Despite little practice, Georgetown cruises past North Myrtle Beach

Bradley Adams sat his players down Tuesday afternoon and put the decision to play in their hands.

About four hours before kickoff, the South Carolina High School League gave teams affected by last week’s flooding some relief by moving back the first round of the state playoffs. So Adams, with North Myrtle Beach heading to Thomas L. Smith Stadium later in the evening, gave his team the option.

Play the game, or take advantage of the SCHSL allowance.

The Bulldogs made the decision to play, and then made sure it counted. Georgetown won an all-important region game with a 32-10 victory over the Chiefs on Tuesday evening. Despite having only two practices on Monday to prepare, Adams’ team showed it is every bit ready to challenge for a region championship.

“There was a quick hesitation. But we felt we were ready to play this game,” quarterback Jarvis Brown said after a lights-out individual performance. “We were in game mode when he asked us the question, we were fired up and ready to play. Our efforts on the field proved that we wanted to play.”

On an evening in which the Bulldogs held a talented North Myrtle Beach offense in check and Georgetown put up more than 400 yards of total offense, it was Brown who took the game over.

He had four total touchdowns – two rushing and two passing – including a 67-yard run in the third quarter and an 83-yard pass to Cavonte Gamble in the fourth. He finished with 369 combined yards and continued to close in on the school’s single-season passing yardage record with three regular-season games to go.

But Georgetown doesn’t have the look of a squad that will be wrapping up its season in October.

The win was the team’s sixth straight after falling to Conway in the opener. It’s now defeated two teams inside Region VII-AAA that have a win under their belt and stand alone with Myrtle Beach at 2-0 in the division.

A win against Lake City in the homecoming game on Friday would set up one heck of a showdown between Bulldogs and Seahawks next week.

“We’re not going to say we’re in the driver’s seat,” Adams said. “We’ve been through times when we lost a kid or two and it totally changed our whole team. We’re always one play away from something happening.”

But?

“This team has the most heart and is probably the most resilient team that I’ve coached,” Adams said. “They just pull together. When bad things happen, they’ve found ways to pull together. They face adversity very well.”

He’s not talking about trailing in a ballgame, either.

Brown, who is currently living with an aunt, is one of a handful of Georgetown players who were displaced by the flooding. Yet, with that in the back of his mind and with just that one day to get ready, the game still appeared to be going in slow motion for him.

After North Myrtle Beach opened up the game with a 57-yard touchdown drive capped by Kered Class’ 40-yard run, Brown took off on a 22-yard run of his own on the Bulldogs’ opening series. He led a a 78-yard drive in the second quarter that then put his team up for good when Tony Lara punched it in from a yard out and then found Christian Johnson on a 29-yard strike before halftime.

They then kept their foot on the gas after halftime.

It was a contest where for at least a few moments the teams weren’t sure if it would be played. After announcing the game Monday morning, the SCHSL decision threw a quick bit of hesitation into both squads. North Myrtle Beach coach Blair Hardin said he found out about the SCHSL decision during the team’s pregame meal.

“I wished they would have made it earlier to help out Georgetown County schools,” he said prior to kickoff. “They’ve obviously had a tragedy here and have been limited with all of their sports. It would have helped them to make this decision earlier.”

The game went on, and Georgetown made the most of it.

“We have a really special team,” Brown said. “This team, as we continue to grow, it’s going to be a special season for us. We can do amazing things this year.”

This story was originally published October 13, 2015 at 10:07 PM with the headline "Despite little practice, Georgetown cruises past North Myrtle Beach."