COVINGTON, Ga. — The Eastside Eagles scored 31 points in the first half. That was all they needed to walk away from Friday’s contest against the Alcovy Tigers with a 31-0 win. 

Running back duo Jayden Barr and Anquez Cobb combined to score 28 of the points to assist their team in the victory. But it was the final score from Cobb that helped seal the deal. 

On a play that looked to have been blown up immediately, Cobb evaded two Alcovy defenders in the backfield. He broke away and raced  down the sideline for a 60-yard touchdown run. 

Cobb’s second score  of the game gave Eastside its definitive 31-0 lead.

“We played hard. The thing this week was about how we were going to respond to getting hit in the mouth last week,” Eastside head coach Jay Cawthon said. “Our kids came out fighting. We put them in situations where they were able to play fast on defensive and on offense.”

Barr got the scoring party started. 

The Eagles crossed the goal line for the first time late in the first quarter as Barr capped off a long offensive drive with a 16-yard touchdown run. 

After a quick stop from the Eagles’ defense, Cobb scored his first touchdown of the night. 

The senior halfback took the carry up the middle before breaking away to the corner on his 39-yard touchdown run on the Eagles’ first possession of the second quarter.

“I am proud of myself,” Cobb said. “We wanted to shake off that Newton game and it feels good to take that win.” 

Barr added another score at the 6:09 mark of the second quarter. Following a recovered fumble from Christian Smith, Barr concluded the ensuing drive with a one-yard touchdown run. 

Quarterback Payton Shaw assisted with his feet, too, on the scoring drive. 

“He is just learning to be able to make those decisions and go with it,” Cawthon said. “He knows he can use his legs as a weapon. He was able to make some plays tonight and hopefully week-by-week he gets better.”

The other three points came off the right foot of Johnathan Gomez. The freshman kicker connected on a 41-yard field goal attempt on Eastside’s second drive of the game. 

Alcovy’s offense struggled to find a rhythm in the first half with junior quarterback Patrick Lucero facing pressure often from the Eastside front seven.

Following Cobb’s first touchdown, the Tigers went to the run game on the next drive but it quickly resulted in the Smith fumble recovery. 

Before halftime could begin, both teams traded turnovers on their final drives with Eastside’s Bailey Benson and Alcovy’s Taylor Richardson each getting an interception.

Coming out of halftime, Tigers made the change, going with sophomore PJ Wolfe at quarterback. The change resulted in big yardage instantly as Wolfe connected downfield to put the Tigers in Eastside territory early In the third quarter.

After being held to a fourth down after marching to within the 10-yard line, the Tigers 29-yard field goal attempt went awry. 

Alcovy’s holder could not handle the snap, resulting in the Eagles getting the turnover on downs to keep the Tigers off the scoreboard.

Eastside’s Jaquez Cobb had an interception of his own along with an Alcovy defender recovering a fumble in the second half. 

By that point in the contest, the game was well in hand for the Eagles. 

Friday’s result makes it the second time this season Eastside’s defense recorded a shutout. The Eagles now improve to 2-1 overall and will travel to Ola next week in another non-region competition. 

Meanwhile, the Tigers fall to 1-2 overall and will open Region 3-AAAAAA play next week at Mundy’s Mill.