The Eagles avoided a possible letdown after their emotional victory over Lowndes last week by defeating the Coffee Co. Trojans by a score of 35-3 in a very workmanlike fashion. Northside’s offense exhibited their balance by rushing for 201 yards and passing for another 132 yards. The Eagle defense held the Trojans to a single field goal, and the special teams unit also got into the act when senior Brison Williams returned a punt 71 yards for a touchdown with only 10 seconds left before halftime.
In the first quarter, Briar Van Brunt capped a 9-play / 62 yard drive by running in for a TD from one yard out. Senior Devon Pike returned to action after breaking his arm just 2 weeks ago with a large cast in tow and drilled the first of 4 PATs on the night. Shaquille O’Neill ran in from 8 yards out on the sixth play of a 61 yard drive with 36 seconds left in the opening period. Pike’s PAT made the score 14-0 heading into the second quarter. Midway through the second period, Coffee got on the board with a 34 yard FG. The Coffee defense also began to slow down Northside and forced two punts. Coffee had the ball late in the second quarter and failed to convert on third down. The Eagles called for a timeout to force the Trojans to run another play, and they took advantage of the extra possession. Williams grabbed the punt on the Northside 29 yard line and sprinted to his own sideline and leaped over one diving tackler around the forty and then tight roped all the way down the sideline to score with 10 seconds left before halftime. Pike’s PAT made the score 21-3 at the break.
In the second half, O’Neill added two more rushing touchdowns of 11 and 1 yards respectively. Pike and Dillon Mixon added the PATs for a final score of 35-3. The Eagle coaches cleared the benches in the fourth quarter as practically every dressed out Eagle got on the field. Homecoming for Northside will be next Saturday against Grovetown with an early kickoff of 6:00 pm.