COVINGTON, Ga. — In just his first season as head coach, Jabari Bennett has brought a region championship back to Eastside.

On Friday, the Eagles’ boys soccer team took down North Oconee 1-0 for the program’s first region title since the 2001 season.

It was truly an emotional moment for Bennett and the Eagles’ faithful after the final seconds ticked off the clock. 

Following a celebration that featured a gatorade bath and the raising of Eastside’s new ‘Region 8-AAAA Champion’ banner, Bennett shared how special the moment was for him and the team.

“Unreal, unreal honestly,” Bennett said. “I know I talked about winning it, but it is different actually winning it. It genuinely is a true honor to come up as a player, and now a coach to actually win this game here. I am genuinely proud of not just myself, but the boys especially. I could not have done this without them. With this team we are a true unit.”

A day prior to the win, a few Eastside players were asked by The Covington News what it would take for the team to grab the important win. The answer — mindset.

Following the game, Bennett was asked what mindset he saw from his team in perhaps their biggest game of the season so far.

“Hunger, pure hunger,” Bennett said.

The Eagles entered Friday with a 10-0 record, but still stood neck-and-neck with the Titans in the region standings as both teams had a 4-0 record in region play.

Throughout the opening 10 minutes, the two teams traded possessions with neither team putting shots on target.

At the 11-minute mark of the first half, senior Thomas Hill changed that.

Hill received a good pass and sprinted into the box before taking a shot to his left that went across the keeper’s reach and into the bottom corner of the net.

After scoring the go-ahead goal, Hill sprinted down the sideline in front of the Eastside fans before embracing with his team.

Hill’s goal 11 minutes into the match proved to be the decider as it was the only goal scored on Friday, but both teams had chances.

At the 18-minute mark of the first half, a throw-in from North Oconee resulted in a close call for the Eagles, but goalkeeper Tucker Consuegra made the save.

With six minutes left in the opening half, the Titans had perhaps their best chance of the day as they managed to get into the box for a shot, but Consuegra once again made the save.

Eastside had a chance to take a 2-0 lead in the final minutes with a shot from Alexis Veiyra, but the Titans’ keeper made the save on a tough shot.

Throughout the start of the second half, Eastside had a few chances to put the Eagles ahead.

Two minutes into the half, Hudson Harris’ shot was saved by the keeper.

A few minutes later, Harris put a great ball into the box, but the shot from Caleb Adams was just wide of the net.

Harris continued to make plays as the junior showed off his skills in the box with a pair of close shots late in the half, but neither found the back of the net.

With two minutes left, the Titans found themselves with one more good chance to break even and possibly move the game to penalties.

However, Consuegra made the save to persevere his fourth clean sheet of the season.

Defense was on display for Eastside in the win as North Oconee failed to put together solid scoring chances.

Prior to the game, senior defender Malachi Scharf went down with an injury that forced him to sit the game unexpectedly.

Despite the change, the Eagles persevered and Bennett was pleased with the players that stepped up on the back-line in Scharf’s absence.

“Mason [Shipp] came in, did what he had to do, and he earned that spot today, honestly. He did excellent,” Bennett said. “Malachi being here would have made me feel a little bit safer, but Mason is always a good replacement for him. Wanderson [Johnson] going inside to play as a centreback role, he did tremendous. I could not ask better from him. Griffin Lane did everything he was supposed to do. Shelly Crasyon — amazing, amazing left back. I can't ask anymore from them. From the defenders, to the midfielders, to the attackers — I could not ask more.”

Lady Eagles fall to top ranked Lady Titans

In the first matchup of the day, the 10-1 Lady Titans took down the Lady Eagles by a score of 4-0.

Ultimately, the Lady Titans defensive unit did what they have done all year — limit scoring.

The Lady Eagles had few chances to get shots on goal on Friday, but when they did it was from senior Joanna Funes.

Funes managed to get to the box and get a few shots on target, but North Oconee stopped each attempt.

This allowed for the Lady Titans to create separation early.

After keeping possession through most of the opening minutes, North Oconee’s Taylor Kelly scored the game’s first goal from close range at the eight-minute mark.

Eastside’s Lacie Lynch grabbed a pair of saves around the 15-minute mark, but the Lady Titans eventually scored their second goal midway through the opening half.

Anna Patterson dribbled past the Lynch and put the ball in the back of the net to make it a 2-0 lead for North Oconee

The Lady Titans missed another chance with 11 minutes left in the half after Patterson’s shot went over the goal, but an even better chance came a minute later.

After a collision was made in the box on a North Oconee attack, the referees chose to award a penalty to the Lady Titans.

Nolyn Herron took the penalty and deposited the ball into the bottom right part of the net for a goal to put North Oconee ahead 3-0 at halftime.

The Lady Titans scored their fourth and final goal nine minutes into the second half on another goal from Herron.

What’s next

After Friday’s results, the Lady Eagles moved to 6-5(2-3) on the season while the boys team moved to 11-0(5-0).

Both Eastside teams took on Spalding in a non-region matchup Monday, March 31.

The Eagles will resume region play on Thursday, April 3 when they go on the road to take on Flowery Branch.