By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
CHOCOWINITY — The Vikings’ defense continued to oppress offenses as it scored three touchdowns off forced fumbles in Plymouth’s 39-0 win over Southside on Friday.
Plymouth limited the Seahawks’ rushing attack to 115 yards on 34 carries, and scored its first and last TD’s of the game on turnovers as the Albemarle Conference leading Vikings improved to 6-1 (3-0).
Linebacker Deshawn Allen led the charge for the Vikings as he tallied four sacks, adding to a total that already has him ranked in the top ten in the state.
While the No. 8 ranked Vikings keep racking up wins, the Seahawks’ struggles continue as their record dropped to 0-7 (0-3).
Though things look grim in Chocowinity, Vikings’ coach Robert Cody said he has seen improvement in Southside’s play.
After Southside came up with an impressive defensive stance in which it kept the Vikings out of the end zone after they had first-and-goal from the Seahawks’ 1-yard line, the Seahawks ended up surrendering a touchdown three plays later.
Southside took over on offense at its own 3, and on third down quarterback Kevin Sparks got drilled in his own end zone and fumbled. The ball was recovered by Lachaun Norman to put Plymouth up 7-0.
From there, the Vikings were able to use its ball control offense, led by running backs Dylan Watts, Elmer Cooper (1 TD) and Ronnell Blount (1 TD), to run over the Seahawks for 260 rushing yards. Quarterback Akiem Cooper also passed for a score on 47-yarder to Jameze Simpson.
Despite the high amount the stats, Southside was only behind 19-0 heading into the fourth. However, the Seahawks’ fumbled on back-to-back possessions late in the fourth, and both were returned for touchdowns.
Fumbles have crushed the Seahawks during Hines’ two years with Southside and has contributed greatly to his team being out-scored 634-77 in his tenure.
On the bright side, Hines said his team is starting to show some real progress, and put up a good fight against one of the area’s top teams.
Plymouth Southside
14 First Downs 8
36-260 Rushes-Yards 34-115
63 Passing Yards 62
2-7-2 Pass-Comp-Int 2-6-1
1-49 Punting 5-33
0 Fumbles-Lost 4-4
3-30 Penalties 4-35
Plymouth 7 12 6 14 — 39
Southside 0 0 0 0 — 0
Scoring Summary
P — Lachaun Norman fumble recovery (Robert Clement kick), 2:53, 1st.
P — Elmer Cooper 2 run (kick failed), 7:42, 2nd.
P — Ronnell Blount 7 run (two points failed), 1:47, 2nd.
P — Jameze Simpson 37 pass from Akiem Cooper (kick failed), 6:17, 3rd.
P — Ethan Davis 30 fumble recovery (Dylan Watts two points), 1:05, 4th.
P — Chris Harris 25 fumble recovery (two failed), :52, 4th.