CHOCOWINITY — Southside tends to find a new gear once the playoffs come around. It’s helped the Seahawks reach consecutive 1-A eastern-regional championship games.

But this time, they had their hands full with a hungry rival in Northside. The Panthers scooted by the Seahawks just three weeks ago. This time, in their first playoff meeting since the 2004 regional championship, Southside shifted into that next gear in a 20-0 win.

WATCH: Post-game interviews from coaches Jeff Carrow and Keith Boyd

The Seahawks made a literal shift in introducing a new wrinkle to their offense. Receiver Demetrius Ebron spent much of the game as a wildcat quarterback. He amassed a game-high 114 yards rushing and set up both of Southside’s first-quarter touchdowns.

“Dee has done a great job all year long. We had to find another way to get him the ball,” Southside coach Jeff Carrow said. “We put in a little bit of a wildcat formation this week. … We’ve been playing around and tinkering with it a little bit at practice, but we knew it was about the right time to go ahead and throw a little wrinkle in it.”

Ebron’s first explosion came on a fourth-and-4 on Southside’s first drive. He not only moved the chains, but carried the home side down to the Panther 4-yard line. That set the table for Brandon Sullivan to scurry into the end zone on the following play. He punched in the 2-point conversion to give Southside an 8-0 lead just over three minutes into the game.

 

Seahawk fans hardly had any time to settle down from the quick touchdown before the defense forced Northside three-and-out. Sullivan and David Vines penetrated a depleted Northside offensive line, notching tackles for a loss. Sullivan’s takedown behind the line of scrimmage brought up a fourth-and-14, leaving the Panthers with no choice but to have Parker Boyd punt the ball away.

“We haven’t been 100 percent on the offensive line since the beginning of the year. First game, we lose our first one. I think we lost our fifth one tonight,” Northside coach Keith Boyd said, referring to an injury suffered by sophomore Matthew Adams. A banged up offensive line was a factor in Northside scraping together just 185 yards of total offense.

“Those kids were trying hard, but the offensive line has just taken beating upon beating. … We just had a hard time blocking people.”

Southside began its second drive at its 41. Northside’s defense brought up a third-and-6, but Ebron took a direct snap 16 yards to convert. He and Jonquil Haywood each scampered for 8-yard gains to set up Trajan Rhome for a 4-yard touchdown of his own.

With that, Southside surpassed its point total from its last bout with Northside in just over eight minutes.

Northside’s offense struggled to maintain possession in the rainy conditions. The Panthers fumbled the ball away on the first play of their ensuing drive. Teddy Minor came up with it, marking the first of three fumbles recovered by the Seahawks.

“The defense played awesome to force turnovers after we had put a couple of points on the board there and to be able to keep getting turnovers,” Carrow said. “We’ve got to do a better job, offensively, capitalizing on them.”

The Panthers got in their own way on numerous occasions, but Southside’s defense also also did well to adjust. Northside threatened to make it a one-possession game late in the first half. Option pitches from Matthew Marslender to Johnathan Clark helped piece together a drive.

It stalled out in the red zone, though. Clark grabbed a screen pass and barreled down to the goal line for a fourth-and-14 conversion, but it was called back due to offensive holding. Northside ended up turning the ball over on downs at Southside’s 28.

“We just had a hard time doing anything tackle-to-tackle,” Boyd said. “That’s why we had to get outside. I think we might could’ve stuck one in, but we had a holding penalty.”

The dueling defenses forced a second-half stalemate until late in the fourth quarter. Will Warren booted the ball away for Southside, pinning the Panthers inside their own 10. They looked to move quickly through the air, but Vines picked off a short pass along the right sideline on the first play and took it to the house, putting the exclamation mark on a 20-0 win.

Southside now sets its sights on a trip to North Duplin next week. The two last met in Chocowinity when both were 4-0. The Rebels won, 35-6, and have remained undefeated.