CHOCOWINITY — A strong finish wasn’t enough to overcome a slow start as Southside fell 27-12 to North Duplin on Monday in a game that began on Friday.
It was a bizarre start to the 2013 season for the Seahawks as they kicked off the year on Friday against North Duplin and allowed 20 first-quarter points.
The Southside defense would go on to clamp down on the Rebels option attack and picked up a some momentum late in the second quarter when quarterback Donshae Miller connected with Lawrence Brown for a touchdown with less than a minute to go in the first half. However, Southside’s momentum was promptly washed away thanks to a severe thunderstorm that postponed the second half until Monday.
“I told the team that we have to answer adversity all the way through and that was just another step,” said Jeff Carrow, who was making his debut as the Seahawks head coach. “Unfortunately, we were on the short end tonight.
“Friday night I felt like we didn’t play our best ball at all. We got it together late in the half and scored a touchdown after the defense got a stop for us.”
After the long break, Southside looked strong as its defense came up with a few big stops in row on Monday and the Seahawks made a key special teams play to breathe life into their comeback hopes.
“Tonight, the defense played much, much better,” Carrow, said. “Offensively, we still had miscues and that’s on me. That’s something I have to fix. We have to be able to run the ball in order to throw the ball.”
Midway through the third quarter the Rebels appeared to fake a punt and the Seahawks were all over it as they brought down the punter to give the offense the ball at the North Duplin eight-yard line.
Two plays later, Miller scrambled across the goal line to cut the deficit to 20-12 with 7:27 left in the quarter.
However, the Seahawks would not be able to find the end zone again and North Duplin would tack on a fourth quarter score to close it out 27-12.

North Duplin    20    0    0    7    —    27
Southside    0    0    6    0    —    12