Football season in full swing

Chiefs open football season with win over powerhouse Tigers The North Myrtle Beach High School varsity football team opened the 2019 regular season in spectacular fashion last Friday night, defeating the Conway Tigers for the second year in a row. Entering the game with a No. 6 state ranking in 4A, the Chiefs put up 24 points to the 5A Tigers’ 7 points.

The heavily attended game at the Hank Hester Sports Complex, on the campus of North Myrtle Beach High School, opened scoring near the end of the first quarter with a 69 yard touchdown pass for the Tigers. But, it would be their only points of the game. Senior quarterback Ramsey Lewis, playing in his first game as a signal caller, put out an impressive performance that eventually earned him the player of the game award.

Lewis opened the scoring for the Chiefs midway through the second quarter with a 4 yard carry, and the game tying point came off the foot of junior kicker Zane Smith to make it 7-7. Smith added a 23 yard field goal as time expired in the first half to send the Chiefs to the locker room with a three point lead over the perennial powerhouse Tigers.

Lewis added another short carry into the end zone nine and a half minutes into the third quarter, extending the lead to 17-7. Elijah Vereen added the final score for the Chiefs with less than two minutes remaining to set the final at 24-7. To pick up the win, the Chiefs followed the formula of getting the ball into the hands of one of their best athletes,

QB Ramsey Lewis. Lewis had 23 carries for 137 yards and went 8-13 passing. Playing QB for the first time in his high school career, Lewis stood in the pocket confidently, passed effectively and shot forward down the field when holes appeared. “He gives you that athletic standpoint,” Head Coach Matt Reel said after the game. “Ramsey gives you the ability to find a seam and get gone, and he can get gone, that’s the difference. He did a tremendous job tonight.”

Devin Montgomery had 13 carries for the Chiefs for 49 yards, while Malik Livingston has 5 receptions for 46 yards. Kyle Smith had 4 punts land inside the 20 yard line, pinning the Tigers back deep on their own side of the field.

On the defensive side of the ball, Billy Barlow had seven solo tackles, three for a loss. “Billy Barlow, what a night,” Coach Reel said. “We’ve been waiting for him to come along and take over. He played great. A lot of guys did.”

The Chiefs travel to Loris Friday night to meet the Lions. The Lions are coming off a disappointing 32-28 loss to the St. James Sharks this past Friday night. If you can’t make it to the game, you can catch all of the action live on WRNN 99.5 FM with Tyler Watkins, Wayne White and Denver Cromer. Air time is 7 p.m. with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.