Only one Beaufort County team came away victorious on Friday night, and it was a big one for the Southside Seahawks. They overcame a halftime deficit to defeat Riverside, 22-20, and kept their playoff hopes alive. The Pam Pack’s comeback bid fell inches shy after being stuffed at the goal line on fourth down, and the Panthers in Pinetown had their hands full with a really talented Tarboro team.

The Southside defense made some great halftime adjustments according to head coach Jeff Carrow. They held the Knights to eight, second half points that came with 25 seconds remaining.

Jamari Nelson scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter on a 3rd and seven. He took a jet sweep to the edge and galloped in for the score. Davion Carter scored the 4th quarter touchdown late in the game to salt the game away.

The Pam Pack’s fourth quarter wasn’t enough to overcome the 20-0 hole they dug themselves into on Friday night, despite a stellar defensive performance from many of the Washington players.

Walt Gerard had a couple tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter on Friday night that swung the momentum in the Pam Pack’s favor. Hayden Anderson had 12 tackles, Mykell Warren had 10, and he punched in a 6-yard touchdown run that cut the West Craven lead to six points in the fourth quarter.

Ridge Zerniak booted a perfect onside kick that dribbled through the legs of an Eagle, and the Pam Pack recovered.

Antwone Godley’s escapability was a factor the entire game, picking up a couple of third, fourth and longs throughout the game, and a big one in the fourth quarter to put his team in position to score. Godley now has 970 yards rushing, the most in the entire state of 2A football for a quarterback, sixth for the state as a whole.

Sophomore running back Terry Moore is the conference’s leading rusher with 1,057 yards, 18th in 2A football. Jaden Hambric is the third leading rusher in the Eastern Carolina 2A Conference with 832 yards.

The Pam Pack offense has been breaking records for the past few seasons, this year not being any different.

They average 376 yards per game, which is a school record through 10 games. If the Pam Pack scores 45 points on Friday night against Greene Central, they will break a school record of 32 points per game in the regular season.

Washington has an opportunity to be co-champions of the 2A ECC, but will not get the number one seed over West Craven. The Pam Pack will likely still host through two rounds, but the road is a bit tougher with the loss on Friday night.

The Pinetown-Panthers had a tough time with Tarboro. However, senior defensive back Ben Ridgewell forced a fumble that Clark O’Neal recovered.

Northside will travel to Southside on Friday night for the Anchor Bowl, a game in which both teams need a win for playoff seeding. If the Panthers win, they will likely host a first-round and possible second round playoff game. If the Seahawks win, they will lock up an at-large playoff bid and likely have to travel. A loss for either one of these teams on Friday doesn’t keep them out of the playoffs, but will likely force them to travel to a high-seeded opponent.