Eastside Football’s Comeback Falls Short

Eastside had undefeated Dunnellon in trouble Friday night at Citizens Field, but couldn’t hold the Tigers in the second half and fell 23-21.

Eastside’s opening drive couldn’t have been drawn up any better. The Rams started the game running a high-tempo offense.

Eastside (1-5) drew up a quick sideline pass, followed by a run for a first down. It took the Rams only one more play to reach the end zone.

Finding themselves on their own 40-yard line, quarterback Andrew Sutherland connected with Braeden Brockington, who took the pass 54 yards for a touchdown. The Rams forced Dunnellon (6-0) to attempt to convert a fourth-and-long on its first drive, but their defense proved resilient and got the ball back in the hands of the offense. 

The Rams went into half with a 7-0 lead. Both offenses picked up the pace in the next quarter.

Three minutes into the third quarter, Sutherland threw an interception to Dunnellon’s Tony Tanner, who returned it 30 yards to score and help the Tigers even the game at 7-all.

Eastside was held to another three-and-out before punting. The Tigers then moved to the Rams’ 20-yard line before having to settle for three points. 

Down 17-7, Eastside had a 91-yard touchdown pass to  Brockington to make it a 17-14 game.

Tanner again found the end zone for the Tigers, this time on a 47-yard rushing touchdown. A missed point-after kick left the Tigers with a 23–14 lead with two minutes left in the game.

The Rams quickly scored off a 50-yard touchdown pass to Malicah Williams to make it 23-21 with 30 seconds remaining.

Following back-to-back penalties, the Rams found themselves taking the onside kick from their own 20-yard line. Despite the setback, the ball got a good bounce and made it the full 10 yards.

But Eastside failed to recover.

Eastside coach Harold Hoskins emphasized the lack of a running game in the loss.

“We gotta be able to run the ball,” Hoskins said. “We had maybe like 40/50 rushing yards tonight. That has to change.”

Though taking no moral victories, Hoskins was proud of how his defense played against an undefeated team.

“Defense played great,” Hoskins said. “We gave up 14 points; number zero made a great play on the interception … we just have to execute better.”

Eastside will host another undefeated team Friday at 7:30 p.m. when they play Bradford (6-0).

Category: Eastside High School, High School Sports