It’s been one week since Southside’s football season came to a screeching halt. The Seahawks, hoping their campaign would last just eight days more, fell short in a 7-2 defeat at the hands of Plymouth. It was the second year in a row they lost in the 1-A eastern regional championship, and third consecutive postseason exit at the hands of the Vikings.

Now Plymouth is looking forward to a meeting with Murphy on Saturday in Chapel Hill. The champions of the east will hope their shutdown defense will be enough to get one more win.

Opposite the Vikings will be an impressive Bulldogs squad that can attack through the air and on the ground. The driving force of their offense has been the junior tandem of quarterback Joey Curry and running back Kadrian McRae. Curry has completed just a shade over 60 percent of his passes for 1,684 yards and 16 touchdowns. He’s scored 10 more touchdowns on the ground, too.

McRae has over 1,000 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns on the season. He’s gotten plenty of the carries this season, but he’s far from the only running option. Sophomores Slade McTaggart and KJ Allen combined for 1,245 yards and 22 more scores.

Plymouth’s defense has a tall order in front of it, but it’s offense is going to have to fare better than it did against Southside should it bring another state championship back to the east.

For the Seahawks, though, it’s time to shift toward basketball season. They’re coming off an impressive 10-12 (6-6 1-A Coastal Plains Conference) record last year. A late highlight of the campaign was nearly beating an elite East Carteret team in the semifinals of the CPC tournament. It was their penultimate game of the year as Weldon downed the Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs.

Since Southside typically makes a long foray into the postseason, it’s always a question as to when basketball season is going to start up. Like last year, the Seahawks would have been content to push back the season opener another week so that they could prepare for the state championship.

That’s not the case, though, and Southside now aims for success on the hardwood. It’s going to be tough. Last year’s starters, and a lot of the bench, have graduated, forcing the Seahawks to rebuild. Josh Keyes, Marshall Medlock and John Bryant will captain this year’s team.

They dive right into things Friday night at home with a league contest against Lejeune. The girls are set to tipoff at 6 p.m., with the boys following them shortly after.