Spring Creek returns home, faces senior-ladened Southside

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on September 18, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Spring Creek head football coach Aaron Sanders was impressed when he watched Southside during a preseason scrimmage.

The Seahawks played physical against every opponent, displayed their speed and moved well off the ball -- offensively and defensively. Sanders expected to see that from a mature, senior-heavy team.

He gets another close-up view tonight.

Spring Creek, after four consecutive weeks on the road, opens the home portion of its season against Southside. The Seahawks (4-0 overall) received votes in this week's Associated Press Class 1-A prep poll.

Kickoff is 7 p.m. at "The Swamp."

"They're a good football team," Sanders said. "We've told our guys that we're getting ready to step it up a level against the competition on our schedule. They may not truly understand until they see that size and speed coming at them.

"We're playing like a young football team. There's a lot of bright spots, but things we've got to fix not only to excel this year, but in the long run."

The Gators started 2-0 for the first time in program history. Since then, Sanders' club has experienced back-to-back losses to East Carteret and Wake Christian. Third-quarter turnovers proved critical against East, and the offense -- says Sanders -- never discovered a rhythm in a shutout loss to Wake.

Thus, the growing pains.

Sanders said the seniors have accepted their roles, while the younger players must continue to mature. Najee Young, Malik Sutton, Spencer Jameson and Scott Edmondson -- who is finally healthy -- have been solid on defense.

Offensively, the Gators have athletes who can make plays when they get a good block from an inexperienced line that continues to improve on a daily basis. Jamal Davis has emerged as the team's top rusher with 109 hard-earned yards.

Jessie Casper ranks third among the county's passers with 485 yards and four touchdowns. Edmondson has thrown for 167 yards and one TD. The primary targets have been Young (106 yards, one TD) and Jamerion Dawson (255 yards, one TD).

"Offensively, we're going to have to be creative with some matchups," Sanders said. "Defensively, we have to play assignment football. The wing-T is all about misdirection and deception, so you have to take care of your job."

Southside scores 32 points a game and gives up nearly 16 on defense.

The Seahawks have won both meetings against the Gators and are 12-15 all-time against Carolina 1-A Conference teams since the school's inception in 1999.