By David Meade
The 2015 North-South All-Star Football Game will be played this Saturday, Dec. 12, at Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium at Myrtle Beach High School. Palmetto Mustangs Head Football Coach Doug Shaw, Jr. will be one of five assistant coaches on the North Coaching Staff. Palmetto’s Blake Owens, Offensive Lineman #52 and Wren’s Bailey Rogers, Defensive Back #10 will also be playing for on the North Squad. Palmetto’s Cheerleaders will also be attending the event.
Shaw will be coaching in his hometown football stadium, Doug Shaw Memorial Stadium, which is named for his father. The stadium is home to the Myrtle Beach High School Seahawks. Built in 1968, the stadium seats 4,500 spectators, 3,500 on the home side and 1,000 on the visitors’ side and has a capacity of 6,500. The stadium is named for Doug Shaw, Sr., the long-time coach of the Myrtle Beach High School Seahawks football team, who died suddenly Nov. 11, 1994 at age 52.
Originally, the new football field was simply named Memorial Stadium, but on September 12, 1995, City Council approved a resolution renaming the facility in Doug Shaw’s honor.
He had been Myrtle Beach’s head football coach for 25 years and an assistant coach the two previous years.
His football teams had a record of 223 wins, 77 losses and two ties.
During his reign on the sidelines, his Seahawk teams went to the AAA state championship game five years in a row, winning the title four times and 16 conference titles and competed in the playoffs 23 of his 25 years.
In December 2014, Doug Shaw Sr. was one of nine men inducted into the South Carolina Football Coaches Association inaugural Hall of Fame class.
Shaw Jr. served as an assistant at Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach from 1995-2001, when he took over as head coach at Carolina. He also spent seven years at Mauldin before being named the head coach at Palmetto High School in 2013.
Shaw will be coaching in the stadium he grew up in and played football in during high school at Myrtle Beach.
NORTH COACHING STAFF
Head Coach – Ken Schofield, Great Falls.
Assistant Coaches – Lee Taylor, Mauldin; Doug Shaw Jr. , Palmetto; Jeff Murdock, Crescent; Rick Brown, Lancaster and Barry Fogle, Pelion.
SOUTH COACHING STAFF
Head Coach – Dean Boyd, Marlboro County.
Assistant Coaches – Bobby Marion, West Ashley; Tryonne Davis, Waccamaw; Eddie Ford, Allendale- Fairfax; Jimmy Wood, Cross and Derrick Quinn, North Augusta.
The North-South Teams are composed of players who first must be recommended by their high school coach. They are selected by the games coaching staffs after careful review of video tape from the current season.
All-Star players began their week of activities at Myrtle Beach on Sunday, December 6th. The practice schedules and activities are similar to a college bowl schedule for the All-Star players and coaches.
“The players have a great time at Myrtle Beach during the week. They work hard during the day but they have a lot of fun when they are not on the football field. They eat at great restaurants, stay at ocean front hotels and enjoy off the field activities they can only experience at Myrtle Beach,” said Keith Richardson, the North South Game director.
The North-South Awards Presentation precedes the North-South All-Star game on game day during halftime.
Sixty years ago the football coaches in South Carolina began an annual All-Star Football game that has grown into a classic.
The North-South All-Star Game was begun in 1947 as part of the state coaches clinic in Columbia.
The game was played in the summer for many years and was played in many locations.
Columbia, Easley, Clinton and Summerville have all hosted this great annual showcase for high school football.
Over 20 years ago a group of Myrtle Beach business leaders brought the game to the Grand Strand.
During the last twenty years the game has grown to be one of the premier high school all-star games in the entire country.
The South Carolina Athletic Coaches Association, The South Carolina Football Coaches Association and the North-South Game Committee have worked to make this a memorable experience for every player, coach and fan.
The game has become much more than just a football game. The players and coaches experience the same kind of fun and activities that college teams enjoy when they participate in bowl games.
Myrtle Beach looks forward to hosting the All-Star players and coaches as well as the thousands of fans who annually come to the beach to see these outstanding high school players.
