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By Jason O. Boyd
For the Washington Daily News

It was a moment they’ve all been waiting for.

After days of early-morning and late-evening practices, dodging the rain from a tropical storm and everything else in-between, three of Beaufort County’s high school football teams got the chance to square off against some different competition on Thursday. Northside High School hosted Washington, Southside and four other high school teams in the lone football scrimmage before the start of the season on Aug. 23. The host Panthers saw action along with the Pam Pack, Seahawks, Gates County, Pamlico County and Manteo.

Each coach stressed how important the jamboree was for them, how they felt their players performed well and how they’ll use the experience to prepare for their season openers next week. Washington hosts Croatan while Northside travels to Camden County and Southside heads to North Duplin.

Here are three things that stood out from Thursday’s jamboree.

Let there be sun … and football

The jamboree was originally scheduled for Wednesday but was moved back a day because of – you guessed it – rainy conditions on Monday. When the teams took the field, it was a beautiful evening full of sun, fun and the many sounds of football.

“We had a great turnout,” Northside head coach Keith Boyd said. “… We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve been able to get outside at 7 o’clock in the morning. We’ve been able to bounce around and slop in the mud a bit.

“It is nice to be finally dry, cutting the lights on and play a little bit of football.”

Each team got 10 plays on offense and 10 on defense against their respective opponents. The play was relatively penalty free with players showcasing their talents on both sides of the ball.

Washington relied on its defense against Gates County as neither team scored, with the Pam Pack stopped short on its first drive. Northside’s offense scored three times against the Red Barons, including one via a nice pass from quarterback Chase Hewitt to Zi’mier Alexander. Southside had a rushing touchdown by Zaykwon Tuten against Washington and the Pam Pack got two rushing touchdowns against the Panthers, who also scored in that series.

Quarterback battles

Northside, Washington and Southside are each dealing with changes, especially at quarterback. While Northside’s Hewitt has varsity experience, Washington’s Evan Makepeace and Southside’s Ryan Lewis and Chance Haywood are learning on the fly. Southside head coach Jeff Carrow said his two sophomores would each see time calling plays. Washington coach Matt Taylor said he was happy with the play of Makepeace along with his team in general.

“Both young men played well tonight,” Carrow said of his two quarterbacks. “Everything is a learning process right now. To be able to step in and without taking many snaps last year, I’m very proud of all of them, not just the quarterbacks but all of them.”

It really counts now

Taylor, Carrow and Boyd each said they found out a lot about their teams and were hopeful Thursday’s jamboree would be good preparation for their season openers. Southside, Northside and Washington practiced again on Friday. Each coach said they’d break down what they saw in preparation for the season opener.

“I thought we got better as the day went on,” Taylor said of the Pam Pack. “We kind of worked out some kinks. These kids, they work hard for a long time to get to a moment like this. Really exciting to see that come to fruition. To be able to come out here and compete against somebody else, it was a lot of fun to watch. It’s encouraging.”