Eastside's DE - Karl "The Beast" Williams and DE-Jacorey Maddox.

Who would have thought the Eastside Eagles (5-0 overall, 2-0 Region-8-AAA) would start the season with a solid undefeated record of 5-0?

Well, I knew what kind of team the Eagles were capable of being. If you didn’t know, you had better ask somebody.

You can start with the Stephens County Indians (3-2 overall, 1-1 Region-8-AAA) who found out who the Eagles are when they came into Covington, GA and left with their feathers twisted in a 38-14 defeat at the hands of the Eagles.

Eastside won the toss and started their first possession at their own 25-yard line Broderick Alexander ran for 11 yards and a first down to get things started. Git Aiken ran for 19 yards and and another first down taking the ball to the Indian 35.

When it looked as though the Eagles were about to go on a scoring drive early in the first period, the Indian defense stopped them cold in their tracks at the 35 to thwart the scoring threat. The Eagles were forced to punt. The ball rolled dead at the Indian 24.

Stephens County moved the ball down to the Eastside 18-yard line in two minutes on the legs of running back Ren Teasley. Teasley picked up another 10 yards to the Eastside eight before going into the end zone on an eight-yard burst. Josh Gailer’s PAT was true and the Indians led 7-0 with 4:56 left in the first.

Eastside's Broderick "Bulldozer" Alexander.

Eagles start their second possession from their own 27 Eagle quarterback Justin Wray hit tight end Tradarious Maddox for 64 yards and a first down at the Indian 11.

The Indians stopped the Eagles from crossing the goal line, but place kicker Yanrick Tinker put the Eagles on the scoreboard with a 21-yard field goal to make the score 7-3 with 56 seconds remaining in the period.

Stephens County moved the ball to the Eagle 20 as the clock ran out in the first period with Eastside behind 7-3.

Stephens County started the second period with possession at the Eagle 27.

On the first play of the period, defensive lineman Jerrell Crowder put a hit on Teasley in the backfield separating him from the ball, then falling on it at the 20 for the Eagles.

Aiken turned the corner picking up 12 yards for a first down before Wray started to pick the Indians defense apart spotting Alexander coming out of the backfield to connect for a first down toss to the Indian 34, then finding Antarius Terrell for 11 yards to the Stephen County 24 before calling his own number to score the touchdown from 24 yards out. Tinker’s kick was good giving the Eagles their first lead of the game by the score of 10-7 with 5:57 remaining in the half.

Wray continued to ostracize the Indian secondary connecting with Terrell for 44 yards, but the Eagles couldn’t punch it in for the score giving the ball over to Stephens. Stephens quarterback; Dacen Cash found wide receiver Jaquan Trammell in the back of the end zone for the score to give the Indians a 14-10 lead.

The Eagles went down field in a hurry taking the ball to the Indian 14 on the legs of Aiken who later went into the end zone. Tinker’s PAT was good and Eastside regained the lead 14-10 with 3:16 remaining in the first half.

Stephens County started a drive from their own 20 that ended at the Eagle 48 when defensive end Karl Williams rushed the Indian offensive front to get a sack on the quarterback forcing a punting situation for the Indians as time was running out in the half.

The punt rolled dead at the Eagle 33. The Eagles moved the ball down to the Indian 15 with Alexander picking up tough long yardage before the Eagles had to settle for 30-yard Tinker field goal as time ran out to take a 17-14 lead to the locker room at intermission.

Teasley had a rough day!

The Eastside defense found a way to put a stop to the Indian’s running game in the second half.

The Eagles went on a 40-yard scoring drive after recovering an Indian fumble at the Eastside 40.

Wray called his number on a quarterback keeper for a 38-yard scamper to the Indian one-yard line before Alexander took it the last yard for the score to make it 24-14 with nine minutes remaining in the third period.

The Eagles’ defense didn’t let up with defensive end Jacorey Maddox getting a sack on the quarterback to take Stephens out of the game offensively.

The Eagles offense was still clicking on all cylinders with Wray connecting with Andrico Bailey for a 33-yard score to extend their lead to 31-14 after the Tinker PAT with time running out in the third period.

Stephens County was unsuccessful in moving the ball against an Eagle defense in the fourth period led by Hunter Parker and a host of Eagle defenders.

However, that wasn’t the case for the Eagle offense as Aiken continued his running dominance on the Indian’s defense going in from 15 yards out for a touchdown to make the score 38-14 with 7:42 remaining in the fourth.

Both teams traded possessions before Stephens County made a last-ditch effort to try and get within striking distance of Eastside.

The Eagles stopped a Stephens County drive when Kevis Bell picked off a Cash pass at the 29 as time ran out to give Stephens County their first region loss in four years.