CHOCOWINITY — The preseason is all about progress and after scrimmaging against North Pitt, East Carteret and Northside earlier in the week, Southside coach DeWayne Kellum felt his team was taking steps in the right direction.
“I thought they put forth a real good effort at the scrimmage,” Kellum said. “We weren’t always consistent and sometimes didn’t execute well, but even with that we moved the ball pretty well and scored some touchdowns. We could have had a bunch more if not for some miscues.
“Defensively, we were real tentative in the beginning but we got better as the scrimmage went on. “
The Seahawks, who finished 7-6 last season, made the move to a 4-4 defense this year because Kellum felt the scheme best fit his personnel and would hold up against the run and the spread. The development of that defense took a hit when Southside lost some key players on its roster, however, Kellum said he will not change the scheme.
“(Going to a 4-4) might have been a mistake on my part because there were three guys we built that defense around and two of them didn’t show up to camp and one broke his ankle,” Kellum said. “We’re struggling with it right now but we can only get better. It’s going to be work in progress but if we keep improving I’ll be happy.”
Someone who has showed steady improvement this summer is speedy sophomore RB/WR Donshae Miller, who wowed in the team’s scrimmage along with junior wingback Darrius Whitley.
“Darius has worked real hard and Donshae had an outstanding scrimmage,” Kellum said. “He ran a jet sweep for a touchdown, ran the counter for a touchdown and threw a pass off the jet sweep for a touchdown.”
Rising stars Whitley and Miller should add punch to a backfield that already boasts proven rushers Johnnie Pender and Rokeem Miller and figures to be the strength of the team.
The Seahawks will look to get the same type of production from Miller and the rest of the rushers on Friday when they play their season opener on the road against North Pitt.