CHOCOWINITY — Minus starting quarterback Cole Kellum and starting LB/RB Johnnie Pender, Southside lacked the firepower it needed to combat Camden as it fell 40-12 on Friday night in both team’s Four Rivers Conference opener.
The Seahawks (2-3, 0-1) took a 6-6 tie into the second quarter when they lost their grip on the game as the Bruins outscored them 26-6 to take a 34-12 lead into halftime and cruise to victory.
“You can’t fumble a bunch of times; you have to tackle and you have to block consistently,” Seahawks coach DeWayne Kellum said after the game. “We run the same stuff, we didn’t change a thing, and we working down the field and we would fumble. Then, we got to where we couldn’t block anymore. It’s just simple fundamental football.”
The Bruins (3-1, 1-0) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead as they stormed down the field on their first possession and looked on as Demetre Brooks scored on a three-yard run.
The Seahawks tied it up at 6-6 when Rokeem Miller ripped off a 39-yard run at the 3:06 mark in the first quarter.
After another Brooks TD run, a 24-yarder, Southside answered back on the next kickoff as Miller fielded the ball at the Southside 40 and dashed 60 yards down the left side of the field to knot the score at 12-12.
However, minus QB Kellum (arm) and RB Pender (back), the Seahawks just couldn’t come up with enough punch on offense and when they did piece drives together they were ruined by fumbles and penalties.
Camden didn’t have that problem as it scored on four straight possesions in the second quarter as Jordan Hassell caught a 32-yard pass from quarterback Noah Tuttle, who ran also ran for a 3-yard TD run before Jamar Cowell punctuated the end of the quarter with a 5-yard TD run right before the end of the half to give the Bruins a 34-12 lead.
After an explosive first half, Camden only scored one more time over the next two quarters as Tre Chamblee had a 3-yard TD run, but the Seahawks never got back on the board.
Southside will look to bounce back next Friday when it plays at Manteo.

Camden    6    28    0    6    —    40
Southside    6    6    0    0    —    12

Camden           Southside
First downs            19            17
Rushes-yards            43-297       35-218
Comp-att-int            5-7-0            1-4
Passing yards            72          6
Fumbles-lost            4-0            5-3
Penalties-yards    6-45                5-31
Punts                2-43            1-31

Scoring Summary
C — Demetre Brooks 3 run (two points failed) 11:05, 1st.
SS — Rokeem Miller 39 run (kick failed), 3:06, 1st.
C — Brooks 24 run (two points failed), 10:36, 2nd.
SS — Miller 60 kickoff return (two points failed), 10:23, 2nd.
C — Jordan Hassell 32 pass from Noah Tuttle (Brooks two points), 6:25, 2nd.
C — Tuttle 10 run (two points failed), 2:06, 2nd.
C — Jamar Cowell 5 run (Hassell two points), :36, 2nd.
C — Tre Chamblee 3 run (two points failed), 11:10 4th.