CHOCOWINITY — Southside hoisted the coveted Anchor Trophy for the fifth time in six years Friday night with a 44-8 victory over Northside in the Coastal Plains Conference opener.

With limited practice time and no scheduled games in more than two weeks, the Seahawks picked up right where they left off on Sept. 18, playing sound, up-tempo football and preserving their undefeated season.

“I was extremely proud of the guys coming off such a long break,” said head coach Jeff Carrow after the game. “I thought we executed pretty well. Offensively, we were able to mix it up, run and pass. The defense stepped up in the second half and played much better ball. It was an all around team effort.”

Veering from its run-heavy philosophy slightly, senior quarterback Johnny Sullivan celebrated homecoming appropriately, completing 3-of-5 passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for a touchdown. And on a pair of trick plays, senior wingback Matt Baxter completed both of his pass attempts for a total of 44 yards. In all, the Seahawks tallied 435 yards of total offense and committed just three penalties, a vast improvement over the first five games.

But nearly half of the Seahawks’ offense was generated from one man, running back Lawrence Brown, who ran for a game-high 212 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries, an average of 11.8 yards per rush.

Unfortunately for the visiting Panthers, which have now lost four-straight, the offensive struggles continued. Kept under a constant state of pressure from linebackers Nigel Peele and Hunter Sparks, junior Jackson Midgette had little time to operate in the pocket and completed just five passes, two of which were to Seahawks’ corners. The running game also did little to help its quarterback, rushing for a total of 167 yards.

It took Southside just three plays to find the endzone and open up the scoring in the first quarter. Following a 31-yard pass from Baxter on a flea flicker and a short run from Brown, Baxter punched it in for a 10-yard touchdown run. On the ensuing Seahawks possession, a lengthy eight-play drive, it was Johnny Sullivan who bootlegged around the defensive line for an easy score, giving the host a quick 14-0 lead.

“Johnny has been with me for four years and he’s the kind of guy who already knows the play by the time he’s running over to me on the sidelines. He knows what I’m thinking, executing and doing everything right as a senior quarterback. He’s commanding the offense.”

Northside’s largest gain of the night came on a 20-yard run by Chris Slade to open up the second quarter. From there, the Panthers chipped away yardage and crept into the Seahawks’ redzone. Eventually, Shaheim Brewington capped the drive off with a 1-yard touchdown run.

But a few passing wrinkles from Carrow, plays that exploited Northside’s lack of height in the secondary, gave Southside two more touchdowns before the half, Johnny Sullivan connecting with sophomore Demitrius Ebron for 17 yards and, 3 minutes later, finding Baxter in the endzone for a 27-yard heave. The Seahawks held a commanding 30-8 lead at the break and never looked back.

“We’ve reached some of our goals, but we still have further to go,” Carrow said. “The guys know they have to stay focused with it. It feels good to get (the trophy) back, especially for the seniors who have been busting their butts for four years, setting good examples and being good leaders.”

Following a scoreless third, Brandon Sullivan and Brown both found the endzone in the fourth quarter to put away the Panthers and cap off yet another balanced victory with contributions on both offense and defense.

With the loss, Northside drops to 2-5 (0-1 CPC) heading into next week’s home game against Pamlico County (2-4, 0-1 CPC). Southside improves to 6-0 (1-0 CPC) with the win and will travel to Trenton next week to take on Jones Senior (4-3, 1-0 CPC).