In his first season at the helm, Lejeune head coach Darryl Schwartz entered October with a 6-1 record incited by a 5-foot-6, 141-pound running back in Jamaz Richardson, who would go on to notch 2,358-yards, 25 touchdowns and a partial athletic scholarship to Lackawanna College.

It was quality football reincarnated in Jacksonville. The Devil Pups fought their way to the final four of the Class 1-A State Playoffs last season, only to fall to the eventual state runner-up, Plymouth, making its second-consecutive championship appearance.

At the Coastal Plains media day back in August, Schwartz confidently spoke of his intact defensive line and dynamic quarterback duo, both of which he felt would return the Devil Pups to the promise land. But so far, the team many thought could potentially return to the final four is off to a disastrous start, posting a 0-5 record and scoring a mundane 12 points in five contests.

In the team’s second game on the road at Spring Creek, the Devil Pups’ offense was silenced by the Gators’ undersized front seven in what initially appeared to be a monumental upset.

On Friday, the Southside Seahawks’ wing-T offense matched up against that same Gators defense, while Pamlico County took on its fourth Class 2-A opponent to date in Ayden-Grifton.

Firing on all cylinders, Lawrence Brown, Matt Baxter, Donshea Miller, Dylan Lewis and Donald Moore operated as a unit and all contributed to a 36-point blowout of the Gators at home. While the Seahawks were locking up their third win in dominant fashion, Pamlico County was putting the finishing touches on an unlikely shutout of the Charges in Ayden.

Both wins foreshadow a probable changing of the guard in the Coastal Plains Conference. Based on the first month of football, the Seahawks and Hurricanes have assumed the role of favorites to win the Coastal Plains Conference, while Northside and East Carteret scramble to fix mistakes in hopes of keeping pace defensively.

With one nonconference game remaining (at South Creek) for Southside before conference play begins, head coach Jeff Carrow is taking nothing for granted, especially after finishing 3-9 last season.

“We need to play with full intensity,” Carrow said. “Our next goal it to get healthy … we’re a little banged up. We’re looking ahead to South Creek, then we’ll worry about the conference.”

While the forecast is favorable for Southside, the team still has areas of concern. A medley of false start and holding penalties has stunted drives throughout the season. At times, after taking one stop forward, the offense finds itself taking two steps back.

During Friday’s game versus South Creek, double-digit penalties in the first quarter made for a long 12 minutes and contributed to a slow start for Carrow’s offense. Once the offensive line started working in unison, the points came in bunches.

Ball security is another area that has hurt Southside, especially in its two losses to North Duplin and Riverside. Against the Knights in Williamston, the Seahawks fumbled the ball on the first play of the first drive, setting the tone for the rest of the game and giving head coach Asim McGill’s offense too many opportunities to capitalize.

Look for the Seahawks to use the bye week as an opportunity to continue working on form tackling, which has been a foundation for most of the team’s defensive practices this season, while addressing a marginal lack of ball security and influx of penalties.

The next two weeks is a crucial period for Pamlico County and Southside, as both teams look to fix major and minor problems before Coastal Plains Conference play, which begins Oct. 10.