Conway and Myrtle Beach are both making plans to move forward, despite the fact that film from their Victory Bell rivalry game is headed to the South Carolina High School League for review.
While that takes place, both teams are preparing for the start of their respective region openers.
The Seahawks will have to rebound quickly from their 21-12 loss. Myrtle Beach will host Wilson on Friday. And it will be opening its Region VIII-AAA schedule at less than 100 percent.
Defensive end Kerry Chestnut played only a handful of snaps against Conway. Linebacker Octavius Thomas, who led the area in tackles as a sophomore last year, did not dress at all. Neither players' injuries were disclosed, and Seahawks coach Mickey Wilson was not sure when either would be healthy enough to contribute again.
Defensive end Tyler Knox is also still less than 100 percent with an injured ankle, although he played the majority of the snaps against the Tigers.
"We're definitely not healthy right now," Wilson said. "It's the time of the year."
Myrtle Beach (4-1) sprinted through the Region VIII-AAA slate a year ago. It beat the other five teams in the division by an average of 53.4 points per game. Only one team, Georgetown, scored more than seven points again the Seahawks' defense.
This year, that defense will have to be just as stout. Myrtle Beach is averaging 16 points fewer per game than it did a season ago. Still, Wilson's team is the favorite to repeat.
The loss to Conway may turn out to be a positive, if for no other reason that the Seahawks now understand they aren't invincible.
"You don't want to ever lose, especially in a rivalry game," Wilson said. "But a lot of people have said it reminded them of the 2008 Lake City game. They ended up beating us and it was a great wake-up call.
"Any time you get beat, you want to go back to the basics. I think our sense of urgency increases."
The Seahawks rebounded from that Oct. 3, 2008, loss to Lake City to win eight straight, including the Class AAA state championship game.
Conway, meanwhile, is probably in very good shape to improve upon its third-place finish in Region VI-AAAA from a season ago. Those chances improve if quarterback Mykal Moody returns sooner from the concussion he suffered in Friday's game against Myrtle Beach.
The Tigers have started 5-1 and have an extra week – with a bye – to prepare for West Florence. If Moody is unable to go, Conway coach Chuck Jordan said snaps would be split between his son, junior Sawyer Jordan, and freshman Ethan Smith.
The younger Jordan played out the last 17 minutes of the Tigers' win over Myrtle Beach. He communicated perfectly with the sideline, and did an even better job with officials.
The latter was important because the play clock at Conway was broken. The Tigers spent most of the fourth quarter winding time off the clock. He completed all three passes he attempted and executed two quick punts on third down that left Myrtle Beach on the negative side of the field-position battle.
What's more, he did it all in a big rivalry game.
"Those kind of situations have never really bothered him," Chuck Jordan said. "My only concern was whether we could take enough time off. Sawyer did an excellent job of running the clock. I couldn't be more pleased."
Sawyer Jordan played decent minutes as the team's primary backup last year when Robert Nelson stepped in for an injured Moody. This season, Smith was set to be the team's top backup until he suffered a concussion of his own.
Smith, who is listed at 6-foot-1 and 165 pounds, is expected to be healthy for the team's game against West Florence.
"I think he'll be a great quarterback, but he's just a puppy," Jordan said. "He's got a couple years in line."
Nelson is still available to play quarterback in an emergency, but Jordan has said repeatedly he'd prefer to keep Nelson in is natural position in the team's secondary.
Extra work
Aynor's Jody Jenerette gave his players two days off last week, a courtesy extended due to his team having no Friday night game.
That doesn't mean the coach was without responsibilities.
Jenerette, one of five South team assistants for this year's SCADA North-South All-Star football game, has been spending every Thursday in Columbia. The goal is for head coach Jeff Cruce (Berkeley High School) to put together the best team possible of the high school seniors from around South Carolina.
This year's game will be played at 12:30 p.m. on Dec. 10 at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium. The two-day event will also include awarding the 2011 South Carolina Mr. Football award on Friday evening, most likely in Myrtle Beach High School's auditorium.
Selecting players for this year's game, however, isn't as simple as inviting the best around. The North-South roster is completed only after that of the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas is selected.
The South Carolina Shrine Bowl team will be coached this year by Conway's Chuck Jordan. That game will be played Dec. 17 at Wofford College in Spartanburg.
"We're trying to pry that out of him," Jenerette said of Jordan's target list. "It's like Fort Knox over there."
Jenerette said his group is aiming for a final selection date of Oct. 31. It generally takes approximately two weeks for the coaches to get acceptance letters returned, giving a release date of mid-November for the South roster.
The Shrine Bowl roster is generally released at the same time as the North-South list.
Volleyball proving ground
The Myrtle Beach volleyball team and coach Larry Church had a successful weekend at the Dorman Tournament of Champions, even if the Seahawks' 1-6 record in the event doesn't immediately show it.
Church's team beat defending Class AAA champion Nation Ford, and it also had respectable showings against both the No. 1 teams in Class AAAA (Aiken) and SCISA (Ashley Hall) during the invitation-only event that generally features only state championship qualifiers from the previous year. That requirement was waived for Myrtle Beach because of the Seahawks' success so far this season.
Because of it, the Seahawks are No. 3 in state's Class AAA rankings.
A win tonight and Myrtle Beach will likely continue to move up. The Seahawks head to North Myrtle Beach to take on the No. 5-ranked Chiefs. Both teams are still undefeated in Region VIII-AAA play, and both went from the realm of the unranked to top-five in one week in the coaches poll.
