Seahawks’ Arnold, Midland Valley’s Carr find common ground beyond Friday’s clash
In 2009, Drayton Arnold and Daniel Carr were in the sixth grade, each asked by the varsity football coaches at their respective future high schools to serve as ball boys.
Be it family ties or projections for the future, Myrtle Beach’s Mickey Wilson and Midland Valley’s Rick Knight wanted the two youngsters close. That year was the last meeting betwee the two schools.
All this time later - with a trip to the state finals on the line via Friday’s Lower State finals game - it is Arnold and Carr scaring the heck out of Wilson and Knight.
“I think he’s the key, without a doubt,” Wilson said of Carr, the Mustang’s senior quarterback. “He has tremendous poise in the pocket. He’s a guy that when he gets back there and things break down, he doesn’t panic. It’s almost like he enjoys doing that.”
Like Arnold, Carr was selected to play in next week’s Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl, North vs. South game. And while he’s slated to play receiver in the all-star event, his work at quarterback has been what’s helped Midland Valley make an unprecedented run this deep into the playoffs.
He’s thrown for 1,444 yards and 16 touchdowns while rushing for another 744 and 11 scores.
On the flip side of the equation is Arnold.
The three-year starter has eclipsed 3,000 yards passing, and his 35 touchdown passes have given him 103 for his career.
“He seems to be able to find a receiver no matter what the coverage, even if he has to go to the second or third guy,” Knight said. “And they block hard for him up front.”
Part of each coach’s opinion of the starting quarterback playing for the other team this week is tied directly to the film exchange. Wilson and Knight agreed to provide the other video of the past six games, double the normal rate.
Coaches want to see as much as possible, but don’t like giving it away, either. Still, even with six weeks of video to reveal, Carr and Arnold have done plenty to impress.
After all, Carr’s three-game absence due to a shoulder injury came prior to that span. And Arnold, who started slow against most Class AAAA competition, has thrown 30 of his touchdown passes since Oct. 2, when the Seahawks opened region play.
That six-game exchange includes two common opponents, St. James and Georgetown. Myrtle Beach defeated the Sharks 48-17 and the Bulldogs 42-7 in back-to-back weeks during the region schedule. Midland Valley beat St. James 56-21 and Georgetown 27-12 in each of the last two playoff rounds.
Still, both coaches discounted much of what could be taken from those games simply because of commonality. Instead, they were looking more at the trends building in recent weeks.
Wilson compared Carr to Dreher’s Avery Armstrong, who went for over 300 total yards in the playoff opener. Knight cited a 14-yard run Arnold had when he was forced out of the pocket.
The Midland Valley coach also said he saw aspects of opposing defenses that gave the Myrtle Beach senior chances to exploit weaknesses, including last week’s come-from-behind win over Hartsville.
“They got at least two touchdowns when nobody was covering them,” Knight said. “Hopefully we don’t make that kind of mistake.”
That’s easier said than done for two coaches whose quarterback match-up is seven years in the making.
FRIDAY’S GAME
Myrtle Beach (10-3) at Midland Valley (9-4)
When | 7:30 p.m.
The game | Rightfully so, there will be a ton of attention devoted to the starting quarterbacks on both sides. But ignoring the running games could prove just as dangerous for each team. Midland Valley’s Dre’Kwon Carr — the cousin of starting quarterback Daniel and the younger brother of former standout tailback Dre’Shawn — has already piled up 1,736 yards and 15 touchdowns. Meanwhile, Myrtle Beach’s Brandon Sinclair is putting up solid numbers of his own. The senior North-South selection has rushed for 1,677 yards and 26 scores. And although he was held in check by Hartsville last week, Midland Valley coach Rick Knight doesn’t expect that to happen two games in a row. “You get torn; how much do you devote to the run or devote to the pass,” Knight said. That’s a problem several of Myrtle Beach’s opponents have had of late. Since the calendar turned over to October, the Seahawks have averaged 45 points per game, a number actually seven points less than their playoff average.
On the air | WYNA-FM, 104.9
Last meeting | Myrtle Beach 38, Midland Valley 7 (2009 playoffs, second round)
Favorite | Myrtle Beach
This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 6:28 PM with the headline "Seahawks’ Arnold, Midland Valley’s Carr find common ground beyond Friday’s clash."