FAIRBURN, Ga. — Creekside proved too much for the Eagles to handle in the Elite Eight as the Seminoles defeated Eastside 26-0 Friday night.

The two teams matchup in the third round after back-to-back wins to begin the Class AAAA playoffs.

Costly turnover sets Eagles back early 

When the game began, what looked to be a promising drive for the Eagles sputtered once they got into Creekside territory.

A handoff went awry, leading to a fumble in the backfield that was recovered by the Seminoles. However, the turnover led to no points.

The first points of the night came on the Seminoles’ first drive of the second quarter. 

On a third down, quarterback Cayden Benson connected with star receiver Dylan Vickerson for a long 63-yard touchdown pass.

Later in the half, Creekside made it a two score game.

Eastside quarterback Payton Shaw threw a pass that was tipped and intercepted by Sean Williams deep into Eagles’ territory.

This led to an 18-yard touchdown from Benson to Vickerson. Following the blocked extra point, Creekside went into halftime with a 13-0 lead.

Offensively, Eastside had long drives that pushed deep into Seminoles territory. However, the Eagles left empty-handed each time.

A pair of drives ended on missed field goals from 30 and 34 yards out, respectively.

First drive of second half sets tone for Seminole’s win

The Seminoles capped off the first half with a touchdown, and the momentum carried over as Creekside mounted a long scoring drive to begin the second half.

Creekside dinked and dunked their way downfield before scoring on a seven-yard rush from Benson to extend the lead over the Eagles to 19-0.

For head coach Jay Cawthon, he credited the loss to the Eagles not finding their footing offensively along with the challenges of facing a dual threat player such as Benson.

“We knew that going in, I thought our defense played well,” Cawthon said. “We gave up two big passes in the first half, we had two turnovers. We haven’t turned the ball over all year, we just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”

For the Eagles, they just could not capture success on the offensive end.

On Eastside’s first offensive play of the third quarter, Shaw threw his second touchdown of the game to Williams, who took it into Seminoles’ territory.

The Eagles did not get another chance to establish a scoring drive for the remainder of the contest as Creekside’s pass rush continued to mount pressure.

In the final quarter, the Seminoles added a goal line touchdown to make it a 26-0 win for Creekside.

Eagles reflect on loss

The loss drops Eastside out of the Class AAAA playoffs as it ends the year with a 11-2 record.

“I can’t be more proud of the leadership,” Cawthon said. “We did some special things this year. We just ran into a buzz saw tonight night and we didn’t help them out.”

The final Friday night

The Elite Eight contest was the final game under the Friday night lights for a few Eagles.

Players such as Jayden Barr, Christian Gass, Bailey Benson and Marion Eubanks played their final downs in an Eastside uniform.

Following the game, Cawthon spoke to the kind of legacy this senior class will leave behind

“[They left] a legacy of playing our standard of football,” Cawthon said. “We have a culture here and they represent that culture to the fullest. That’s what we challenge every single class — to carry on that legacy from the previous senior classes.”