Week 8 of the prep football season is a critical one as teams continue to fight to improve their playoff position as the schedule heads down the home stretch.
Southside will look to snap a four-game losing skid tonight as it hosts a winless Perquimans team that is attempting to break a seven-game slide.
Northside will attempt to bounce back from a tough 35-16 loss at the hands of Camden against a red-hot Manteo squad that has won six straight en route to a No. 5 ranking in the AP poll.
After climbing up one spot in the AP poll each of the past two weeks, Plymouth is holding steady at the No. 8 spot after topping the Seahawks 48-0.
The Vikings have won four in a row, and will put that streak on the line against a simmering Riverside team that has earned victories in back-to-back contests
South Creek was able to set a school record in passing in its loss to Manteo last Friday and hopes that its offense continues to find its rhythm tonight when it plays at Camden.
Here’s a look at the matchups:

Perquimans (0-7, 0-3) at Southside (2-5, 0-3)
The Seahawks are in the midst of a four-game losing streak and will look to turn things around tonight as they take on Perquimans in a homecoming matchup.
Like Southside, the Pirates are looking for their first Four Rivers Conference win of the year and there is no doubt each program is eyeing tonight’s game as one of their best chances to do so.
Perquimans, who has lost seven straight contests, nearly snapped their losing skid last week when it put a scare into Riverside before falling 42-33.
On paper, the Seahawks would appear to be the favorite as they take on a Pirates team that has won one game in the past two seasons. However, Southside coach DeWayne Kellum isn’t buying into any of that.
“If anybody on my team thinks we’re a favorite then we have real big problems,” Kellum said. “We’re not a favorite with anybody. We don’t tackle good enough.”
The Seahawks are coming off of a 48-0 loss to No. 8 Plymouth in which they had moments of strong play but failed to convert some pivotal fourth-and-short situations that proved costly.
Tonight, Kellum said in order to pick up its first conference win of the year Southside must execute with precession.
“We have to keep possession of the ball, finish drives and tackle,” Kellum said. “I hate to keep talking about the fundamentals, but that’s what it all comes down to.”

No. 8 Plymouth (6-1, 3-0) at Riverside (3-4, 2-1)
Riverside High School will be the site of one of the best matchups of the week as No. 8 Plymouth puts its four-game winning streak on the line against a Knights team that has won two straight.
“It’s a big time matchup. (Plymouth) has been a really good program,” Riverside coach Asim McGill said. “I have been here since 2006 and we’ve only beaten them one time. We’re excited, but we want to change the tide.”
Last week the Knights held on to top a winless Perquimans team 42-33 that changed its tide on offense in the middle of the season by scrapping its old playbook.
“They’re coach did a great job, he changed his whole scheme,” McGill said. “Basically, they came out and threw the ball just about every down … It was almost like he said ‘I got nothing to lose so I’m just going to throw it.’”
The Knights defended the surprise attack and managed to put forth one of their best offense outings of the year as they racked up nearly 500 yards of total offense.
They will need that same output tonight when they host the Vikings, who have won four straight by a combined score of 228-18.
Plymouth, who is coming off of a 48-0 win over Southside, has pitched back-to-back shutouts and seems to get stronger on defense each week.
“The No. 1 thing is that we’ve been really concentrating on is our defensive line keeping the offensive line from coming up on our linebackers,” Plymouth coach Robert Cody said.
The Vikings offense has been equally stellar, and as with the defense, the play up front has been critical.
“We got (tackle) Bill Anderson up front and he’s about 300 pounds and we’re able to run the counter play with him and that’s big,” Cody said. “We can run power with him and pull him and for a 300-pounder he can really move.”

Northside (3-3, 2-1) at No. 5 Manteo (6-0, 3-0)
After coming off of what might have been its best win of the year, a 56-22 beating of Perquimans in Week 6, Northside failed to capitalize on its momentum as it lost 35-16 to Camden last Friday.
“We knew that we had to stay away from penalties and turnovers and we just didn’t do that,” Northside coach Keith Boyd said. “We just laid it on the ground too much and had too many penalties. We had a chance to make a few plays offensively and defensively to get ourselves back in it and just didn’t do it.”
The Panthers turned the ball over five times versus the Bruins and Boyd knows that there will be little room for slipups when they take on the No. 5 Redskins, who beat South Creek 46-24 last Friday.
“Manteo’s big and fast and we’re going to have to go down there and play really well in order to have a chance to win,” Boyd said. “We’re going to have to play the best game we’ve played all year and we’re capable of doing that.
“We’re just going to have to take it quarter by quarter and try to win each quarter. We’re going to have to hold on to the football and keep it out of their hands.”

South Creek (1-6, 1-2) at Camden (4-2, 2-1)
It’s not too often a team can be encouraged by a loss, but that was the case for South Creek who showed signs of potential in its 46-24 loss to No. 5 Manteo.
The Cougars found themselves in an early 16-0 hole in the first four minutes of the game, but seemingly played better as the game went on and outscored the Redskins 8-6 in the second half. A considerable accomplishment for an upstart team facing a perennial power.
“I was real proud of the kids,” South Creek coach Jeremy Jones said. “I think in the second quarter we played even with Manteo and in the second half I thought we just flat out-played them.”
The Cougars’ 24-point effort represented a tremendous spike in production as the team had scored only 52 points on the season heading into Week 7.
“We set a new school record for passing yardage with 339 yards and we had another 137 yards rushing,” Jones said. “I think a lot of it is just confidence and I think they are seeing now that it all works together.”
That effort should serve as a confidence booster as South Creek travels to take on a Camden team that topped Northside 35-16 in Week 7.
The key for the Cougars will be to continue to be explosive on offense and remain disciplined on the defensive side of the ball.
“They run their fullback quite a bit and their quarterback quite a bit and once you feel like you got that contained they’ll pitch the ball on a belly option,” Jones said. “It’s not overly complicated, but it’s assignment football.”