After trailing early, North Myrtle Beach surges past rival Loris
After spotting Loris a touchdown lead in the first quarter, North Myrtle Beach lit up the scoreboard with 46 unanswered points to torch its rival 46-7.
Head coach Blair Hardin’s team “didn’t play (its) best,” but came away with a resounding victory to move to 2-0 on the young season. The Lions (1-1) jumped out to a 7-0 lead, using a strong rushing attack of Tyrek Williams and Tevin Livingston. The duo rushed straight into the teeth of the North Myrtle Beach defense before Livingston hit for a 39-yard touchdown run on fourth down for the game’s first score. It would be the last highlight the Loris offense would muster.
“I was really proud of our special teams (for) putting us in good field position. I thought our defense played outstanding, they (Loris) had one long play for the touchdown and we had some missed tackles,” Hardin said. “This team is a new group with a new culture, I love their attitude. They really take pride in the work Monday through Thursday.”
Following the lead of its defense, which scored the Chiefs’ first touchdown of the night on an interception return, the North Myrtle Beach offense cashed in two drives for touchdowns in the second quarter, one such score coming on a fourth-down conversion by T.J. Gore that went for 32-yards. Later in the quarter, Kered Class would find paydirt from a yard out to give the Chiefs a 24-7 halftime advantage.
“Our plan is always to execute our offense and take care of the football,” Hardin said. “Offensively, we’re still very inconsistent. Our kids played hard, but we’ve got to get better. It’s the small things. We’re right there, but we have to correct the small things to be better each time we have the ball.”
While the third quarter saw no action on the scoreboard, both teams coughed up scoring chances in the frame. North Myrtle Beach muffed a punt return and fumbled in the red zone in the quarter, while Loris lost a fumble of its own. North Myrtle Beach would pull further away in the final frame with two touchdowns from dynamic quarterback Ronnie Bass – one a 15-yard strike to Reece Finch and a weaving quarterback run of 29-yards to give the Chiefs a 30-point advantage.
The stifling special teams play of North Myrtle Beach kept the pressure on Loris in the final quarter, forcing a safety on a punt attempt and then returning the ensuing kick 65-yards for a touchdown.
“It’s great for our school,” Hardin said of the 2-0 start to the season. “It’s really great for us because I want our school and our community to know that we want to take back our stadium. I want us to take back our stadium with every home win. We’re 2-0 and right now I’m pleased with that.”
Next week, North Myrtle Beach will host West Brunswick (N.C.), while Loris will heads to South Columbus (N.C.) for a 7:30 p.m. battle.
Loris | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 |
NMB | 3 | 21 | 0 | 22 | — | 46 |
First quarter
Lor – Tevin Livingston 39-yard run (Javier Dias kick) 1:44
NMB – Andrew Smith 44-yard field goal 1:27
Second quarter
NMB – Tyler Gore 62-yard interception return (Smith kick) 11:42
NMB – T.J. Gore 32-yard run (Smith kick) 5:05
NMB – Kered Class 1-yard run (Smith kick) 1:18
Fourth quarter
NMB – Ronnie Bass 15-yard pass to Reece Flinch (Smith kick failed) 10:58
NMB – Bass 29-yard run (Smith kick) 6:19
NMB – Team safety 4:03
NMB – Gore 65-yard kick return (Smith kick) 3:50
Individual leaders
Rushing: Loris: Tevin Livingston 15-94 TD, Tyrek Williams 13-22, Kyle Bellamy 1-7, Clay Faircloth 2-1. Total 31-124 TD. NMB: Bass 7-74 TD, Class 15-62 TD, T.J. Gore 7-57 TD, Kentell Wilson 1-4. Total 30-197-3.
Passing: Loris: Faircloth 3-9-20-0-1. Levon Stevenson 2-3-0-0-0. Total 5-12-20-0-1. NMB: Bass 7-10-86-1-1.
Receiving: Loris: Travis Walters 2-18, Williams 1-2, James Walters 1-1, Bobby Gore 1-(-1). Total 5-20. NMB: Finch 3-33 TD, Tyler Gore 2-43, Dondre Thompson 1-6, T.J. Gore 1-4. Total 7-86 TD.
This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 11:28 PM with the headline "After trailing early, North Myrtle Beach surges past rival Loris."