NMB battled Myrtle Beach in 29-23 overtime loss

By John Smithson

The North Myrtle Beach Chiefs football team traveled to Myrtle Beach last Friday night for their final regular season game of the season. The Chiefs overcame a 16-6 deficit at halftime and 23-23 tie at the end of regulation but lost 29-23 in overtime to the Seahawks.

Nico Miller kicked off to the Seahawks to start the game, but Myrtle Beach went three and out and punted to the Chiefs at their 40 yard line. The Chiefs returned the favor after three plays and punted to the Seahawks 25.

Incredibly the Seahawks went nowhere in three plays, and they punted. The Chiefs did the same in their possession and, yes, they punted to the Seahawks JJ Brown, who fumbled the punt but recovered at his 40 yard line.

Seahawks quarterback Tanner Gaddy’s four pass completions, and two Michael Cohen runs resulted in a touchdown and 6-0 lead after the two-point conversion attempt failed.

The Chiefs Jonathan Evans returned the kickoff to the Seahawks 45, but the Chiefs offense punted again, this time to the Myrtle Beach 25. The Seahawks then drove to the Chiefs 5 yard line as the first quarter ended. The Seahawks were penalized back to the 12 and finally were forced to kick a 29-yard field goal and take a 9-0 lead with 10:18 left in the second quarter.

The Seahawks kickoff was returned by Bricey Gore to the Myrtle Beach 40. Will McNeely then ran 40 yards to the Seahawks 17 yard line, but the Chiefs ended their drive with a Miller 32-yard field goal and 9-3 score.

The Seahawks took the Chiefs kickoff to their 28 and began a 72-yard drive for a touchdown with Gaddy’s passing and Cohen rushing to the Chiefs 25. Gaddy ended the drive with a 25-yard pass completion to JJ Brown for a touchdown and 16-3 lead with 6:10 left in the half.

The Chiefs began their offense after a Jasaun Bellamy kickoff return to the Chiefs 40. The Chiefs drove to the Myrtle Beach 26 but the drive stalled, and Miller nailed a 39 yard field goal to narrow the Seahawks lead to 16-6 at halftime.

Reo Stevenson returned the Seahawks second half kickoff 26 yards to the Chiefs 35 yard line. After that, except for an Evans run for no gain, it was all McNeely. He rushed for 7, 4 and 5 yards to the Seahawks 49. An offsides penalty moved the ball to the 44 and McNeely continued his ground assault. He ran 6, 27 and 6 yards to the Myrtle Beach five-yard line, then scored on the next play. Miller’s PAT made it 16-13.

The Seahawks offense started their drive from their 31 after the Chiefs kickoff, but stalled after six plays and only five yards, primarily due to a holding penalty and a sack by the Chiefs Dustin Clement. Their punt was downed by the Chiefs at their 37.

McNeely continued where he left off, following holes created by his offensive line or making them himself, sometimes dragging defenders with him as he carried the ball nine times for 63 yards and a final 14 yard touchdown run for a Chiefs 20-16 lead  and 11:20 left in the fourth quarter.

Myrtle Beach went three and out after the Chiefs kickoff, and the Seahawks punt was fair caught at the Chiefs 28 with10:30 left in the game. The Chiefs then stayed on the ground, using up almost seven minutes of clock and 13 plays that ended up on the Seahawks 17 yard line. McNeely ran the ball on eight of those plays.

With fourth down and five to go the Chiefs elected to go with a field goal attempt by Miller, which was good from 34 yards and gave the Chiefs a 23-16 lead with 3:46 left in the game.

The Chiefs kickoff went out of bounds at the Seahawks 7 yard line, giving them a first down at their 35. Gaddy took the game in his hands completing four passes for 9, 16, 28 and 11 yards, the last pass to Rayvon Green for the tying touchdown and 23-23 score and overtime.

The Chiefs were on offense first in overtime at the ten-yard line. Evans ran to the 5 on first down but lost a yard on second down. McNeely tried a run left but got only to the five yard line. On fourth down the Chiefs decided to go for it but McNeely’s short jump pass to Clement  fell at his feet incomplete.

The Seahawks possession started with a Cohen run for a three yard loss but Cohen  followed that with a 13 yard sprint around left end for the touchdown that gave the Seahawks a  29-23 win.

Both teams had players that made a difference in the game. Will McNeely ran for 226 yards on 35 carries, and he scored twice. Nico Miller made three field goals and two extra points. The Chiefs offensive line helped McNeely to that yardage total. The Chiefs defense also had their moments.

Tanner Gaddy was 17 for 26 for 211 yards and was assisted by his receivers and the running game led by Michael Cohen.

The playoffs look like this. The Chiefs will travel to Lucy Beckham for a playoff game tomorrow night. The Chiefs ended their season 3-7 and the Seahawks were 7-3. Lucy Beckham was 6-3 and 3-2 in region 7.