Selma High wins Queen City Classic, clobbering rival Southside 58-0, photo gallery

Selma High School claimed the Queen City Classic in dominant fashion Thursday night, shutting out rival Southside High 58-0 on the Panthers’ home field.

The annual rivalry carried extra intensity this year after longtime Southside coach Charles Moody left the program last spring to take over at rival Selma High. Several talented Southside players followed him to Selma, including quarterback Kole Moody and four-star wide receiver Cedrick Simmons.

The Saints dominated the first half, delivering one big play after another on the way to a 58-0 halftime lead.

Southside, playing its first game of the season, had few opportunities to get its offense going and struggled to pick up first downs. The Panthers’ defense provided an early spark with an interception in the first quarter just as Selma appeared to be gaining momentum. However, Southside’s offense went three-and-out and quickly returned the ball to the Saints.

Mistakes also proved costly for the Panthers, including bad snaps and a short punt that Selma ran into the endzone for a touchdown.

Southside’s new head coach, Josh Thacker, said after the game that his players have been “very resilient” following the coaching change and have responded well to the transition.

“These are tough guys and they worked hard all summer,” Thacker said.

Thacker said the Panthers were “really positive coming into this game,” and the coaching staff had prepared two plans for facing a bigger and more experienced Selma team. But substitution issues and players dealing with cramps created problems early that proved difficult to overcome.

“Selma High is explosive, so we were trying to play catchup and absolutely never got there,” Thacker said.

Thacker said Southside’s players and coaches will “go back to the drawing board” as they prepare to face Greensboro next week.

For Selma, Thursday’s victory improved the Saints to 2-0 after opening the season with a 62-0 shutout of G.W. Carver.

After the game, Moody said the Saints will focus on playing “clean football” as they prepare to face Holt next week.

Selma High School Saints won the Queen City Classic Thursday night in a shutout 58-0 at Southside’s field.

The annual rivalry was more heated this year after Southside’s longtime coach Charles Moody left last spring to coach rival Selma High and took several talented players with him, including the quarterback and a four-star wide receiver.

Selma dominated Southside the first half with big play after big play resulting in a 58-0 lead going into halftime.

Southside, in their first game of the season, had few offensive opportunities as they struggled to get a first down. The Panthers’ defense came up with an interception in the first quarter just as the Saints were gaining momentum. However, the offense turned the ball back after a three-and-out.

Panter mistakes such as bad snaps and a short-yard punt proved costly for the Panthers.

Southside’s new coach Josh Thacker said after the game that the Southside players have been “very resilient” after the coaching change and have responded well to their new coach.

“These are tough guys and they worked hard all summer,” Thacker said.

Tacker said they were “really positive coming into this game” and the coaching staff had two plans to use against a bigger, more experienced Selma team, but he said substitution problems and cramps impacted the results early on that were hard to come back from.

“Selma High is explosive so we were trying to play catchup and absolutely never got there,” Thacker said.

Southside players and coaches will “go back to the drawing board” and prepare to play Greensboro next week.

After the game, which was the second this season for Selma, Coach Moody said the Saints will work on playing “clean football” as they get ready for Holt next week.