PINETOWN — An extra point from Antonio Woods proved to be the difference between Northside and Southside on Friday as the Panthers fended off the late-charging Seahawks to hang on to a 13-12 victory over their arch rivals on Friday.
Down 12-0 at the start of the fourth quarter, Southside (0-3) took advantage of some Northside (2-1) miscues to work its way back in the ball game.
With 1:28 left in the fourth, the Seahawks cut the deficit to 13-12 when John Sullivan hooked up with Isaiah Moore for a 29-yard touchdown pass.
Down one point, Southside opted to go for two, but was stuffed at the goal line by the Panthers defense.
“We had momentum and we were on the road. The old saying is when you’re on the road you go for the win and when you’re home you go for the tie and play overtime,” Southside coach Jeff Carrow said of his decision to go for two.
After Moore’s touchdown the Panthers were on the ropes, but Northside coach Keith Boyd was determined not to surrender the game-winning points up the middle.
“We had a stunt on. We felt like where they had most of their success was between the A and B gaps, and we felt like that’s what we would see there,” Boyd said. “But we were able to get off the football and make the game-winning stop.”
Northside had its running game working early but a total of four lost fumbles kept it from expanding the lead. However, Southside failed to make the Panthers pay as it lost three fumbles.
The Panthers scored on their first possession of the game as they went on an 83-yard drive that ended when quarterback Malik Slade pitched the ball to Rockne Butler, who danced his way into the end zone from 17 yards out for a 6-0 lead.
The Panthers wouldn’t reach the end zone again until late in the first half when Woods made an 18-yard dash that ended with him stretching the ball across the goal line. Woods would go on to kick the pivotal extra point to take a 13-0 lead into halftime.
The score would stay that way until Darrius Whitley’s eight-yard TD run triggered the Seahawks’ comeback attempt at the start of the fourth quarter.