The play was perfectly suited to Chris Presley’s style.

Nine-route, straight down the field, run as fast as you can and get open. There just are not many cornerbacks that can hang with Presley, a 6-4, 180-pound receiver for Coastal Carolina who boasts a 4.42, 40 time, on a play like that.

The call came from Chanticleers head coach David Bennett during the first quarter of Saturday’s 24-10 win over Monmouth. At the time, Coastal Carolina was in the midst of an 11-quarter scoreless streak, and Presley, a redshirt freshman from Bamberg-Ehrhardt who switched to receiver from quarterback in the preseason, had yet to record a college reception. It all changed in a flash.

“The cornerback sat so I just went around him,” Presley said. “My eyes got real big as soon as (quarterback Zach MacDowall) threw it.”

Presley hauled in the pass and raced into the end zone for a 50-yard touchdown.

“When I was approaching the end zone my arms were getting real fast and my eyes were getting real big,” Presley said. “The wideouts that were on the field with me all came down to the end zone and congratulated me.”

“It was almost like my wife giving me a hug and a kiss and telling me she still loved me,” Bennett told the Myrtle Beach Sun News of the scoring play.

Of course, the score came with a consequence. Presley is a second-team receiver for the Chanticleers and was only on the field because starter Paul Nicholas got winded.

“I probably played 15 or 20 snaps,” Presley said. “But, after I scored that touchdown, (Nicholas) told me I wasn’t going back in. I had to sit down for a minute until he caught a ball.”

Presley said he made the move to receiver in the preseason to get on the field more. Primarily a quarterback in high school for the Red Raiders, he was recruited by most schools as a receiver.

“Being at quarterback, it’s not really physical,” Presley said. “Playing receiver in college, you have to block more. You have to learn how to get off the ball because the DB is trying to jam you. That is the only thing that is really hard about the transition. Everything else is just running and catching the ball.

“Sometimes, my coaches, they see a lot of things that I may not. They know what I can do, and they tell me all the time that I’m going to be an All-American. My receivers coach tells me I can be all-world if I just work hard enough.”

Judging by that first catch, the coaches might just know what they are talking about. And, luckily, he had family in the stands to witness his remarkable play. His mother, Gail Presley, father Gaines Presley, godbrother Darius Oliver and sister Christina Presley all were in the stands to see his catch and score.

“It was kind of amazing to me,” Gaines Presley said. “It was the first time I had ever seen him at the wide receiver position ... to see him out there running routes and to catch that touchdown in stride like that. As soon as he caught the ball like that, the stadium erupted. It was unbelievable.

“For it to be his first college catch ... a long bomb, a play like that they call a deep-threat bomb,” he continued. “For that to be his first catch, I was just jumping out of the seats. It was just amazing.”

As for mom, well, she was pretty excited too.

“I was just screaming and hollering,” Gail Presley said. “I was saying, ‘Thank you Lord his time has come’!”

T&D Sports Editor Brian Linder can be reached via e-mail at blinder@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5553.

You must be logged in to comment.