Myrtle Beach relying on newcomers to sustain perennial success

History tells us Myrtle Beach football under Mickey Wilson will always have a clear-cut identity.

The offensive-minded coach is going to find ways to move the football, seemingly at will, against most of his team’s opponents.

But what happens when most of the players manning all those spots turn over at the same time? The Seahawks are about to find out. Maybe more than any other year in the last decade, the mass exodus from last year’s senior class is forcing the eighth-year coach to find new ways to run his scheme.

“Any time you lose eight starters, it’s tough. On top of that, you lose Brandon [Sinclair] and Drayton [Arnold], two Division I players,” Wilson said, referring to his longtime starting running back and quarterback who are now at Old Dominion. “It’s definitely tough. But the younger players have all had a tremendous summer. I’ve seen them all get better. I’ve seen younger players who are hungry, who want to get on the field and play.”

In order for Myrtle Beach to continue to succeed, the new players – who will include as many as six first-year varsity faces starting on offense – will need to gel quickly. That’s because, in Arnold, Sinclair, Elijah Rice and Cortez Brown, among others, the Seahawks are void of nearly all of their passing yards, 100 percent of their rushing yards and more than three-quarters of their receiving yards from last fall.

The leftover holes have had that added hunger Wilson mentioned; specifically, guys who now know they have a shot at playing time are trying to earn it.

But what Wilson is also quick to address is that his defense couldn’t be much more different than his offense entering 2016. That side returns seven starters, including linebacker Chase Brill, a Toast of the Coast selection from last year.

There are also defensive backs Keyonte Sessions, Jayce Allen and Chris Weston and linemen Daniel Mitchell, Naseem Dewitt, and Sean McGonigal, as well as former starter Jermani Green (who has moved to running back but will still get time at linebacker) and others who played significant minutes without the starter designation.

“We’ve had some amazing defensive teams [in the past]. We’ve had Marcus Chestnut and Tyler Knox,” Brill said, referring to some of the recent Myrtle Beach greats. “But I think this defense could be really special. We’ve all known each other for so long. We’ve been playing together for so long. We have a chance to show how good we can be together.”

It could be the key to Myrtle Beach extending its streak of 10-win seasons to 11 consecutive years, a span that covers all of Wilson’s time as head coach and the final three in Scott Earley’s tenure). After facing a pair of teams coming off 12-win campaigns in Byrnes and New Hanover (N.C.) to start the year, the schedule eases up some.

The next eight opponents were a combined 38-52.

Around the time that schedule lightens up some, Wilson believes his team could be coming into its own.

“It’s going to be tough on these guys early on,” Wilson said. “But down the road, we’ll see a lot of growth coming out of that non-region schedule.”

This story was originally published August 6, 2016 at 5:22 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach relying on newcomers to sustain perennial success."