North Myrtle Beach outlasts rival Loris in back-and-forth contest

In a truly back-and-forth game Friday night between Highway 9 rivals, the first seven scores either gave a team the lead or tied the game.

The eighth score was the lone exception, and that determined the outcome.

A blocked Loris extra point attempt by North Myrtle Beach with 5:30 remaining in the game accounted for the margin of victory in the Chiefs’ 27-26 win at Heniford Field.

The win is the Chiefs’ second in three season over Loris, both on the road.

“We lost last year but we stepped it up this year,” said sophomore running back Kered Class, who gained 112 yards on 14 carries and scored three touchdowns. “We worked harder this year, we practiced even harder and we came out for the win and to work as a team.”

The blocked extra point followed a Hakeem Jackson 5-yard touchdown run, and was the second consecutive scoring drive led by Loris junior quarterback Clay Faircloth, who replaced senior Ta’Jay Williams after Williams was shaken up by a big hit late in the third quarter.

“Our kicker was pretty upset afterwards but I told him that’s the protection. That’s not him. He didn’t lose the game,” said Loris coach Jamie Snider, whose team fell to 0-2. “We had more than enough opportunities once again, and our youth shows up again. We’ve got to stay the course. I tried to tell everybody we were going to be younger and nobody wanted to believe me.

“We had opportunities tonight and hats off to North Myrtle, they found a way to make plays when they needed to. We’ve got to keep working at it and keep working at it.”

The Chiefs were able to win by holding onto the ball in the second half.

North Myrtle Beach, which improved to 1-1 following an opening loss against Dillon, fumbled six times in the first half Friday night, losing two. Both were returned for touchdowns by Loris.

The Chiefs put the ball on the ground only once in the second half and managed to retain possession.

The turnovers have become chronic. NMB turned the ball over five times in the CNB Kickoff Classic jamboree two weeks ago and four times last week against Dillon when it fumbled approximately eight times. The Chiefs lost two of seven fumbles Friday.

“We’re right there. Our kids know it, our coaches know it,” Chiefs coach Blair Hardin said. “We just have to protect the football, especially in the red zone. That was kind of our M.O. last year and it was last week. … If we get that monkey off our back I think we’re going to be okay.”

In the first half, NMB outgained Loris offensively 203 yards to 101, and earned 13 first downs to Loris’ four.

But the score was tied at 13 because of the turnovers and Loris’ maximizing of its two fumble recoveries.

With the Lions trailing 7-0 late in the first quarter, Timothy Bell stripped the ball carrier a few yards from the line of scrimmage on a run up the middle, then turned and raced 69 yards for a touchdown with an entourage of defenders in tow.

Midway through the second quarter, Cullin Mitchell fumbled and Kendall Goodson scooped the ball up and raced 75 yards for a touchdown, outlegging quarterback Ronnie Bass and Class to reach the end zone.

“It was a great job of our defense to find a way to make big plays,” Snider said.

The Chiefs marched down the field on their opening possession, driving 66 yards in 10 plays and scoring on a 3-yard Class run.

The Chiefs tied the score in the final minute of the first half after a short punt gave them the ball at the Loris 39 with less than 3 minutes remaining. Bass capped a seven-play drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass with 41 seconds remaining to Maurice Finch, who was running to his left across the goal line.

It was the second big play of the first half for Finch, who intercepted a Williams pass at the 1-yard line on Loris’ first drive. Williams was flushed out of the pocket by Randy Davenport and Jerrell Dease and threw on the run.

The Chiefs defense came up with a pair of big plays in the third quarter, stopping the Lions on a fourth-and-2 at the Chiefs’ 43 and recovering a fumble on what appeared to be a botched fake handoff at the Loris 4 to set up a 4-yard TD run by Class.

A nice return on the ensuing kickoff by Jackson and a 15-yard personal foul on the return gave Loris the ball on the Chiefs’ 30, leading to a 1-yard TD run by Tevin Livingston. Williams was dinged on a big hit on the sideline by Mike Gore on a 7-yard run on the first play of the drive, and Faircloth came in to complete a pair of passes for 18 yards to set up Livingston’s score.

NMB drove 80 yards in five plays on its next possession, with Class capping a drive with a 9-yard run that included a 40-yard Class run and 24-yard Tyler Gore reception to give the Chiefs a 27-20 lead.

Faircloth remained in the game for the remainder and led the Lions on another scoring drive on their next possession, completing 4 of 5 passes for 43 yards to set up Jackson’s 5-yard scoring run with 5:30 remaining.

Desmond Dozier, relied on heavily as a weapon on Loris’ offense, made a huge tackle on Mitchell alone on the outside off an option pitch to force a punt on a fourth-and-5.

The Lions took over on their 29 with 2:53 to play but turned the ball over on downs following a 2-yard run and three incompletions.

“It’s a big rival and they’ve had a rich tradition since coach Snider has been there, so it’s a big win for our kids tonight,” Hardin said.

This story was originally published August 29, 2015 at 12:38 AM with the headline "North Myrtle Beach outlasts rival Loris in back-and-forth contest."