Here’s how Myrtle Beach is preparing for high-stakes rematch with Hartsville

Myrtle Beach has taken this trip once this season, but this time feels different.

The Seahawks (10-1) will head to Kellytown Stadium to take on Hartsville on Friday in the Class 4A Lower State final, with the winner of the game advancing to play for a state championship. For coach Mickey Wilson and the Seahawks, this contest is about showing they learned and grew from the 70-34 loss his team suffered on Nov. 1 against the Red Foxes (12-0).

“What a great opportunity for our kids to go play Hartsville again and to be playing for the chance to go play in Columbia,” Wilson said following Wednesday’s practice in mid-40s temperatures. “That’s what you want as a team, the chance to make a deep playoff run and play in late November. We’ve learned a lot from the first time we played Hartsville and we’re going to do some things differently going into this game with our scheme.”

In the regular-season matchup, Hartsville benefited from some turnovers and sloppy play by Myrtle Beach, building a 36-7 halftime lead. The Seahawks made a third-quarter push, but Hartsville showed why it has been ranked No. 1 in the Class 4A polls much of the season by pulling away to end the game and clinch the Region 6-4A title.

“I don’t think we really erase it, you take it and learn from it to get better,” Wilson said of his team’s takeaways from the first matchup. “I feel like we’ve gotten better, since that game we’ve played better on offense and defense. Sometimes, you need to get beat like that – you don’t want to, but it can make your team better and realize some things that need to be cleaned up.”

Much of the focus in practice for the Seahawks has been on the defensive side of the ball. Since giving up 70 points as a team to Hartsville, Myrtle Beach has given up a combined 28 points in the playoffs and had a stellar showing of six quarterback sacks by senior defensive end JB Favorite last Friday night against North Myrtle Beach. This week, Favorite and the defense know the challenge is different, but still expect to have a huge impact on the game.

“Hartsville has a good offensive scheme that is tricky, so you’ve got to know what your assignment is and do it on every play,” he said. “They run the ball a lot and are versatile with who gets the ball, it could be the quarterback or a couple of different running backs. We’ve got to read our keys all night and make sure we are doing everything we are supposed to do to make the whole defense work.”

Wilson and Favorite both said that gang tackling and rallying to the ball would be huge performance indicators for the defense, as one-on-one tackling opportunities mean Hartsville can slip away for a big play.

“If you watch the backfield, you’re going to give up a big play down the field,” Favorite said of the “eye-candy” Hartsville uses in the backfield. “It feeds in a lot, defensively, having 70 points put up on you is not something you want to hang (your hat) on. We’re getting a second chance to prove something, so there’s a lot of motivation going into this one.”

All of the motivation in the world won’t matter if the Seahawks get off to a slow start again, so Wilson and his offense have made it a point to practice a crisp passing game and strong rushing attack to stay balanced and avoid turnovers and being behind the chains.

“The biggest thing is taking care of the ball, we can’t turn the ball over and put ourselves in a hole. We’ve got to execute, by catching the ball and blocking up front,” Wilson said. “If we can do those things, our offense will have a better chance to have some success. (Since the regular season matchup) a chance for us to refocus, reenergize, and learn some valuable lessons.”

Playing in front of a raucous crowd at Kellytown Stadium is nothing new for Myrtle Beach and shouldn’t be an issue, Wilson said, and his team is looking forward to the challenge – and potentially avenging its only loss.

Friday’s games

Lower State finals

Class 4A

Myrtle Beach at Hartsville, 7:30 p.m.

Class A

Hemingway at Green Sea Floyds, 7:30 p.m.

This story was originally published November 29, 2018 at 4:23 PM.