CARTERSVILLE, Ga. — The Eastside Eagles played their final four quarters of the year Friday against Cartersville. The Canes came away with a 28-9 win to eliminate the Eagles from the Class AAAAA playoffs.
Cartersville’s Khristian Lando ran behind the Canes’ large offensive line to victory Friday night, but it was the Eagles that opened the scoring.
Eastside held the Canes to a punt on their first drive. On the Eagles’ ensuing possession, they marched down the field before punching it in on a five-yard run from junior Jayden Barr.
Following a blocked extra point, Eastside led 6-0 early, but Cartersville took the lead and never gave it back.
The Canes capitalized on a botched Eastside punt with a two-yard touchdown run from Lando.
On the final drive of the first quarter, Lando scored on the goal line to make it a 14-6 Cartersville lead.
The final two drives in the first half for both teams ended in field goal attempts. But Eastside was the team that came away with the points.
Jonathan Gomez knocked down a 34-yarder to bring the Eagles to within five points. Shortly after, the Canes’ field goal came up short from 42 yards out.
The missed field goal kept it a 14-9 game going into halftime with Cartersville ahead.
Lando reached the end zone for the third time on the Canes’ first drive of the second half. He scored on a 15-yard run to increase Cartersville’s advantage 21-9.
As the final two quarters transpired,
Miscues on snaps continued to pile up for the Eagles across the final two quarters. As a result, it pushed the offense back and derailed drives.
Halfway through the fourth quarter, the Canes scored through the air.
A screen pass from quarterback Nate Russell to Richard Houston gave Cartersville a 28-9 lead with six minutes left in the game.
Cartersville’s defense held the Eagles in check for the remainder of the contest to seal the win. In the second half, the Cartersville defense held the Eagles to a punt on all of their drives.
The Eagles defense came away with two turnovers as well via fumble. However, the 28 points were enough for the Canes to leave Friday’s contest with their undefeated record still intact.
Eastside’s 2023 campaign ended in the second round of the Class AAAAA playoffs. Eastside defeated Chapel Hill 38-14 last Friday at home in the first round to set their date with the undefeated Canes.
The Eagles finished the year with a 8-4 overall record while going 5-1 in Region 8-AAAAA, which placed them as region runners up.
