Myrtle Beach QB Doty uncertain for playoff game vs. NMB, and has one less day to recover
Luke Doty stood idly by as the Myrtle Beach football team began its practice on Wednesday after taking snaps with his left hand throughout the pre-practice time.
The Seahawks (10-0) continued to prepare for the possibility that Doty won’t be able to suit up on Thursday, as rival North Myrtle Beach comes to Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium for a second round playoff matchup. He has a right hand injury.
“We’re not sure. Luke’s going to go to the doctor (Thursday) morning to get reevaluated and to see where we’re at,” Myrtle Beach coach Mickey Wilson said. “We’ll know more as we get closer to game time with the training staff and the doctors. It’s really kind of up to the doctors at this point with input from the training staff, but (Doty) hasn’t practiced much this week. He’s been taking mental reps at this point.”
The Shrine Bowl quarterback and South Carolina commitment was injured against Lakewood in the first round of the playoffs Friday and didn’t finish the game in a 63-31 romp. The Seahawks leaned on the wildcat formation and Rhino package led by Xayvion Knox to secure the win.
This week, with Doty not dressed for practice and predominantly keeping his right hand in his pocket on Wednesday, three players have taken snaps in the backfield: Ryan Burger, the backup quarterback on the depth chart; Ryan Burch, a wide receiver who also has quarterback experience; and Knox, a dangerous weapon who can shoulder the load on offense.
“We feel good about all of those guys,” Wilson said. “We’ll do a little bit of (traditional and Rhino offense), especially if the weather’s going to be a little bit rough. It’s definitely an adjustment on some pieces of it, nothing major but we’ll do some things differently just trying to play to those guys’ strengths.”
The Rhino package is something familiar to Thursday’s opponent, North Myrtle Beach, as the two teams just met in the regular season finale on Nov. 1. Since then, North Myrtle Beach took a long trip to North Augusta, defeating the Yellow Jackets in triple overtime to set up the rematch.
“They’re a very good football team that is young,” Wilson said. “They played us extremely well over there at their place and it’s a rival. You never know what will happen against a rival, but our guys are excited to play at home against a familiar opponent that we know very well.”
Due to the threat of heavy rains on Friday, many of the area’s games have been moved up a day.
Carolina Forest set the trend, moving its Class 5A second round game against River Bluff to Thursday at 7 p.m. Now, North Myrtle Beach at Myrtle Beach will kick at 7 p.m. Thursday and May River at Aynor will clash starting at 7:30 p.m.
St. John’s would not agree to move its game at Green Sea Floyds, so the Trojans will take the field after a two-week layoff at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
This story was originally published November 13, 2019 at 6:56 PM.