By Max McKinnon...MYRTLE BEACH SUN
- The Myrtle Beach football team opened the season as the No. 1 squad in Class AAA.
It’s unlikely the Seahawks will retain their top ranking next week, though.
Charlotte Christian’s defense came up huge Saturday as it forced four Myrtle Beach turnovers and the Knights never trailed en route to a 24-3 win Saturday over the Seahawks in the Derrick Law Firm Kickoff Clash.
“They’re extremely fast on defense and they did a great job of covering us and running to the football; they’re a great program,” Seahawks coach Mickey Wilson said of the team from North Carolina. “It’ll be a great learning experience for us and hopefully we’ll get better.”
Charlotte Christian coach Jason Estep said his team responded well, a week removed from a 5-0 loss to Charlotte Catholic (N.C.), and was thrilled his defense played so well against another big program.
“Solid performance. Our defense has given up eight points in two games to two perennial state powerhouses in Charlotte Catholic – a [Class] AAAA team – and obviously Myrtle Beach, which will probably contend for a state championship,” Estep said. “Our biggest concern was, ‘Can we slow the tempo down enough to keep them off the field?’ And we felt like if we could get first downs and get them out of rhythm a little bit that we could do that and it was certainly enough. Our defensive staff called an excellent game.”
And it had the Myrtle Beach offense looking flustered from the get-go.
On the Seahawks’ first drive, quarterback Drayton Arnold threw an interception to set the tempo for Charlotte Christian’s big defensive night. Myrtle Beach got on board in the second quarter with a 28-yard field goal and entered halftime trailing 7-3.
“I thought early on in the game – in the first half especially – we got down in the red zone and only came away with three points and when you’re playing a great football program like Charlotte Christian, you can’t do that; you’re not gonna win ballgames,” Wilson said.
Myrtle Beach stuck around with Charlotte Christian up until the fourth quarter, but that’s where Myrtle Beach made its biggest miscues.
After Charlotte Christian hit a 33-yard field goal with a little under nine minutes left to play, Arnold threw two picks in the crucial quarter, including a pick-six by Jeremiah White, who returned the ball 20 yards for the score to put Charlotte Christian ahead 17-3. After Arnold’s third and final interception, Knights’ running back Connor Maitland scored on an 11-yard rush with about five minutes left to put away the Seahawks.
“In the second half we came out and turned the ball over three times and that was the stake in the heart,” Wilson said. “You just can’t do that against a good team and we did and turned the ball over; that’ll get you beat.”
Said Estep: “I don’t know about all of [Myrtle Beach]’s firepower but they were probably thinking, ‘Uh oh, we’ve got to go here.’ I know when you’re in that situation as an offense you start to scramble a little bit and you try to think about the next play or a big play and that’ll cost you. We forced four turnovers tonight and were able to put up some points – great win for us.”
Arnold finished 13-for-27 passing for 131 yards and halfback Brandon Sinclair had 75 yards on 14 carries. Wide receiver Tymeke Murphy believes Arnold will bounce back next week.
“I have all the confidence in the world in my quarterback,” Murphy said. “Even though he didn’t play very well tonight, he can light it up out there; we always have his back and he always has ours.”
Said Wilson: “Drayton will be fine. In the second half he didn’t play too well but he’ll come back and he’ll be ready to work.”
The Seahawks will get a chance to recuperate in practice this week and will prepare for a contest with West Florence on Friday at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium.
“We’ve just got to keep grinding,” Wilson said. “We have some inexperience and we have to get those guys better.”
