North Myrtle Beach pounds way past Lake City

Blair Hardin hasn’t even been the coach at North Myrtle Beach for two full seasons.

Already, his players know not to expect anything to be in stone. Last year, it was a near-complete overhaul of the offensive system at the midway point of the year that spearheaded a run to a region runner-up finish and a home playoff game.

This year, albeit a slightly lesser change, the benefits were immediately visible. Four days after Hardin moved around four of his starters on the offensive line to new positions and inserted a fresh face to the mix, the Chiefs ran for 319 yards in a 33-19 win over Lake City.

North Myrtle Beach’s triple option was everything he needed it to be at the start of the most important part of the season.

“We have potential,” Hardin said. “We’re not there yet. We’re not even where I want us. But at times, there’s a burst of it.”

In a game moved up a day due to the threat of even more rain but still played in wet and windy conditions, that burst came from the team’s three-head rushing attack of Kered Class, Dequan Montgomery and Ronnie Bass.

Following the lead of that reassembled line, Class finished with 130 yards and a touchdown, Montgomery tallied 102 and a score and Bass, the quarterback, had 77 and two touchdowns.

Class also added a 59-yard receiving touchdown from Bass in the second quarter. The tailback appeared to be going down after a four- or five-yard gain. Instead, he broke free, made his way toward the sideline, picked up a block and outran every Lake City player the final 50 or so yards.

It was his second touchdown of the game, and had it not been for a horse collar on Lake City inside the 10, he may have added a third in the opening half alone.

“I was ready. I knew the whole team was,” Class said. “In our head, we knew that we want this. We wanted this win.”

Although North Myrtle Beach’s win wasn’t in doubt after moments into the second half – when Bass scored on his second touchdown run of the evening and pushed the lead to 20 points – it was a pair of Lake City scoring plays at the end of the second and fourth quarters that significantly diminished the Chiefs’ final margin of victory.

Right before halftime, Panthers tailback TyShawn Baines took a snap out of the wildcat package and went 66 yards for the score. It capped a second quarter in which the teams combined for 33 points and five touchdowns.

Then, in the fourth quarter, Lake City scored its third and final touchdown of the game when Desmond McGill picked up a bad snap and raced 33 yards for the score.

But while those two helped close the gap, it was North Myrtle Beach’s opening drive of the game that probably set the tone. After forcing a Lake City three-and-out to start, the Chiefs reeled off a 14-play, 89-yard series that chewed up more than 7 minutes of game time. It included seven first downs and wasn’t over until Class punched it in from 12 yards out.

“Our execution on the first drive, that’s what we want to do,” Hardin said. “Last year, we lost every first quarter against every team we played. We did not win one first quarter.”

Doing so against Lake City propelled the Chiefs to win a crucial region opener.

This story was originally published October 1, 2015 at 10:59 PM with the headline "North Myrtle Beach pounds way past Lake City."