Myrtle Beach runs up 73 points in blowout victory over St. James
The Myrtle Beach offense didn’t take long to light up the scoreboard at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium on Friday night, scoring early and often to crush St. James 73-0 for a homecoming victory.
The Seahawks (4-4, 1-1 Region 7-4A) tallied 45 points in the first half of the region rout against the Sharks (2-6, 0-2 Region) and cruised in the second half to even their region record.
“It gives us some confidence. We see that when we come out to play and play well and take care of the football, we’ve got a chance to put some points on the board,” said Myrtle Beach coach Mickey Wilson. “It was a good win; it was a great homecoming win. I thought our effort was tremendous tonight.”
Myrtle Beach set the tone for the game from its opening drive, taking the opening kickoff and running Jermani Green for huge chunks on the way to his first touchdown of the night. With its offense clicking, the Seahawk defense forced a three-and-out of St. James, which Myrtle Beach answered with another touchdown drive.
Wilson was proud of the efforts of his team, especially his defense in facing a challenging option attack.
“It’s tough to predict when you play; on film they played Marlboro County real tough last week and Marlboro County is a good football team,” Wilson said of St. James coming into the game. “They run a very tricky offense, the Wing-T is tough to defend and tough to replicate in practice. I thought our guys really did a good job of stopping that, they came out mentally focused and really shut them down.”
For St. James, the loss comes with no silver linings, said head coach Joey Price.
“You get beat 73-0, there’s (nothing positive),” he said. “Our kids have been doing this for a while and it’s the same thing with them, when they play good teams, they feel like they don’t have a chance sometimes. We’re working hard, our kids are good kids, they work hard every day. Obviously, we don’t have the athletes that they’ve got or a lot of programs have, but we’re working our tails off.”
While pointing out the disparity in where the two programs currently sit, Price highlighted the difference in facilities, having just played in the newly renovated Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
“We’re not (any)where near that, I’ve told people all along, ‘Look at the facilities they’ve got, look at the facility we’ve got and then you tell me its fair,’” he said. “Tell me our kids have the same chance they’ve got.”
In the second half of the game, St. James’s defense struggled to corral Myrtle Beach’s reserve running backs, with Jaylen Sparkman and a number of defensive players taking turns gashing the Shark defense. Sparkman scored three touchdowns in the second half, much to the delight of his teammates and head coach.
“It’s great to have a young guy like Jaylen Sparkman come in, a young running back, to have some valuable reps for us,” Wilson said. “It was good to get everybody on the field in a good homecoming win.”
Turning point
Taking the opening drive of the game and turning it into points, Myrtle Beach set a pace that St. James couldn’t match. The Seahawks then forced a three-and-out, scored again, forced another three-and-out and scored to take a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, plenty of offense to cruise to a victory.
Key performers
Lawson Cribb: The straw that stirs the drink for the Seahawks, Cribb was a cool and efficient 14-22 passing, with 224 yards and three scoring strikes.
Jermani Green: In the first half, Green was the mainstay for Myrtle Beach, rushing for more than 70 yards on the first drive of the game, which he capped with a touchdown. He set the tone for a strong night of running the ball.
Jaylen Sparkman: Sparkman provided the spark in the second half of the game to keep the Myrtle Beach offense running, scoring three touchdowns as the primary ball carrier in the half. His final touchdown, a 48 yarder, showcased great speed and quick cutting ability by the junior.
By the numbers
12
Jermani Green averaged 12 yards per rush for Myrtle Beach, carrying the ball for 144 yards and two touchdowns, while not playing much of the second half.
224
Lawson Cribb threw for 224 yards in the game, yet didn’t compete a pass in the second half. His command of the Myrtle Beach offense was on full display in the 73-0 win.
7
Myrtle Beach scored seven touchdowns rushing against St. James, four coming in the second half, when the Shark defense was loaded up to stop the run.
They said it
“This was a good homecoming win. We want to celebrate this tonight and come back on Monday ready to work.” Myrtle Beach coach Mickey Wilson
“Our team is not where we need to be, where Myrtle Beach is. For our kids to have the same fighting chance we’ve got to have a weight facility, our kids have to know that everybody has bought into them just like every other community has been bought into. We have the absolute smallest weight room in this county; we’ve got a classroom for a weight room.” – St. James coach Joey Price
Up next
Myrtle Beach: vs. Marlboro County
St. James: vs. Wilson (Oct. 20)
SJ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 |
MB | 21 | 24 | 21 | 7 | — | 73 |
First quarter
MB – Jermani Green 10 yard run (Chad Toone kick good) 10:36
MB – Lawson Cribb 12 yard pass to Marcus Grissett (Toone kick) 6:07
MB – Cribb 41 yard pass to Da’Ron Finkley (Toone kick) 2:04
Second quarter
MB – Green 6 yard run (Toone kick) 9:34
MB – Toone 20 yard field goal 7:34
MB – Xayvion Knox 1 yard run (Toone kick) 3:26
MB – Cribb 69 yard pass to Finkley (Toone kick) 00:47
Third quarter
MB – Knox 3 yard run (Toone kick) 8:47
MB – Jaylen Sparkman 8 yard run (Toone kick) 7:10
MB – Sparkman 7 yard run (Toone kick) 1:28
Fourth quarter
MB – Sparkman 48 yard run (Toone kick) 2:30
Individual leaders
Rushing: SJ: Alex Holmes 10-59. MB: Jermani Green 12-144 2TD.
Passing: SJ: Jacob Tyler 5-15-19-0-1. MB: Lawson Cribb 14-22-224-3-0.
Receiving: SJ: Gage Flohr: 3-18. MB: Da’Ron Finkley: 7-111 2TD.
This story was originally published October 7, 2017 at 12:03 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach runs up 73 points in blowout victory over St. James."