Eastside Football Sees Streak Against Gainesville High Snapped

Although each team came into Friday night’s game with identical 1-3 records, this contest meant more than the final score could say. 

In the rivalry game at Citizens Field, there were tense moments not only on the field, but also in the student section, where they chanted back and forth, “We can’t hear you.”

Gainesville ended Eastside’s four-game winning streak in the series with a 24-10 win.

Eastside (1-4) came out guns blazing, posting its best opening drive of the season, with running back Braeden Brockington punching it in from three yards out to give Eastside a 7-0 lead just 4:37 into the game.   

Eastside went into its bag of tricks right after that score by going for an onside kick, but did not recover.

After the opening drive, Eastside was not able to put anything together for much of the rest of the night against the Hurricanes (2-3), who were playing under the direction of defensive coordinator Ray Smith after coach Ashour Peera was placed on administrative leave by Alachua County Public Schools on Thursday.

The Rams got on the board again with 11 seconds left in the first half with a field goal to give themselves a 10-6 lead going into halftime.

Penalties proved to be a point of struggle for the Rams. Eastside drew multiple holding and block-in-the-back calls in the third quarter to take two scores off the board.

Meanwhile, Hurricanes junior quarterback Josh McClellan found the end zone on a pass in the second quarter and a 3-yard run in the third quarter that put GHS up 12-10.

“We got to become more physical,” Rams coach Harold Hoskins said. “Right now we are a soft football team. We got to execute and go back to the drawing board.”

The Rams were shut out in the second half. 

Similarly, Eastside’s defense began to lose its grip on Gainesville, letting the Hurricanes score 18 points in the second half. The TDs were a rare sight for an Eastside team that hadn’t let Gainesville score on its defense since 2021.

The Rams next host Dunnellon (5-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. 

Category: Eastside High School, Gainesville High School, High School Sports