North Myrtle Beach-Myrtle Beach showdown has moved. Here’s when it will be played

A game that is always ripe with anticipation will come a little quicker than expected, as this year’s matchup between North Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach has been moved up from Friday to Thursday, due to the threat of poor weather conditions.

Mickey Wilson, Myrtle Beach’s head coach, said the decision came from some of the weather forecasts that paint this weekend as a potential monsoon with high wind conditions.

“I was talking with (meteorologist) Ed Piotrowski, he was telling me how bad the weather is supposed to be and our administration looked at it as well to determine that our game against North Myrtle (Beach) would need to be moved up,” Wilson said. “It’ll be another one of those weird weeks for us, just coming back from the long break and now playing on a short week. Our guys will be ready for it, for sure.”

Weather forecasts for Friday show an 80 percent chance of rain and winds reaching about 20 mph throughout the day. Currently, Thursday shows no chance of rain and an overcast day.

Moving up the game means both teams will lose a day of practice, but avoiding potentially hazardous playing conditions will help keep players for both teams safe.

“That’s the goal in doing this, to keep players safe,” Wilson said. “We don’t want to put our players out on a slick playing surface or have any of the issues the weather can bring. This has been a crazy year for our players, we haven’t played a home game since Sept. 7, so this game can’t come fast enough for us.”

For North Myrtle Beach, coming off a tough contest against Hartsville, playing a day early isn’t what the doctor ordered. Coach Matt Reel didn’t hear of the change until late Monday night, putting his team behind the 8-ball in its preparation for a pivotal contest.

North Myrtle Beach will travel to Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium on Thursday at 7 p.m. to face Myrtle Beach in a Region 6-5A showdown.