How a high-stakes North Myrtle Beach-Myrtle Beach rematch played out
There are jubilant smiles and tear-stained faces at the end of a high school playoff game, but the thrill is a bit sweeter and the hurt will last a touch longer in this one, as Myrtle Beach defeated rival North Myrtle Beach 35-7 in the third round of the Class 4A playoffs to advance to the Lower State final against Hartsville next week.
The Seahawks (10-1) built a 28-point lead before allowing North Myrtle Beach (10-4) to find the end zone. A stifling defense, led by senior defensive end J.B. Favorite’s six sacks, frustrated and stymied a strong North Myrtle Beach offense, holding the Chiefs to fewer than 250 total yards.
“I’m so proud of our defense; they stepped up in a big way. This is two weeks in a row where they played a team for a second time (this season) and showed up big time,” said Myrtle Beach coach Mickey Wilson. “J.B. Favorite was huge on the defensive line and he showed out in his last game at Doug Shaw (Memorial Stadium). I’m proud of our seniors for playing with a purpose tonight.”
The teams started the game slowly, with no scoring coming in the first two drives for each team. North Myrtle Beach found its rhythm on offense first, going on a nine-play drive that ended in a missed field goal after having first-and-goal at the 4-yard line. Then, Luke Doty and the Myrtle Beach offense hit on a big play – a 65-yard strike to Da’Ron Finkley – to begin building its lead. A Jermani Green rushing score in the second quarter pushed the lead to 14-0 heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, Myrtle Beach added two scores, a pass from Doty to Marcus Grissett and another rushing score by Green. North Myrtle Beach would score first in the game’s final quarter, then Green salted the game away for Myrtle Beach with his third score of the night.
“Jermani is our glue; he holds our whole offense together and is one of those guys we can go to when we need a play,” Wilson said. “He’s a great kid and I’m really excited about how he’s playing right now. The past couple of weeks, with (Luke Doty) and Jermani running in the backfield, we’ve had a dual-threat attack going that we hope is keeping the defense off balance a little bit.”
Paving the way for the potent Myrtle Beach attack was an offensive line that kept Doty upright for much of the game, only surrendering one sack. The leader of that line, Evan Jumper, wanted to end his playing days at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium the right way – with a win.
“It was huge,” he said of defeating rival North Myrtle Beach in his final home game. “I’m so proud of this team and I love each and every one of them.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, North Myrtle Beach ends its season with a tough loss and says goodbye to one of the most successful classes in school history.
“They have set the foundation for our program,” Matt Reel, North Myrtle Beach’s head coach, said. “They’ve worked and done everything they could, they’ve done everything we’ve asked of them time and time again, so it’s hard to look them in the eye and say that it’s all over. I couldn’t have asked for a better group as players and as young men.”
One of those young men, quarterback Cason McClendon, couldn’t hide his emotions following the game. He’s quarterbacked the team to 22 wins over the last two seasons and has helped change the perception of North Myrtle Beach football.
“It meant a lot to represent North Myrtle Beach over the last four years,” he said. “I feel like we’re starting to build a tradition here, something special, and I’m happy to have been a part of it. This is the greatest season I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t have wanted to play for any other team or with any other players, this was everything for me.”
While the Chiefs are focused on next year, Myrtle Beach is turning to next week, when a return trip to Hartsville is in store. The Seahawks and Red Foxes met in Week 11, with Hartsville winning 70-34 to end a perfect season for Myrtle Beach.
“We talked about it all week that we need to focus on us and not our opponent,” Wilson said. “That doesn’t change this week, playing Hartsville. Last time we played them, we played just about as bad as we could and they played really well. That film showed us some things that we can work on, so hopefully we can execute a bit differently this time.”
Myrtle Beach will travel to Hartsville in the Class 4A Lower State final on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
NMB – 0 0 0 7 -
MB – 7 7 14 7 – 35
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
MB – Luke Doty 65-yard pass to Da’Ron Finkley (Chad Toone kick) 00:32
Second Quarter
MB – Jermani Green 2-yard run (Toone kick) 3:24
Third Quarter
MB – Doty 32-yard pass to Marcus Grissett (Toone kick) 6:15
MB – Green 1-yard run (Toone kick) 1:36
Fourth Quarter
NMB – Cason McClendon 22-yard pass to Derrien Holmes (Zane Smith kick) 8:48
MB – Green 42-yard run (Toone kick) 2:34
Individual Statistics
Rushing
NMB – Ramsey Lewis 5-18. MB – Jermani Green 23-112 3TDs
Passing
NMB – Cason McClendon 15-28-230-1-1. MB – Luke Doty 15-25-234-2-0.
Receiving
NMB – Naseem Harrison 6-1-6. MB – Da’Ron Finkley 4-101 TD.
This story was originally published November 24, 2018 at 12:22 AM.