EAST CARTERET (5-1, 0-0 COASTAL PLAINS) AT SOUTHSIDE (4-2, 0-0 COASTAL PLAINS)

Location: Southside

Time: 7 p.m.

Southside and East Carteret take the main stage on a rare Thursday night game. The two sides will open 1-A Coastal Plains Conference play against one another in a contest televised by Time Warner Cable.

The Seahawks and Mariners finished the 2015 campaign as not just the league’s two best teams, but among the best in the region in the 1-A classification. Southside trudged its way to the eastern regional, but came up short in a one-possession loss to Plymouth. East Carteret wrapped up its season following a third-round walloping at the hands of Wallace-Rose Hill.

Both squads found moderate success in the non-conference stretch of the season. Southside’s losses came to talented teams in Riverside — a game that required overtime to decide — and local rival Northside. East Carteret’s lone loss was a 19-16 decision at West Carteret in the second week of the season.

With that portion of the season behind them, the Seahawks and Mariners have their sights set on getting off to a strong start in conference play. Starting hot is important as both teams have lofty expectations that include the Coastal Plains championship.

Senior quarterback Jacobie Simmons will spearhead East Carteret’s offense. Simmons has been nothing short of deadly both in the air and on the ground through five games this season (the Mariners won their season opener via forfeit). He has already racked up over 1,000 passing yards this season — averaging just over 200 per game — and has thrown for eight touchdowns. He’s also carried the ball 62 times for 602 yards and another half dozen touchdowns.

Simmons isn’t the only playmaker that Southside’s defense will be tasked with stopping. Seahawks’ captain and senior linebacker Hunter Sparks and the rest of Southside’s defense will have to worry about numerous other threats at receiver and running back. Robert Johnson leads the Mariners with 433 receiving yards. Maceo Donald and Malik Collins each have at least 275 receiving yards on the season, too. Collins is also effective on the ground. He’s added another 272 rushing yards.

The matchup will be similar in many ways to Southside’s clash with Riverside. The Knights tried to air it out against Southside’s secondary, but only connected on 5-of-15 passes. Coach Jeff Carrow said he threw out many different defensive looks and mixed it up a lot. That may be the key to grounding the Mariners, too.

On offense, Southside has had plenty of playmakers emerge in recent weeks. Zikijah Crawford has been the team’s workhorse at running back. He leads with 356 rushing yards and six touchdowns. Joe Myers has shown time and again his ability to make big plays, and Trajan Rhome scored twice in the Seahawks’ last time out — a 41-16 rout of South Creek.

All three of them will need to come together and have their best performance in the same game for Southside to be able to keep up with East Carteret’s dynamic offense. The key on defense will be limiting the Mariners’ big-play potential. That, combined with a little magic, could result in a winning start to conference play for Southside.

PREDICTION: SOUTHSIDE 36, EAST CARTERET 28