Update: Defense, Chris Johnson’s Big Night Power Buchholz Past Eastside
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect new information.
Eastside quarterback Nelson Tambling had been looking forward to Friday’s game since last year. The fans were ready too — as both fanbases collaborated to fill Citizens Field with a whiteout and a blackout. Buchholz Bobcats’ fans wore white while Eastside Rams’ wore black as they fought in a scrappy rivalry game.
“As a competitor that has fought against them and bled for everything here,” the senior said. “Coming off a broken leg, I fought all through rehab thinking — I get to play Buchholz this year. I want to play in that game.”
For Tambling’s Rams, they ended up on the losing side against the Bobcats, 29-19. Buchholz’s record advances to 2-1 while Eastside’s record falls to 2-1. The Bobcats maintained their winning streak against the Rams, extending it to 12 straight wins.
Both teams traded punts before Buchholz would take advantage of one of Eastside’s special teams miscues. Tambling, who is also the team’s long snapper, hicked the ball too short to punter Antonio Cortez. The costly mistake led to a Andrew Whittemore rushing touchdown on a drive starting deep in Rams territory.
A few drives later, the issue would come again from Tambling’s snap. However, this time the snap was too high for Cortez and sailed into the back of the end zone to give Buchholz an 8-0 lead in the first quarter.
Eastside responded on its next possession with Tambling making up for his mistakes. He drove the Rams down the field on a methodical drive down the field using his wheels to get his crew down the field. He cashed in a touchdown on a read option play to ignite the Eastside crowd and put the game within one point.
The game remained slow with both defenses being on display — until the Bobcats defense came up big. Evan Amar picked off Tambling and took it to the house with just over 3:30 left in the second quarter.
On the next drive, Tambling looked unphased and made up for his mistake. He found senior wide receiver Marcus Coefield for a 60-yard touchdown to cut the Buchholz lead to two (15-13) before halftime.
With 2:02 left in the 2nd quarter, Marcus Coefield scores on a 60-yard touchdown following a roughing the punter penalty. pic.twitter.com/yTij1fmi9i
— Jisel Nuevo (@JiselNuevo) September 6, 2025
“(Tambling) knew he messed up,” Eastside quarterbacks coach Danny Zwilling said. “He knows he has to own that. It was on no one else, and he’s mature enough. That’s why using a change from him last year when he played to this year is that maturity. He’s grown up.”
Buchholz’s main offensive strategy was to run the ball and that it did — turning the second half into the Chris Johnson show. In that second half, the senior running back had 76 yards just in the third quarter — 200 total yards in the game — including a touchdown to extend the Bobcats’ lead to 22-13.
The fourth quarter brought the same — more of the Johnson show with Eastside’s offense struggling against the Buchholz defense. With time winding down in the fourth quarter, Whittemore found fullback Andrew DeFusco for an insurance touchdown for a 29-13 lead.
With 2:42 remaining in the 4th quarter, Buchholz finds the end zone and adds the extra point to make it 29–13 over Eastside. pic.twitter.com/OfOblTIslX
— Jisel Nuevo (@JiselNuevo) September 6, 2025
Before the game ended, Tambling and Coefield connected again on a 54-yard touchdown to put the game away.
The Rams kept Florida commit Justin Williams under control. Last week when Buchholz played Vero Beach, he had 141 total yards. This week was different with the Rams defense limiting the playmaker to seven yards of offense.
“They kind of figured me out after last week, but that helped open up opportunities for other players,” Williams said.
Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins said his team will carry the level of intensity it played with for the rest of the season.
“The same way that we wanted to go out and beat Buchholz is the same way we want to go out and beat everybody else,” Hoskins said. “We will bring that intensity that we had out there on defense and bring it out there next week.”
Both teams will take a road trip next. The Rams travel to Ocala to play Trinity Catholic (2-0), while the Bobcats go south to Bradenton to take on Manatee (1-2).
Category: Buchholz High School, Eastside High School, High School Sports
