CHOCOWINITY — On a humid Thursday morning, the mildew was still being kicked up off the grass as the Southside Seahawks took the practice field for their first week of summer workouts.

It’s back to the basics this week as head coach Jeff Carrow and his assistants were making sure the simple things were in check. They showed up around 8 a.m. to spend some time on the practice field before participating in a weight room workout.

The Seahawks started quite a few young guys last season, and they will have some valuable experience under their belts come this fall.

“We pulled up a bunch of young guys last year. At one point, everybody on defense except two positions were freshmen and sophomores,” Carrow said.

Despite the relatively young group, the players were confident in their team’s ability to be successful this season.

“We’re going to be a balanced team. We have the ability to run or pass at ease against any team behind this offensive line,” starting quarterback Hundley Stallings said. “We just need to put all our heart and effort into our games this season, we’re not going to back down to anybody.”

The Seahawks are determined to have a better season in 2019. Senior linebacker and tight end Daveion McCraw said the weight room would help to improve that.

“We got to win a lot more games than last year,” McCraw said. “Plus we’re hitting the weight room, getting bigger and that’s what we need right now.”

Outside of the starting five up front for the Seahawks, Carrow was slightly concerned about how deep they could dip into the chart for the position.

“Our concern this year is depth,” Carrow said. “Varsity wise, we’re pretty good on skill (positions), but varsity line is going to be the depth issue. The linemen that have been out here have been busting their tails.”

Southside’s offensive line took a big hit with starter, Colby Curlings, being involved in a car accident earlier this month that will inevitably keep him off the field this season. Curlings was moved to a lower level of ICU at the hospital and is on his way to a full recovery.

This year, the football team will be selling wristbands in honor of Curlings with a hash tag that reads “#ColbyStrong,” and all proceeds will go towards helping him and his family. His teammates mentioned a few times that they would be playing for Curlings all season long.

“I’m definitely dedicating my game and my season to him,” Davieon Carter said.

Carter’s teammate and senior Jamari Nelson agreed, adding that he and Curlings have been playing together since they were tykes.

“My first year was (Colby’s) first year playing football,” Nelson said. “We played at Chocowinity rec, I remember we were in the championship game and I was over the running back’s carry-limit, and he scored the game winning touchdown. We clicked ever since. So I got to do it for him.”