ROBERSONVILLE — Northside had no need for a late game defensive stand this week as it came out running against South Creek and never stopped.
Northside running back Patrick Moore rushed for three touchdowns and caught another, while quarterback Malik Slade added two rushing TDs to lift the Panthers to a 55-6 win over the Cougars on Friday.
Last week Northside (3-1, Coastal Plains) started off hot but could not sustain it against Southside as it held on to a 14-13 victory.
On Friday, the Panthers’ ground game was running on a full tank as Patrick Moore racked up 164 yards on touchdown runs alone to help the Panthers rack up a season-high 55 points.
“Patrick is the fastest kid we got and if you give him a crease he can take it,” Northside coach Keith Boyd said. “The blocking, especially in the second half, was much better. We were able to get the ball to him on the edge and let him do what he does.”
The Panthers scored on their opening possession as they drove 54 yards down the field before Slade snuck in from the 1-yard line to go up 8-0.
Once again, fumbles plagued the Panthers, as they lost two first-half fumbles and finished with three for the night, but they were mere speed bumps.
After a linebacker Austin Gambrel picked off a Cougars pass and returned it 24 yards for a score, Northside struck again midway through the second as is it marched down field on an 81-yard scoring drive that ended when Slade hit Moore on a fourth-down screen pass that turned into a 26-yard TD for a 24-0 lead.
That lead would balloon to a 32-0 when Slade dashed into the end zone from 22 yards out with 1:40 left in the first half.
The Cougars, who had only 20 players suited up on Friday, fought hard and when quarterback Brandon Battle, who is recovering from an arm injury, subbed in for Aaron Little, who had to come out due to an injury, South Creek (1-3, Two Rivers) was able to put together a 55-yard scoring drive that ended with a Battle 12-yard run.
“We had to throw Brandon into the fire,” South Creek coach Jeremy Jones said. “He was able to get some reps and we were able to put Aaron back out there as an X receiver. I guess that’s one positive we can take out of a 55-6 loss.”
The momentum was short lived as Northside ran two third-quarter plays, both double-dive runs to the left to Moore, which both resulted in 72-yard touchdown runs to extend the lead to 48-6.
The Panthers scored one last time in the fourth when Slade slashed 55 yards down the field to score.

Northside        8    24    16    7    —    55
South Creek        0    6    0    0    —    6
                                  NHS          SCHS
First downs            7           11
Rushes-yards         27-389      33-117
Comp-att-int          1-2        3-7-1
Passing yards        26            39
Fumbles-lost          3-3           1-0
Penalties-yards      5-55           6-60
Punts                      X-X           2-27

Scoring Summary
N — Malik Slade 1 run (Slade two points), 7:29, 1st.
N — Austin Gambrel 24 interception (Antonio Woods two points), 10:08, 1st.
N — Patrick Moore 26 pass from Slade (Rockne Butler two points), 3:59, 2nd.
N — Moore 22 run (Woods two points), 1:40, 2nd.
S — Brandon Battle 4 run (two points failed), 0:00, 2nd.
N — Moore 72 yard run (Woods two points), 5:44, 3rd.
N — Moore 72 run (two points), 3:28, 3rd.
N — Slade 55 run (Woods kick), 8:00, 4th.