Southside routs Pamlico County to win Fossil Bowl
Published 12:19 am Saturday, November 5, 2016
BAYBORO — Southside scored thrice in the first quarter, and never looked back in its 66-12 rout of Pamlico County in the 2016 Fossil Bowl. Brandon Sullivan spearheaded the effort with four touchdowns for the Seahawks. Six others hit pay dirt, too.
With the win, Southside finishes the season 7-4 and 3-2 in the 1-A Coastal Plains Conference. The Seahawks now find themselves in a three-way tie for second place, along with Northside and Jones Senior.
“Good momentum right there. We finished off the season with two solid wins,” Seahawks coach Jeff Carrow said. “We’re coming together as a team. That’s what we’ve been focusing on the past few weeks — being a family, coming together as a team, and trying to make a push for the playoffs.”
The Hurricanes went for an unsuccessful onside kick on the opening kickoff. After missing last week’s game due to injury, Zikijah Crawford quickly reintroduced himself when he took the handoff at the Pamlico 31-yard line. He erupted along the left sideline, but fumbled the ball into the end zone, where Demetrius Ebron recovered it for a touchdown.
Pamlico fumbled the ball away on its first play from scrimmage, and Crawford carried the Seahawks into the red zone on the next play. Sullivan punched in his first touchdown from 6 yards out, giving Southside a 12-0 advantage with 7:14 left in the first.
Kyle Hill scored what stood as the game-winning touchdown with 1:36 to go in the first. He broke a tackle to pick up 40 yards, and then scored on an 8-yard run.
The Seahawks continued to run at will. Trajan Rhome bullied his way through an entire group of Hurricanes defenders, picking up 40 yards to set up a 2-yard score two plays later.
The Seahawks recovered an onside kick, and Crawford scampered 16 yards for another touchdown shortly thereafter. It pushed Southside’s lead to 33-0 not even four minutes into the second period.
The Hurricanes got on the board before halftime. George Hill struck Lamont Murray for a 25-yard touchdown to put a dent in their deficit. Sullivan quickly answered for the Seahawks, and Murray took the ensuing kickoff 83 yards to the house.
“It was more, not necessarily onside kicks, but kicking it away from (Murray),” Carrow said of Southside’s successful onside kicks. “He’s a heck of a ball player. That’s all I’ve got to say. When we did kick it to him, he ran it back.”
Hill nearly answered with a kickoff return for a touchdown of his own, but it was called back for a questionable unsportsmanlike penalty. The Seahawks got the ball in the end zone anyways. Marshall Medlock’s pass was tipped in the end zone, and Kevin White snared it for a 15-yard score.
Sullivan scored twice in the third quarter, and the clock started running with 5:11 left in the period. Raquelle Johnson capped off the scoring with a short touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
“(Sullivan) is a power back right there,” Carrow said. “I got on him a little bit at halftime about tiptoeing a little bit on the goal line. He should have gotten in on a couple of 2-point conversions. He answered the call. He had a great second half, ran the ball hard. We’re extremely proud of him.”
Sullivan had a game-high 124 rushing yards. Hill also eclipsed the 100-yard mark.