CHOCOWINITY — Southside racked up 605 total yards of offense on Friday in a hard-hitting, 46-42 victory over Riverside.

In a game that featured only a handful of sustained drives, the Seahawks’ defense had its hands full with Riverside senior Jeremiah Wilson, a dual-threat quarterback that kept the Southside linebackers in a constant state of pursuit. Wilson completed 10-of-18 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns, while also silencing the Seahawk faithful with a 70-yard score on the opening kickoff.

But after finding the endzone just three times last week, the host’s rushing attack answered the call with a productive second half, erasing an eight-point deficit and breaking free for big play after big play. In the absence of fullback Dylan Lewis, who sustained a season-ending knee injury last week against Northside, senior Lawrence Brown compensated for the loss fiercely, rushing for a game-high 225 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries, an average of 7.3 yards per rush.

“We put in a new formation this week that we’ve never done at Southside ever,” said head coach Jeff Carrow after the game. “We were able to get that momentum early and caught them off guard with that. Once we were able to pop in a touchdown and get the guys’ heads right, we were able to get into our base stuff.”

Like two boxers going punch for punch, Southside and Riverside exchanged a series of dynamic scoring plays throughout the first half. Up 7-6 after 12 minutes, Riverside’s Tyler Carr opened up the second quarter with a 55-yard touchdown run up the middle, breaking four tackles along the way. But on the ensuing series, scrappy sophomore Amari Peele, lined up as the punter, had an answer, turning a bad snap into a 73-yard score on fourth down, a play that preserved the hosts’ momentum and prevented a substantial half-time deficit.

Wilson responded with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Ben Cox with 2:12 remaining in the second quarter, but Seahawk quarterback Johnny Sullivan showcased some arm strength of his own, hurling a 78-yard pass down field to Matt Baxter. At the break, Riverside led 28-20.

The scoring continued in the third, as Wilson had a pass picked off and returned for a touchdown on the first series. And with 42 seconds left in the quarter, the Seahawks gained their first lead on the first sustained drive of the game, a 13-play series capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run from Baxter.

In the fourth, both teams exchanged two touchdowns each, including a dive into the endzone on the 1-yard line from Sullivan and a 5-yard run from Brown with 5 minutes remaining. Wilson connected with receiver Jadakis Bonds for a 55-yard touchdown pass immediately following the Brown score, but the Southside offense played ground-and-pound football through the final minutes, draining the clock and locking up the victory.

Riverside recorded 421 yards of total offense, while Wilson led the team in rushing with 113 yards on 22 carries. For Southside, Peele notched 144 yards on seven carries and one touchdown. Baxter recorded 95 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries.

Despite the high-scoring affair, Carrow spoke highly of his defense’s grit, specifically senior linebacker Nigel Peele, who finished with four tackles and covered the void in the middle of the field left by the Lewis injury.

“Nigel is just a beast on defense and he stepped up big time tonight,” Carrow said. “He fought through injury last year and came back big this year for us, another solid anchor for the defense.

“A win is a win. That’s a really good football team and we knew it would be a tough battle all the way through. We’ll take a ‘W’ any way we can get it.”

With the win, Southside improves to 4-0 and will travel to Seven Springs next week to take on Spring Creek (2-2).

 

SOUTH CREEK 42, NORTHSIDE 18

ROBERSONVILLE — Northside had no answer for senior running back Roman Frayer and the South Creek offense on Friday, as the Panthers recording just 225 yards of total offense in a 42-18 loss.

The Cougars held a 21-0 lead at the end of the first quarter and continued their defensive dominance in the second, shutting out the Panthers and taking a 35-0 lead into the locker room.

In the second half, it was Northside that came out energized, limiting South Creek to just one score through the final 24 minutes. But in the end, the Panthers could not chip away at the substantial half-time deficit.

Northside quarterback Jackson Midgette completed 9-of-15 passes for 80 yards. Running back James Barrow carried the ball eight times for 39 yards and a touchdown, while Chris Slade notched 13 yards and a touchdown on five carries. Tyrese Taylor had one rush for the other Panthers’ touchdown.

With the loss, Northside falls to 2-2 and will line up against Riverside (2-2) next week in Pinetown.