PINETOWN — Four years of hard work throughout high school — and countless hours dedicated even before that — paid off in an opportunity for Rhys Alligood and James Barrow to continue playing football.

The Panther duo signed to continue their football careers at Guilford College starting in the fall. Barrow and Alligood were two key pieces of a senior class that spearheaded Northside’s best season in over a decade.

“I really just played hard because I love the game. Good opportunities came from that,” Alligood said.

Alligood’s path to Guilford was relatively straightforward. After getting some attention from the coaching staff, he got a chance to visit the school. Everything from the team to academics to the campus itself drew Alligood right in.

“First of all, it’s a really beautiful campus. They’re very personal with you,” he said. “They really put a lot of emphasis on the academic part. They’re just a good team in general.”

For Barrow, though, Guilford wasn’t always where he had planned to attend. He had garnered consideration from Division II Wingate, but there were some things about the way the team interacted that turned him off to the program.

“When I visited Guilford, it was totally different,” he said. “All the players that we got to meet were cool. The coaches actually care for you. What I thought was extraordinary was that when me and Rhys went there, the coach knew us by name and what position we played.”

The transition from high school to college is a challenge for anyone. Alligood and Barrow will be working to make the jump from prep to collegiate football at the same time, but take solace in the fact that they’ll be doing it together.

“It makes it really easy,” Alligood said. “We’re going to be rooming together most likely. We’ll be able to experience this together.”

The two Northside standouts were among the best at their respective positions. Barrow led the team with over 1,000 yards rushing for a team-best 14 touchdowns. On defense, Alligood’s eight sacks led the Panthers. Barrow ranked second with 5.5. Alligood also had 79 tackles, which trailed only junior Cameron Cahoon.

They helped lead the Panthers to a second-round appearance in the playoffs. They lambasted Rocky Mount Prep, 61-12, for the senior class’ first postseason win. They nearly upset a North Edgecombe team that, until then, had only lost a game to Tarboro that season.

Barrow, Alligood and the Panthers narrowly lost the game, 16-14, marking the end of their high-school playing careers, but not without doing their school and the county proud.

“It’s a good day for Northside High School and the football program,” coach Keith Boyd said. “More than that, it’s good for ‘L’ and Rhys to go and pursue football for four more years. They’ve worked hard for it. We’re proud of them.”

However, they leave behind them the groundwork for future success on the gridiron.

“I’ve played on varsity for four years,” Barrow said. “I’ve watched the environment. This is the best year, I can say, Northside has had. Normally, we’ll have a good team, but mess up. … This year was like brothers and everything.”

Boyd added, “That’s where we’re at, as a program, right now. There’s a lot of excitement. We had a good year. The reason we had a good year is young men like these two. We still had other guys that aren’t going on that helped the program tremendously, but this validates telling a kid coming in as a freshman … there are opportunities out there to continue doing what you do if you work for it. Now they see it.”