NORTH MYRTLE BEACH — Fans had barely settled into their seats when North Myrtle Beach drove quickly down the field and punched in a touchdown.
It was homecoming, the undefeated Chiefs had the early lead. What else could they want?
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, it didn’t stay that way.
West Florence presented a potent running attack, mixed in a couple of timely passes and took advantage of two crucial turnovers to hand the Chiefs a 38-26 loss.
“We just gave up too many big plays in the first half,” said North Myrtle Beach coach Perry Woolbright. “And then in the second half, we turned it over two quick times in a row. You can’t do that against programs like that.”
The Chiefs fell to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in Region 7-AAA.
West Florence, 4-3 overall, won for the third time in a row and improved to 3-1 in the region. The Knights’ record may have been misleading. Their losses were to Carolina Forest, Sumter and South Florence.
North Myrtle Beach wide receiver Anthony Cimino runs after the catch. Some of the gain was nullified as West Florence defender Jaylen McElveen was held on the play.
“We’ve got the toughest schedule in the state before you get to region,” said West Florence coach Chad Wilkes. “That gets us ready for games like this.”
The Knights were very quick to let North Myrtle Beach know what kind of game it was going to be when Jalen Patterson raced 79 yards for a touchdown on their second play from the scrimmage to tie the game.
Yet, the first half was still pretty good for the Chiefs. Jaylen Wilson ran for 191 yards and three touchdowns before intermission. The senior running back’s brilliant, tackle-breaking 68-yard touchdown run gave the Chiefs a 21-14 lead with 3:13 left in the first half.
But the Knights responded as they did all night.
Quarterback Markell Scott uncorked a 59-yard completion to wide receiver Cory Patterson and Juwuan Gamble broke off a 31-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Just like that, it was a tie game again.
“We lost our quarterback earlier in the year and had to switch in wide receiver,” Wilkes said. “Markell does a good job. We trust him to make the plays in our offense.”
