Myrtle Beach keeps rolling, cruises past New Hanover (N.C.)

If there was any question whether the Myrtle Beach Seahawks would suffer from a post-Byrnes hangover, it was answered quickly.

Jayce Allen returned the game’s opening kickoff 85 yards and Lawson Cribb completed his first five passes as the Seahawks methodically handled the visiting New Hanover (N.C.) Wildcats 34-13 on Friday night, six days after knocking off perennial national power Byrnes.

“I think [the Seahawks players] knew going in that New Hanover is a very good football team, too,” Myrtle Beach coach Mickey Wilson said. “They finished last season with 12 wins, so we knew going in this would be a very tough game. I think our kids were ready to go and prepared extremely well.”

Despite Allen’s quick score, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Seahawks early on. New Hanover (1-1) went 56 yards in nine plays on its opening possession and tied the game at 7 when Wiz Vaughn hauled in a 15-yard scoring pass from junior quarterback Francis Meehan.

Cribb then orchestrated a 7-play, 69-yard drive that ended with senior Keyonte Sessions powering in from 4 yards out from the Wildcat package. On the drive, Cribb was 4-for-4 passing for 50 yards while connecting with three different receivers.

Both offenses stalled from there with four straight punts and an interception ending the next five drives. But the game turned in the final two minutes of the first half. Sessions added his second touchdown out of the Wildcat on a 3-yard run with 1:45 left in the second quarter to cap a 5-play, 64-yard drive highlighted by a 38-yard run by sophomore Jermani Green.

A three-and-out by the Wildcats gave the ball back to the Seahawks with 45 seconds to play in the opening half. That was plenty of time for Cribb, who threaded a pass between defenders and hit Marcus Grissett in stride on a skinny post for a 30-yard score to give the Seahawks a 28-7 halftime lead.

“We were playing a really good Myrtle Beach football team and we knew that we couldn’t make any mistakes, and the mistakes we made came at critical times,” New Hanover coach Earl Smith said. “Especially in the first half, we were down 14-7 with three and a half minutes to go in the first half and gave up some big plays after that to dig ourselves a big hole.”

The Wildcats defense kept the Myrtle Beach offense in check for much of the rest of the night, but the Seahawks defense had another strong showing to back up last week’s performance.

“Our defense is just carrying us right now,” Wilson said. “They are carrying the load right now and our offense just has to catch up. We just have to get consistent on offense and special teams, and our defense is going to continue to improve. They are pretty consistent right now.”

Cribb connected on the second of his two touchdown throws midway through the fourth quarter when he found Jaquan Chestnut from 14 yards out. Vaughn took the ensuing kickoff back 98 yards for a touchdown for the game’s final score.

“I thought our offensive line played a lot better [than against Byrnes],” Wilson said. “We had some issues last week with protection and run blocking, and I thought tonight they did a much better job. [Cribb] was able to relax in the pocket a little bit, especially in the first half, and get in a little rhythm with our receivers. I thought Lawson threw some great balls, threw some seam routes that were beautiful passes.”

On the night, the Seahawks’ junior signal-caller went 14-for-23 for 193 yards with the two scores and an interception. Green led the Seahawks rushing attack with 76 yards on eight carries while Sessions carried seven times for 43 yards.

“Everything we scouted they pretty much did,” Smith said. “They executed it well. The quarterback does a good job, especially on the sprint out stuff, and their receivers made some big plays.”

New Hanover played two quarterbacks, alternating Meehan and Blake Walston most series. Walston finished with 136 yards passing with 64 of those to Vaughn. Keegan Santos carried 10 times for 60 yards to lead the Wildcats’ rushing attack.

It’s another short week for Myrtle Beach, which visits West Florence for a Thursday night matchup. New Hanover (N.C.) plays at Havelock (N.C.) next Friday night.

“We are 2-0 and we have played some very good football teams so I am proud of my guys,” Wilson said. “We have a lot of stuff to get better at and get fixed, but you don’t want to be playing your best football after two weeks.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 12:31 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach keeps rolling, cruises past New Hanover (N.C.)."