CHOCOWINITY — Battling temperatures well below freezing, Southside braved the elements and came through with a 56-40 win over North Edgecombe in the second round of the Class 1-A state tournament.

The win sets the stage for a marquee area matchup between the Seahawks and Plymouth Vikings in the third round. Plymouth, the No. 1 seed in the East grouping of the bracket, routed North Duplin, 48-0, and will play host to the Seahawks next week.

As advertised, Friday night’s game featured two high-powered offenses, each carried by their deep rotation of backs. But a game-high 222-yard, five-touchdown performance by Warriors’ junior Antwoin Pittman’s was not enough to match head coach Jeff Carrow’s trio of playmakers — Donshae Miller, Lawrence Brown and Matt Baxter.

“We knew coming in it was going to be a battle,” Carrow said. “Both teams had great offenses and coach Parisher does a great job with his guys. They’re a power team and we knew we’d have to buckle down and make plays when we had to. We did that in the second half and were able to keep drives going.”

A slew of offsides and encroachment penalties plagued North Edgecombe through all 48 minutes, from the first drive to the last. To start, Miller followed a 10-yard draw play by up-and-coming freshman Brandon Sullivan with two big runs, the last being a 23-yard bootleg down the sideline for a touchdown.

On the ensuing drive, Pittman, quarterback Jacoby Bullock and fullback Marquez Adkins led a charge up field to the goal line, where Pittman answered and knotted the game at six, the closest North Edgecombe would come to securing the lead.

A six-yard touchdown run from Brown gave Southside a 14-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter presented an onslaught of scoring from both sides, as blown assignments and a lack of form tackling resulted in 40 total points in 12 minutes. Pittman found the end zone three times in the quarter, while two short-yardage runs from Miller and a 32-yard sprint from Baxter accounted for the Seahawks scoring.

“Matt (Baxter) stepped up again this week,” Carrow said. “I have to give credit to my offensive line. They’ve been battling all year long and haven’t gotten much credit for it. We’ve got big time backs with big yardage this year and it’s because of that offensive line right there.”

At the half, defensive coordinator Andrea Quinerly reunited his front seven, one that held North Edgecombe to just two scores through the final 24 minutes.

The Seahawks forced a turnover on downs to open the third quarter, as Baxter switched sides and gave his team its larges lead of the contest with another short touchdown run through the heart of the Warrior’s defense.

But on the proceeding kickoff, senior Jarius Collins kept his team’s playoff hopes alive with a dynamic 73-yard return, bringing the score to 44-32 at the end of the third.

But again, Southside continued to play gritty ground-and-pound football against a much larger opponent. Baxter scored 1:30 into the fourth quarter and after forcing a turnover on downs, scored again on a 12-yard run up the gut.

On the final drive of the night for North Edgecombe, a 40-yard run from Pittman would later result in another touchdown, his fifth, but the Seahawks were able to run out the clock.

“It’s just a big win for us,” Carrow said. “We’ll take the victories no matter how we get them. We have to play a little bit better next week, as little bit better defensively. We have to take advantage of our two-point conversions.”

For Southside, Baxter finished with 212 yards and three touchdowns on 14 carries, while Brown notched 160 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Not to be outdone, Miller led his team in scoring with four touchdowns and 130-yards rushing.