CHOCOWINITY — Years of hard work not just on the gridiron, but also in the classroom has finally paid off for soon-to-be Southside graduates Lawrence Brown and Matt Baxter. The two standout Seahawk running backs will take their talents from Chocowinity to the center stage of college football.

Brown will play Division II football for West Virginia Wesleyan College. He finished his senior season with 2,285 rushing yards, averaging over 160 a game. He ran in 22 touchdowns to help the Seahawks reach the eastern regional final against Plymouth, marking one of Southside’s best seasons in the last decade.

Baxter amassed 1,244 yards on the ground and scored a team-best 23 touchdowns to earn a spot in Division III football with North Carolina Wesleyan College. He and Brown complemented each other in a potent rush-first offense that made Southside one of the best 1-A teams in the area.

Both accomplished a lot on the field that made them attractive to their respective schools. Conversely, Brown and Baxter both found things they liked about their soon-to-be home for the next few years.

“It’s a small campus and they’ve got a brand-new field,” Brown said of WVWC. “When I went up there, it felt like everybody around was really friendly. That really appealed to me because all the students and even the athletes seemed like they were really together. It didn’t seem like they were apart. The friendliness really turned me on to the school.”

“(The coaching staff had) a lot of happy faces. They were glad to see everybody there,” Baxter said of NCWC. “They want you to be there. … It’s a great atmosphere. It makes it way easier to play there. … I’m overwhelmed. There’s nothing better than playing college football.”

Brown and Baxter have put in an immeasurable amount of work to get to this point, but the work doesn’t stop now. Both men will report to preseason camp sometime in August and are expected to get themselves into top shape before then.

After all they’ve accomplished at the high school level, both are excited to see what the next level has in store for them. For Brown, one thing he looks forward to is seeing the transformation his body will undergo thanks to college football strength and conditioning.

The opportunities afforded to Brown and Baxter don’t end on the field. They’ve put a lot into their academics to get to this point and it has yielded the opportunity for them to get a college education while playing the game they love.

“Most of the money I’m getting is coming from academics,” Brown said. “It’s a blessing. Hopefully I can work hard and the rest can come. If I can encourage anybody, I’d say make sure you stay in the books. I don’t think I’d have this opportunity if I wasn’t serious about my work ethic in the classroom.”

Football coach Jeff Carrow added, “You’ve got to have the academics and keep your grades up. We have high expectations for them. You’ve got to be eligible to play ball. It’s the same thing for those guys getting ready to leave for college. We tell them that it’s not only a whole other level of physicality, preparation and conditioning, but academics, you’ve got to be even more responsible.”

Having Brown and Baxter sign their letters of intent was just as fulfilling for Carrow and the rest of the athletic staff at Southside.

“It’s awesome because they’ve worked hard for four years,” Carrow said. “They’ve put in the hard work, the effort and I couldn’t be more proud of them. They have the chance to go grow up as a man a little bit more and to play football at the next level.”

Brown and Baxter both expressed their appreciation for their families, friends Carrow and the rest of the coaching staff. Brown also wanted to thank coach Myron Flowers for getting him in top shape for the season. Without all of them, both said they wouldn’t be taking their careers to the next level.