Eastside Clinches District Title In Thriller Against South Sumter
On a cold, rainy night at Citizens Field, the Eastside Rams appeared dead in the water going into intermission down 13-0. Heroic play from sophomore running back Javaris Gardner and senior quarterback Nelson Tambling gave the Rams the spark they needed to pull through and beat the South Sumter Raiders, 27-21, in an overtime thriller to clinch the 3A-District 5 title Friday.
Gardner was the catalyst for Eastside (5-2) by rushing for 148 yards with more than 200 all-purpose yards against the team from Bushnell (5-2), while dealing with a lower body injury throughout the game.
Eastside vs. South Sumter
— Jisel Nuevo (@JiselNuevo) October 13, 2025
With 1:35 left in the 3rd, sophomore Javaris Gardner flipped the script, taking a Nelson Tambling pass nearly 60 yards into the red zone. That set up the TD that swung Eastside from 7–13 down to a 14–13 lead. A game-changing moment. pic.twitter.com/avg2w9fw7F
“We came out here and did our job, the [offensive] line did their job, I did my job; and we won districts,” Gardner said of the Rams winning the title for the third time in four years.
The Raiders started the game hot by driving down the field until the Eastside defense came up big and pulled off a fourth-down stop on its own 27-yard line. However, the Rams couldn’t capitalize and missed a field goal in their first drive after Gardner powered down the field.
Both teams traded unsuccessful drives until South Sumter found the end zone with 1:50 left in the half and a botched attempt by the Rams of recovering a pooch kick allowed the Raiders to get the ball back on the 29-yard line and score a touchdown for a 13-0 halftime lead.
Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins never gave up on his guys and made them know that this game was all in their hands.
“I put ownership on the guys, we’ve been here and if they want it, they will get it,” Hoskins said.
Eastside proved to be the team that wanted it more in the second half. Gardner returned the opening kickoff to the South Sumter 31-yard line before the Rams capitalized with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Tambling to Kaleb McKinnon.
With the offense firing on all cylinders, the defense showed up and forced three consecutive three-and-outs.
Gardner continued his electric play and rushed for a 66-yard gain before scoring from the 1-yard line to give Eastside the lead after making the extra point.
South Sumter did not get its offense going, which allowed Tambling to rush it in to make it an eight-point game with four minutes left in the game.
South Sumter, with its back against the wall, drove 80 yards to tie the game in the final seconds.
In overtime, the Eastside defense held the Raiders to a field-goal attempt. South Sumter went on to make a mistake on the snap and was not able to get the attempt off.
Tambling and the Rams took advantage on offense. On fourth down, on the 1-yard line, Hoskins put his faith in his quarterback and a QB sneak gave Eastside the district title. It was Tambling’s third score of the game.
In a rain-soaked thriller vs South Sumter, Eastside pushed it to OT. On 4th-and-goal at the 1, QB Nelson Tambling powered in the game-winning TD—delivering the district title on homecoming night. pic.twitter.com/nJYo6ixnUQ
— Jisel Nuevo (@JiselNuevo) October 13, 2025
Eastside earned its fourth consecutive playoff berth. With just three games left in the regular season, the Rams travel to Jacksonville to play the Sandalwood Saints (0-8) at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Category: Eastside High School, Football, Gainesville, High School Sports
