Prep notebook: Buzz already abound for Victory Bell game between Myrtle Beach, Conway

The build-up to the annual Victory Bell rivalry game between Conway and Myrtle Beach is well underway.

Before midnight last Friday, after both teams completed their Week 4 games, fans and players of each team had taken to Twitter to start the banter. This may be the most anticipated game in the series since 2011. That year, Myrtle Beach entered ranked No. 1 in Class AAA and the Tigers were led by star quarterback Mykal Moody.

This Friday in The Sun News Game of the Week, two teams with legitimate hopes of a region title in their respective divisions will match up for another potentially epic game. And for the former Conway quarterback now coaching Myrtle Beach, Mickey Wilson is facing his old coach once again – this time knowing the Tigers are loaded.

“We understand, and our kids will too, that they’re definitely a better team than they have been in the last couple years,” Wilson said. “Any time you put Bryan Edwards on the field, that makes them dangerous.

“I’m glad they are. That’s my alma mater. That’s my school. I’m glad to see them doing well. I just hope they aren’t on Friday.”

A recent trend of Myrtle Beach victories has helped the Seahawks close the gap all time in the series, although Conway still has a significant advantage.

Following Myrtle Beach’s 49-42 win over Conway in the Victory Bell rivalry game last year, the Tigers’ all-time lead in the series stands at 32-13. Mickey Wilson is 5-1 against Conway, while Jordan is 21-9 (the game was not scheduled for two years of his tenure).

Myrtle Beach has won each of the past three games and seven of the last eight. Prior to that, Conway won 10 in a row between 1995 and 2006.

Recently, the games have also been relatively close. Five of the last nine have been decided by single digits. That includes last year’s game and 2012, when Myrtle Beach won 56-55 in one of the best displays of offensive firepower in a game in recent memory.

Wilson said Conway’s players, particularly Edwards and quarterback Peyton Derrick, stood out on film while he was preparing for Socastee two weeks ago. The Tigers (4-1) had another impressive showing last week against Marlboro County, beating the No. 9 team in Class AAA handily.

Still, no matter how the two teams are doing, Wilson knows that prior success during the year only adds to what’s already there.

“It’s a huge rivalry for our county,” he said. “It’s something that people in Myrtle Beach and people in Conway are going to talk about for 364 days after the game’s over.”

PROTECTING THE FOOTBALL

Aynor, the Grand Strand’s top-scoring offense, can point to its rushing attack for a 3-1 start heading into this week’s home game against Lake View.

Standing out nearly as much as all of the Blue Jackets’ yards (337.5 per game through four weeks) or points (43.0 per game so far) is the fact that Jody Jenerette’s team has just one fumble in 178 carries across eight different players.

Simply, the odds of that are highly unusual.

“I’ve got good assistant coaches who take pride in that kind of stuff. We pound it into their head,” Jenerette said. “If it was just two guys with great ball security, you wouldn’t think that much about it. But we’ve got a bunch of them.”

The Blue Jackets do have four total turnovers, although three came in the passing game. But when it comes to running the ball, Aynor is doing itself some significant favors by hanging onto it.

Jenerette said the alternative simply isn’t an option.

“At Aynor, if we fumble, we lose,” he said.

FINAL TUNE-UP GAMES

The last regular-season non-region games of the year will be taking place on Friday, giving teams a final tune-up prior to the most important portion of the season.

The six games include five being played locally, highlighted by the Victory Bell game between Myrtle Beach and Conway. St. James will also travel up S.C. 707 for its annual game against Socastee.

In the lone game involving a local team playing out-of-area, Carolina Forest will travel to the Midlands to face Lexington. The Wildcats beat the Panthers 49-19 a year ago, and coach Josh Stepp’s team is coming off a lopsided win over previously ranked Westwood.

Following this week’s games, teams in Class AAA-A will begin region play and Class AAAA squads Carolina Forest, Conway and Socastee will have their week off prior to starting theirs.

LAST CHANCE FOR GEORGETOWN

Georgetown High School’s final opportunity to change regions for the 2016-2018 two-year block will be Wednesday during the South Carolina High School League appellate panel meetings in Columbia.

The Bulldogs’ initial appeal to move from Region VII-AAA – one based in and closer to Charleston – into the Grand Strand/Pee Dee Region VI-AAA was denied by a vote of 13-1. The school is looking to make the move citing an increased travel schedule and a loss of media coverage.

Of the seven appeals presented during Thursday’s meeting, only one was reversed. That pertained to an Upper State/Lower State request.

“I feel as though the Executive Committee took time to hear the concerns from school representatives and deliberated over all aspects of the requests to make decisions they felt in best interest of the membership,” SCHSL Commissioner Jerome Singleton said in a statement. “Although lengthy and detailed, the realignment process has been a worthwhile task; one we hope will place our member schools on a fair and even playing field in all sports, all season long.”

The SCHSL will be moving to a five-class system for the first time in state history next year.

PHENOM HOOPS SC TOP 80 ANNOUNCED

Six local basketball players were announced as part of the Phenom Hoop Report South Carolina Top 80 event this weekend at Spring Valley High School in Columbia.

Justin Busby (Waccamaw), Jason Cudd (Socastee), Jackson Hurston (St. James), Darren Stanley and Juwan Moody (Conway) and Duane Moss (Carolina Forest) will be among the relatively small contingent of the state’s players who accepted invitations to the event.

The games will be played Saturday, and they are open to the public.

This story was originally published September 21, 2015 at 8:10 PM with the headline "Prep notebook: Buzz already abound for Victory Bell game between Myrtle Beach, Conway."