2021 Season Preview: North Myrtle Beach Chiefs

Photo: Jack Baldwin Jack Baldwin

Ian Guerin July 19, 2021 @ 09:55 AM

Unprecedented success has led to a commitment to staying there. And while North Myrtle Beach would be hard-pressed to match last year’s first-ever run to the Class 4A state championship game, the goals now are clearly different. This is a new age of Chiefs football. “[Outsiders] see the state championship berth. We’ve not really arrived, but we’ve done things we’ve never done before,” North Myrtle Beach head coach Matt Reel said. “For me, you have to keep looking at those imperfections in the program and work to make those better. It comes down to us making sure our kids are prepared.” Reel will have the bodies, as scores of freshman now fill up his junior varsity squad and his varsity roster is chock full of seniors. The difference from last year’s senior-laden top group, however, was that it was an experienced crop of upperclassmen. It’s why getting past all those departures from last fall is no easy chore. All four starters along that loaded defensive line are gone, as are two more in the back seven. Offensively, standout tailback Nyliek Livingston, two of the teams starters on the outside and three lineman are also gone. Still, Reel will be able to count on five key returning starters each side of the ball. Quarterback Cam Freeman, a Georgia Tech baseball commitment who a cool competitor in his “other” sport, receiver (and defensive back) [player_tooltip player_id="89308" first="Chandler" last="McCall"] and linemen Braxton Farmer, [player_tooltip player_id="153244" first="Jovonn" last="Willard"] and Turner Warren will steady some new faces. Defensively, McCall, safety [player_tooltip player_id="154617" first="Trace" last="Hall"], corner Jamareon Bessent will cover a backside, while star linebackers [player_tooltip player_id="91208" first="Elijah" last="Vereen"] (pictured) and [player_tooltip player_id="89322" first="TJ" last="Cox"] have proved themselves as some of the best Region VI-4A has to offer. Like most teams who lose massive senior classes, North Myrtle Beach’s potential qualms won’t be with the starters, but with whom is behind them. Many of the players donning those 11 spots on either side of the ball were providing quality depth a year ago. And since so many of the Chiefs’ games turned lopsided in a hurry, they got on the field early and often. This time around, that luxury may not be there. Reel will have to count on first-year starters such as receiver KJ Stanley and defensive linemen Caleb James and Seth Clewis, as well as a whole bunch of others, to jump into contributing roles. The saving grace this season will be non-region games at the start of the season. Unlike last year, North Myrtle Beach will have four chances to tinker and evaluate. It could be the difference maker for a team hoping to keep its newfound position. “We’re somewhere we’ve never been before, but there are tons of things we can do to grow this program,” Reel said. “We’re not coaching just to get there. Now, we’re there. What are going to do with it? Were we lightning in a bottle and going to go back to being 6-5 or whatever? Or are we doing to do what it takes to stay there?”