Chiefs remain undefeated, drowning the Sharks at home

The North Myrtle Beach varsity Chiefs football team scored in every quarter this past Friday night to rout the St. James Sharks 29-7. The No. 3 state 4A ranked Chiefs (3-0) held the Sharks (2-1) to just a third quarter touchdown inside the Hank Hester Sports Complex on the campus of North Myrtle Beach High School.

Delayed an hour due to nearby lightning strikes the Sharks chose to receive the opening kickoff. Their opening drive picked up three 1st downs, before North Myrtle Beach’s TJ Cox intercepted a St. James pass and returned it 19 yards to the St. James 31 yard line.

The Chiefs stuck to the ground in their opening drive and relied on Messiah Gore to carry them down the field. Playing in his first game of the season after returning from an injury, Gore found the end zone five plays later for the Chiefs’ first score of the game. A Zane Smith extra point followed to make it 7-0 early.

St. James’ second drive of the game ended in a turnover on downs.

The Chiefs needed just 3 plays to stampede downfield for their second score of the game. The drive was highlighted by the first pass of the game by the Chiefs when senior quarterback Ramsey Lewis threw a 63 yard pass completion to Malik Livingston. The next snap, Ramsey carried it into the end zone from 15 yards out. With the touchdown and Smith extra point, the Chiefs were up 14-0.

The Chiefs went on to score touchdowns on two out of three of their next drives. First with a 52 yard pass completion from Lewis to Zyer Belle near the middle of the second quarter to make it 21-0.

Lewis then carried the ball for his 3rd touchdown of the game in the third quarter, before St. James put up their only score of the game. At the end of the third, it was 26-7, with another Chief victory feeling almost certain.

The fourth quarter began with a large crowd hanging around for the late ending game. The Chiefs added just 3 more points, off a 30 yard Smith field goal.

North Myrtle Beach used a balanced attack, picking up 198 yards rushing and 185 yards passing. Once in the red zone, the Chiefs were able to convert, scoring four of five times.

North Myrtle Beach was led on offense by quarterback Ramsey Lewis. Lewis had three touchdowns, two on the ground and one through the air. He rushed for 133 yards on 12 carries and completed 7-of-11 passes for 185 yards, picking up the Bubba Collins Insurance Performer of the Game award.

The Chiefs will wrap up their non region schedule during Homecoming this Friday night against the Socastee Braves (0-3). Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at North Myrtle Beach High School.

If you can’t make it to the game, you can catch all of the action live on WRNN 99.5 FM or online at NMBChiefs.com. Airtime is 7 p.m. with Tyler Watkins, Wayne White and Denver Cromer.