WHAT WE SAW: West Florence 42, Myrtle Beach 21

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The tandem of <strong>Darren Lloyd</strong> and [player_tooltip player_id='336138' first='Deuce' last='Hudson'] made sure its second-round playoff game was much like its first.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>West Florence's backfield tandem combined for 455 yards rushing and three touchdowns, while Hudson also threw for another 121 yards just for good measure.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>“That's single-wing football, man. Single-wing football will never die,” coach Jody Jenerette said after the Knights beat Myrtle Beach 42-21 on Wednesday to advance to the third round of the Class 4A playoffs. “We try to put lipstick on a pig with it sometimes with all the motions and how we do things, but we're going to try to run the ball because that's what wins this time of year.”</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The production from Lloyd and Hudson was exactly what the Knights have relied upon all season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Case in point:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With a seven-yard carry early in the second quarter, Hudson went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season. He finished the game against the Seahawks with 217 yards and two rushing scores, boosting his season tallies (unofficially) to 1,170 yards and 15 scores on the ground.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With his 28-yard run to end the third quarter, Lloyd surpassed 2,000 rushing yards on the season. He finished the game with 238 yards and a four-quarter score and now has (again, unofficially) 2,111 yards and 25 rushing touchdowns.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>WEST FLORENCE WRINKLES</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Clearly, Jenerette is trying to use even more lipstick as the Knights get further into the playoffs.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Part of that is something that happened on the other side of the ball. The West Florence coach said Wednesday that starting linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='443495' first='Franklin' last='Emerson']</strong> is having season-ending surgery. That's a massive loss, as Emerson has piled up 103 total tackles (79 solo, 48 assisted) this year.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Because of it, ball control and keeping teams down the line from keying too much on Hudson and Lloyd becomes paramount to West Florence's success.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Against Myrtle Beach, those wrinkles included not only Hudson taking a couple deep shots even when the Knights were running the ball well, but also by adding some infrequent players to the rushing mix.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Steven Smalls</strong> entered the game with three carries in the team's first 11 games. With Lloyd leading the way, Smalls put the Knights up 21-0 late in the second quarter on a one-yard run.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Fellow senior <strong>Bryson Graves</strong> entered the game with two carries for six yards. He was able to take two first-half handoffs for 19 yards and a score. And while it didn't count, a would-be 11-yard touchdown in the third quarter that was eventually wiped out by a penalty was a highlight-reel quality run in which he scrambled off tackle and dipped and dived through the entire Myrtle Beach defense from one sideline to the other. He also hauled in a pass on the play prior to Smalls' touchdown run and nearly made an acrobatic dive while extending toward the pylon that was ultimately ruled just shy of the end zone.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Senior linebacker [player_tooltip player_id='336149' first='Mike' last='Gillard'] had yet another big individual night, even if the Seahawks' defense got bullied a bit after three regular starters were out for the game. Gillard finished with 11 tackles and two tackles for loss. Gillard will next be in action in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas on December 17. He was one of just two picks from Horry County for the top-billed all-star game involving South Carolina seniors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Myrtle Beach offense hadn't taken on this type of run-first approach in nearly a decade, but that didn't stop coach Mickey Wilson from trying. By the Seahawks' fourth offensive series, four different players had taken snaps at quarterback. Senior receiver [player_tooltip player_id='336119' first='Jake' last='Doty'] (a former quarterback) threw a pass and took an early Wildcat carry for 16 yards. Fellow senior <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='58826' first='Trey' last='Dunn']</strong> - a transfer from West Virginia who spent much of this season on the bench with injuries - finished the game with a team-high 104 passing yards and two touchdowns. And juniors <strong>Tristan McGee</strong> (who started the game) and <strong>Wyatt Cannon</strong> each continued what appears to be a preview of next season.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>While we aren't exactly sure what Myrtle Beach's offense will look like next year, it's clear sophomore receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='272701' first='John' last='Simmons']</strong> will be a huge part of the team's plans. Simmons had four second-half receptions, two of which went for touchdowns, and had 36 yards receiving. He also drew a pair of pass interference penalties during a third-quarter stretch in which he was targeted four times in a five-play sequence.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->