BOGART, Ga — The Eastside Eagles came out on the losing end of a thriller in the battle of the undefeated teams Friday night as they fell to North Oconee 40-35.
The Eagles and Titans met on Friday with both teams sporting a 7-0 record with perfect starts in region play.
Ultimately, the game delivered as it came down to the final drive.
North Oconee survives second half thriller
The Titans began the second half with the ball and a 21-14 advantage.
After Eastside grabbed the momentum on a rock down at the end of the first half, it was the Titans that came out of the locker room swinging.
A long drive capped with a 28-yard passing touchdown from Harrison Faulkner to Patrick Elliot to extend the Titans’ lead to 28-14.
The Faulkner-Elliot score set off an endless scoring streak from both teams.
When Eastside got the ball back, the offense went right to the run game and capitalized.
A handoff to Myles Mims went 72 yards to set up the Eastside offense inside the North Oconee 10-yard line.
Shortly after, it was senior Jayden Barr who rushed for one of his five touchdowns on the day bringing the game back within one score.
After one of the few North Oconee punts of the day, the Eagles answered.
Once again, it was Barr.
The Georgia Tech commit took the direct snap and pushed across the goal line for the tying score at 28-28.
On the ending drive, the Titans answered.
Faulkner found Landon Roldan over the middle, taking the pass 66-yards for a touchdown. However, the point-after attempt was missed to give North Oconee only a six-point lead.
With the Eagles in need of a big play, quarterback Payton Shaw dumped the ball off to Barr, who raced 60 yards down the field to put Eastside within the 10-yard line.
And once again, Barr crossed the goal line for a touchdown. The extra point from sophomore Jonathan Gomez was good to give Eastside the 35-34 lead — its first lead of the day.
North Oconee made a few key completions to move down the field in the final minutes.
When the Titans got to the goal line, only 23 seconds remained on the clock.
On a third down, Faulkner connected with Khamari Brooks in the corner of the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown pass to put the Titans up 40-35 over Eastside.
North Oconee forced three consecutive incompletions on the following drive to end the game and give the Eagles their first loss of the season.
Titans hold edge over Eagles in first half
After multiple three-and-outs from both teams to start Friday’s action, it was the Titans that cross the goal line first.
North Oconee already started the drive deep into Eastside territory following a botched punt. A few plays later, Faulkner connected with Dallas Dickerson on a 26-yard touchdown pass.
With two empty offensive possessions under their belt, the Eagles responded.
Multiple run plays set up Eastside inside the Titans’s 10-yard line.
On a third down, Barr took the direct snap and raced around the edge for a six-yard touchdown.
North Oconee did not go away though, as the Titans answered with a rushing score of its own.
Maddox Brice took the ball out of the backfield and ran right up the middle on the ensuing drive for a 34-yard touchdown.
On the next North Oconee drive, Faulkner went to the air again.
This time, he connected with Roldan for a 33-yard touchdown.
Down by two scores, the Eagles scored a much-desired touchdown before the teams went into intermission.
Once again, Eastside used run plays to move down the field before Barr rushed for his second score of the day — this time on a 15-yard run.
Barr’s touchdown trimmed the Titans’s lead down to 21-14 going into the locker room.
Barr runs wild
The senior had a big day on the ground against the undefeated Titans.
Barr rushed for five touchdowns — most coming out of the direct snap on the goal line.
Along with being the focal point on offense, Barr played almost every snap on defense, too.
What’s next
After suffering its first loss of the season to move to 7-1, Eastside will return home next week to face East Forsyth (7-1) in another Region 8-AAAA matchup Friday, Oct. 18.
