Months of offseason work and conditioning and a few weeks of preseason practice culminates in Southside’s season opener a week from Friday. However, there’s something to be said about the first full-contact practice of the year.

“It was nice. You don’t know how much you miss (the sounds of pads hitting) until you get out here the first time,” coach Jeff Carrow said.

Southside’s defense excelled in Friday’s midnight scrimmage. The group, led by senior linebacker and team captain Hunter Sparks, was clearly ready to bump around.

“The defense is way ahead of the offense right now,” Carrow said. “I thought the defense got after it quick. They’re the better group, which is what we expected. The offense is a step behind.

“Just the overall team speed to the ball. They did really well. They executed. I know coach (Andrea Quinerly) called a lot of different defenses. For the most part, they were in their spots where they were supposed to be and did well.”

That’s not to say the offense didn’t perform well. Quarterback Marshall Medlock appeared calm under center more often than not. While the highlight-reel plays were limited on Friday, the Seahawks know their offense will be up to par due to the stout defense they’re competing against internally.

“Marshall’s a senior quarterback and he knows the offense and how to execute it,” Carrow said. “We’ve got a little different motions we need to get more practice with. We’ve got to be able to get good snaps and execute the offense a little bit better.”

The saying is that each player looks good in shorts. It’s once the players don the full pads and start knocking each other around that coaches get a good idea of what they have. Friday marked the beginning of an evaluation period in which Carrow said many offensive position battles will unfold.

“We’ve got a lot of things to correct,” Carrow said, noting that most of the offensive line spots are up for grabs. “We lost a lot from last year, but, offensive line wise, we’ve got tackle positions to fill and a center position to fill.”

While there are things Carrow wants to correct, he was generally pleased with the way the hour-long practice went. He liked the energy level and understands that it’s the first time the Seahawks are practicing with contact. He even said that he was a little rusty with his play calling.

Southside will continue its preseason competition with a scrimmage at Northside on Wednesday before hosting one on Friday.