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WASHINGTON, N.C. – Having a bye week during the third week of the high school football season isn’t a bad thing.

In fact, Southside and Washington used the week to fine-tune some specifics and get the team up to speed as the rest of the season unfolds.

Washington coach Matt Taylor and Southside’s Jeff Carrow did everything from watch film from their last game to drill further on the schemes they’ll use while also getting some rest for players with bumps and bruises.

Washington dropped a 42-14 decision at D.H. Conley and will host Kinston this Friday. Southside lost 6-0 in four overtimes to Washington County and will host Martin County on Friday.

Washington
The Pam Pack began the bye week on Monday by watching film from the Conley loss, something they normally do the day after a game. The week was spent going over some of the basics and getting the team better prepared for Kinston this Friday.

“We pulled the kids back out here and that’s had a lot of positive things to where we can put that game behind us, whether it’s a win or a loss,” Taylor said. “We can put that game behind us and then on Monday it starts a new week, and we can kind of get going on that. I gave the kids, with us having a bye week, the weekend off. So then Monday we came out here and we did a little bit of a walkthrough and some things, but then we watched some film.
“And I think that’s the best tool for us. You know, mamas lie, daddies lie, coaches lie, film doesn’t lie.”

Taylor said he was happy with the play of his special teams. However, the Pam Pack were playing from behind most of the night against Conley.

Some of the bright spots came in Keondrick Melton’s play on offense. He rushed for 138 of Washington’s 174 yards on 19 carries, scoring on a 45-yard touchdown.

On the other side, the Washington defense didn’t help itself by allowing 21 first-quarter points.

“You know, the main goal of the week, it wasn’t to get healthy, it wasn’t to focus on, it was to get better at what we did,” Taylor said. “We weren’t going to change the way we did things. We’re not going to abandon ship just because we’re 0-2. We feel that we’re competitive in those games and we feel like our kids understand what we’re doing. We just got to get better at what we’re doing and how we’re performing in those things. So, the main goal of this week was just to get better at us.”

Southside
After a rough outing in the season opener at North Duplin, where the Seahawks dropped a 50-8 decision, Southside played solid defense in the home loss to Washington County.

The Seahawks did put up 299 rushing yards against the Panthers, led by Devonelle Brimage with 89 yards on eight carries. Isiah Knight had 56 yards on 12 rushes and MyQuon Clark added 53 yards on 10 carries.

One of the biggest problems for Southside was mistakes at the wrong time. Southside stopped several Washington County drives but also fell short inside the Panthers’ 10-yard line on three different series before the overtime play.

“Obviously, I mean, we learned a lot tonight, a lot tonight,” Carrow said after the game. “We were very green in a lot of areas overall team-wise, but the fight that these guys had, I can’t be prouder of them on that. Obviously, we’ve got football stuff to clean up, but the effort and the heart these guys showed and for them to be able to push through four overtimes and be able to push through this, I’m extremely proud of them for that effort. We’re having to shuffle around some guys with cramps and stuff like that. We’ve been able to mix guys up in practice a little bit, which helped some here, as far as rotation-wise. But we just gotta finish when we’re there, we gotta finish.”