-15; Tyler Johnson 1-17; Raymon State 1-4, Number 88 1-12. North Myrlte Beach: Cullin Mitchell 2-56; Tyler Gore 2-27; Reece Finch 2-7, Kered Class 1-8.
This story was originally published November 11, 2016 at 11:31 PM with the headline "North Myrtle Beach routs Wilson, earns Region VII-4A’s top seed."