Staff report

SPENCER — North Rowan High School football coach Ben Hampton will leave the school for a new position at Socastee High School in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, according to a report from MyHorryNews.com, which covers Horry County in South Carolina and is the website for the Horry Independent newspaper.

The website confirmed that the Horry County Board of Education approved the hiring of Hampton on Monday night. Reportedly, there were 41 applicants for the Socastee job and 17 were interviewed.

Hampton, a Rowan County native who starred as a running back at West Rowan, has been the Cavaliers’ head coach since 2015. North is 42-21 during those seasons, but 37-14 since a 5-7 mark in Hampton’s first year in Spencer.

Hampton told MyHorryNews.com that he talked to his wife when the Socastee job came open and that they decided pursuing it was the right decision. Hampton said he had wanted to return to the area.

North won a Central Carolina Conference championship under Hampton in 2016, going 5-0 in league play and 11-3 overall. The Cavs reached the third round of the state 2A playoffs that year.

After going to the 1A Yadkin Valley Conference in 2017, Hampton led North to a 17-3 record in conference games, including a championship last season (6-0, 9-4). He was YVC Coach of the Year for 2019 and Rowan County Coach of the Year in both 2016 and 2018.

Hampton also served as North Rowan’s athletic director for four years, before turning those duties over to Woody in 2019.

Hampton was a standout in baseball and football at West Rowan, before graduating in 2002. He was part of David Bennett’s first recruiting class for Coastal Carolina University’s new football program. Bennett had been at Catawba College for the seven seasons (1995-2001), building a nationally-ranked Division II program.

Coastal, located in Conway, South Carolina, did not play games until the 2003 season. Hampton played in the Chanticleers’ first-ever contest — a 21-14 win over Newberry. He went on to score six career touchdowns at Coastal, seeing action in 35 games, before graduating.

Hampton immediately went into coaching back home in Rowan County, working as an assistant in football and baseball at Carson.

Hampton’s sister, Hillary, is married to West Rowan head football coach Joe Nixon. The two met as students at Catawba, where Hillary played basketball and Nixon was an offensive lineman on the football team.

Ben Hampton assisted Nixon at North Rowan for three seasons (2012-14). When Nixon took the West Rowan position in 2015, Hampton moved up at North Rowan.

Hampton’s brother, Patrick, is an assistant football coach at North Rowan and, just recently, was named the Cavaliers’ head baseball coach.

Ben Hampton and his wife, Catherine, have two young children.

The article will be updated.