By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
After a wild three weeks of football the Four Rivers Conference heads into a quiet fourth week as only two teams will be in action this week as South Creek travels to Gates County and Plymouth hits the road to take on Northampton-West.
South Creek (0-2) is coming off a 42-0 loss to Riverside in the Battle for the Paddle, but have played better than the score would indicate.
The Cougars are adjusting to new schemes on both sides of the ball. On offense, South Creek has gone from running the wing-T for several years under Brian Paschal, to running a triple-option offense under first year coach Jeremy Jones. Timing is the key to running the option and Jones’ Cougars are still working on getting in sync but once they do, they will be tough to stop.
Gates County (2-1, Tar-Roanoke Conference) lost a heartbreaker to Hertford 21-10 in its season opener, then beat Pasquotank 41-36 and Piedmont 38-14.
Plymouth heads into tonight’s matchup with a 3-0 record and a share of first place as it is tied with Riverside, Southside and Manteo who all stand at 3-0 as well.
The Vikings will take on a Northampton-West team (Tar Roanoke Conference) that is 0-2 after two games. The Hurricanes lost their season opener 41-12 to Roanoke Rapids before falling 28-19 to Northwest Halifax.
While the South Creek and Plymouth will be in action tonight, here are where the other area teams stand going into the bye.
Northside
The Panthers head into the break with a 1-2 record. Northside opened the season with a 30-20 win over Creswell, before falling 34-8 to Pamlico and 40-0 to Washington.
Riverside
The Knights have seemingly gotten better each week and own a share of first place with a 3-0 record. Riverside topped Ayden-Grifton 28-21 in Week 1, then produced a 35-13 win against Edenton before traveling to South Creek and winning 42-0.
Southside
The 3-0 Seahawks have performed well under coach DeWayne Kellum, especially on the defensive side of the football. Southside pitched a shutout in its first game, winning 22-0 over North Duplin, then beat Creswell 23-6 and followed that with an 18-12 overtime win over Pamlico in the Fossil Bowl.