North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
In the pouring rain, the North Myrtle Beach Chiefs (6-3) varsity football team defeated the Marlboro County Bulldogs (6-3) to earn the No. 3 playoff seed out of Region 6-4A. With a final score of 12-0, the Chiefs shutout an opponent for the first time this season.
The Thursday night contest was moved up from Friday night due to the anticipation of inclement weather Friday evening. It was originally scheduled to be played on Sept. 28, but was moved to the end of the season due to evacuations in place on that date.
With sheets of rain falling in front of a sparse crowd at the Hank Hester Sports Complex on the campus of North Myrtle Beach High School, the Chiefs kicked off to start the critical region game. The first three possessions of the game went three and out and it was evident that the soggy field and constant rain would play a role in the windy clash.
Fine tuning through three quarters of play, the Chiefs finally found the winning formula with just over five minutes to play in the game when a 31 yard pass completion from senior quarterback Cason McClendon to receiver Nassem Harrison put the Chiefs on the 2 yard line. Sophomore running back Devin Montgomery took the ball into the end zone on the very next play for the first score of the game.
Forcing Marlboro County to punt three plays later, the Chiefs again setup from Marlboro County’s 38 yard line and found 6 more points off a 38 yard carry by Montgomery with two minutes to play.
The Bulldogs gave it one last try, but turned the ball over at the Chiefs 4 yard line when Derrien Holmes intercepted a long pass from Bulldogs quarterback Elijah Blair to leave the final score at 12-0.
With the win, and lack of point production by the Bulldogs, the Chiefs tied for 3rd place in the region standings with Wilson and Marlboro County. The tiebreaker gave the Chiefs the 3rd place seed in the first round of the playoffs. They’ll face South Aiken on the road Friday night at 7:30 p.m. You can catch all of the action live on WRNN 99.5 FM or online at NMBChiefs.com. Airtime is set for 7 p.m.
