Saturday Morning QB | North Myrtle Beach starting to come into its own

North Myrtle Beach fans who aren’t willing to travel hadn’t seen much in terms of positive strides so far this year.

The Chiefs, heading into Thursday’s game against Lake City, had lost to powerhouse Dillon and then a head-scratcher to otherwise winless Socastee in the first two home games of the season. So Friday’s 33-19 win over the Panthers was refreshing.

What it also showed was further proof that the Chiefs are improving their ceiling under second-year head coach Blair Hardin. In North Myrtle Beach’s last 11 games – the time frame since Hardin instituted the triple option – the Chiefs are 7-4. Five of those were Region VII-AAA games, and four of those were wins (the only loss coming in a double-overtime loss to Wilson).

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

North Myrtle Beach will head to Georgetown on Friday in matchup of two of the three teams most likely to challenge for the Region VII-AAA title. One of those surges upward would be most welcome.

AROUND THE AREA

▪ Georgetown used a late 76-yard touchdown pass from Jarvis Brown to Deakkid Anderson to pull out a 28-21 win over St. James in the teams’ Region VII-AAA opener. In the process, Brown overtook Conway’s Peyton Derrick for the area lead in total touchdowns with 17 after adding three more to his season ledger.

▪ Drayton Arnold threw for four touchdowns, three to Elijah Rice, and Brandon Sinclair ran for two more as the Myrtle Beach offense came to life to beat Wilson 42-28. It was the second time this year the Seahawks scored exactly 42 points against a team from Florence this season after defeating West Florence 42-24 on Sept. 4.

▪ Aynor stumbled against perennial state-title favorite Dillon in a 42-0 loss. It was the Wildcats’ 31st consecutive region win, while the Blue Jackets have now lost back-to-back games by at least 34 points.

▪ Carvers Bay rolled to a 33-6 win over Creek Bridge in yet another blowout in the series. The Bears are now 10-0 all time against Creek Bridge and have allowed just 28 total points against the Warriors combined in the history of the series.

▪ Green Sea Floyds fell 34-8 at Lake View after trailing the Wild Gators by just six points at halftime. For the Trojans, the defeat pushed their region losing streak to nine games with a trip to Carvers Bay on tap for next week.

NOTE: Loris will head to Marion and Waccamaw will play host to Mullins in Week 6 games on Monday in a pair of games that were rescheduled due to heavy rains that fell in the area starting on Thursday.

NUMBER OF THE WEEK

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

POWER RANKINGS (all classes)

1. Conway

2. Georgetown

3. Carolina Forest

4. Myrtle Beach

5. North Myrtle Beach

WEEK 5 GAME BALLS

Deakidd Anderson, WR, Georgetown: Anderson’s 76-yard touchdown reception pushed the Bulldogs to a narrow win over St. James. He finished with 90 yards for the game and has now eclipsed 400 on the season, one of two Georgetown receivers to have done so.

Kered Class, RB, North Myrtle Beach: The sophomore piled up 130 yards and a touchdown on the ground and added 62 yards and another score receiving in the Chiefs’ win over Lake City.

Drayton Arnold, QB, Myrtle Beach: With his new favorite target standing out again, Arnold threw for 218 yards and four touchdowns, sparking a Seahawk win over Wilson in the teams’ Region VII-AAA opener on Thursday.

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 11:30 PM with the headline "Saturday Morning QB | North Myrtle Beach starting to come into its own."