Southside @ Ayden-Grifton

The Seahawks will travel to play the 2-A Eastern Carolina Conference’s Ayden-Grifton Chargers for the second consecutive season. Last year, it didn’t go in the direction the Seahawks wanted it to, falling in the season opener.
The Chargers run a similar offense to that of Washington High School, in which the Seahawks faced in a scrimmage last Friday night. Ayden-Grifton runs a triple-option out of shotgun formation look with a lot of moving parts. They predominantly use a motion man across the face of the quarterback giving him the option to read the defensive end and have options for the sweep, the give or the keep.

Southside will need to be firing on all cylinders on Friday night to stop the high-powered offense of Paul Cornwell.

The Seahawks have looked relatively sound throughout the preseason, but their conditioning and depth will be key this season. They have the first-string talent to hang with anybody on their schedule, but they’ll need to stay healthy, hydrated and full of energy for four quarters against the Chargers.

 

Northside vs. Perquimans

After last year’s mashing, the Panthers are looking for a repeat performance over the Perquimans Pirates. Last season, the Panthers ran away with a 36-0 victory at Perquimans. That game was the first of three consecutive wins the Panthers began their season with. If they are able to do that again, they’ll be headed in the right direction.

The Pirates are another team that likes to spread out their offense and use their athletic quarterback and running backs to get out in open space. More often than not, they’re running the option.

Perquiman’s biggest issue is throwing the ball downfield. They didn’t do that much last season in their 1-10 season in 2018. The Pirates started a freshman quarterback in A’marion Hunter last season, and he will return as the starter this season. With a whole year of experience under his belt, the sophomore may have settled down and improved the passing game.

However, it’s hard to think that the season opener will be the young gun’s coming out party. If the Panthers can infiltrate the run game, they likely won’t have many issues.

 

 

 

Washington @ North Pitt

The Pam Pack look to begin the season 1-0 again this year. The North Pitt Panthers finished last season 1-10 with their lone win coming against North Johnston is overtime. Numbers could primarily be the issue for North Pitt, only having 29 players on the roster.

North Pitt runs out of shotgun, but they lack some size up front that gives them an opportunity to find running lanes. The Panthers will have a few long, athletic athletes they’ll try to get around the edge, but the Pam Pack defensive size and speed may smell trouble for the Panthers’ offense.
Defensively, North Pitt runs out of a 3-4 and have some length at their defensive end and defensive backfield positions. Look for the Pam Pack to keep it on the ground the majority of the evening in with the triple-option and beating the Panthers to the point of attack. As long as Washington quarterback Antwone Godley can recognize the pressure and make the right reads, the Pam Pack could have their way with the Panthers are Friday night. The depth, size and speed of the Pam Pack are going to cause trouble for opponents all season long.