ATHENS, Ga. — The Eastside Eagles capped off their nine-win regular season Thursday night with a 62-10 rout over Cedar Shoals on the road.

With University of Georgia head coach Kirby Smart and defensive coordinator Glenn Shumann watching from the Eagles’ sideline, Eastside leaned its hat on the run game and defense.

Eastside’s defense held strong until the Panthers’ final drive of the game. However, the unit was upstaged by the Eagles’ offense, which managed to find the end zone on every offensive drive of the game.

Eagles run early and often...and with ease

Eastide opened the game against the winless Panthers with the ball.

This led to a long scoring drive that was capped off by a Myles Mims’ four-yard touchdown rush. Following a Cedar Shoals three-and-out, Eastside got back into the end zone.

Eastside’s second score was the team’s only passing touchdown of the day as quarterback Payton Shaw connected with Michael Kenon Jr. on a quick slant for a three-yard touchdown.

Before the two teams went into halftime, Eastside added on two more rushing scores.

Jayden Barr and Tyler Solomon scored on rushing touchdowns of four and seven yards, respectively to put Eastside ahead 28-3 at the break.

Offensively, the Eagles did not generate any chunk plays throughout most of Thursday’s game, but they did not have to.

Time and time again, Eastside managed to put together a long drive that resulted in a goal line situation — which led to numerous rushing touchdowns from multiple backs.

After the Eagles held Cedar Shoals to a turnover on downs on the first drive of the second half, Eastside went back to the run game.

Mims capped off another long drive with a three-yard touchdown — his second of the game as it gave Eastside a 35-3 edge.

Following a quick drive from the Panthers, Eastside’s special teams unit — Chase Jordan in particular — wanted to get a score as well.

Jordan initially muffed the punt, but ran back to collect it before maneuvering through multiple Panthers on his way to a 65-yard punt return touchdown as the Eagles’ faithful went into a frenzy.

The special teams score gave the Eagles a 41-3 lead as many of Eastside’s backups began to take the field and get into the action.

In the opening minute of the final quarter sophomore Amond Sands crossed the goal line for a rushing score.

Fellow sophomore Cameron Griffieth went on to score a touchdown as well in the final frame as Eastside ran away with a 62-10 win over the Panthers.

Panthers offensive struggles 

When the Eastside defensive starters were on the field, success was limited for Cedar Shoals.

The Panthers managed to get on the board early in the second quarter with a short field goal.

Senior linebacker Christian Gass was flying to the ball from start to finish on Thursday as the Eastside secondary — featuring players such as Marion Eubanks Jr., Kalen Stapp and Barr — prevented much of anything through the air.

With the starters off the field in the final minutes, Cedar Shoals got its first and only touchdown of the game on a busted coverage.

Panthers’ wideout Tybias Marques Lay got behind the Eastside secondary and was 20 yards downfield past everyone else as he hauled the catch and ran it in for a 89-yard touchdown.

A couple weeks of rest ahead

This year marks the first nine-win regular season for the Eagles since 2020-21 and is the first for Jay Cawthon as the team’s head coach.

With the regular season officially over for the Eagles, they will now play the waiting game as multiple high schools in Georgia look to finish their final games of the year.

The Eagles have all but clinched the No. 2 seed in Region 8-AAAA with a loss to North Oconee (one seed) and a win over East Forsyth (two seed). This guarantees that the Eagles will once again host in the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs.