By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
CHOCOWINITY — The Seahawks’ resurrection continued on Friday as they ground out a 23-6 win over Creswell in their home opener.
Southside quarterback Terril Moore scored on touchdown runs of 2 and 3 yards, while an opportunistic defense helped supply nine points as it kept the Creswell running backs in check for most of the game.
Southside (2-0, Four Rivers) got on the board first after it received a punt at the Creswell 39-yard line and proceeded to march down field behind the efforts of running backs Brandon Jordan, Julien Brown, and Marcus O’Neil.
The drive appeared over when the Seahawks threw an interception in the end zone on fourth down, however, the Tigers’ fumbled the pick and handed it right back to Southside at the 2-yard line setting up Moore for his first TD.
Creswell (0-2, Tideland) countered in the second quarter when a number of Southside penalties extended its march down field allowing them to overcome third-and-long situations.
The Tigers faced third-and-25 from midfield and appeared to be running out of luck when a screen pass to running back Timelle Sawyer looked as if it was sniffed out. However, Southside failed to make the first tackle, and Sawyer juked, then sprinted 42 yards down the field for a TD.
After Creswell’s two-point conversion failed the score was 8-6 Southside. It would remain that way until the third quarter when Moore scored his second TD on a 3-yard scamper to take a 14-6 advantage.
The Southside defense kept Creswell in check for the rest of the game, holding the Tigers to roughly 50 rushing yards and 95 passing yards.
Midway through the fourth quarter the Tigers desperation was seen to all when one of their running backs was stuffed behind the line of scrimmage and tried to force a big play by attempting to lateral the football to a teammate as he was being tackled. The attempt was broken up by Penders who recovered the ball and ran 54 yard for a touchdown and a 21-6 lead.
Southside would score its final points when it registered a safety with less then 10 seconds left in the game.
Southside played well in the first and final quarters, and Southside coach DeWayne Kellum said after the game that he needs consistency from his players.
“Whenever we learn to play four quarters the way we played the first and fourth, we’ll be a good darn ball club,” Kellum said. “We have a lot of seniors, but we are playing like we’re sophomores, but I really like the fact that we are coming up tackling. We’re still not clicking on offense all the time, but a win is a win.”
Creswell 0 6 0 0 — 6
Southside 8 0 6 9 — 23
Scoring summary
S — Terril Moore 2 run (Brandon Jordan two points), 6:46, 1st.
C — Timelle Sawyer 42 pass from Danvonta Phelps (two points failed ( , 5:12 2nd.
S — Moore 3 run (two points failed), 7:12, 3rd
S — Johnnie Penders 54 fumble recovery (Mike Woolard kick), 6:20, 4th
S — Safety, :06, 4th.