The Northside Eagles left the comforts of McConnell-Talbert Stadium for the first time this season to take on the North Clayton Eagles at Tara Stadium in Morrow, Ga. this past Friday night in a big AAAA matchup of unbeaten teams. Northside fell behind early then rallied midway in the game to take the lead, and finally made a valiant defensive stand in the fourth quarter to clinch the victory by a score of 28-21 and remain undefeated.


North Clayton took the first lead of the game at 6:45 of the first quarter when D-1 prospect Morgan Burnett kept the ball on an option and scored from 20 yards out. A 2-point conversion pass put North Clayton ahead 8-0. Northside answered that score 4 minutes later when Marques Ivory connected with Jacobi Rodriguez for a 29 yard touchdown pass. Devon Pike’s PAT left Northside trailing by one. North Clayton extended its lead 49 seconds into the second quarter with a one yard TD run. The conversion failed and North Clayton led 15-7.


Northside then started a run of 3 unanswered touchdowns beginning with Deonta Jordan’s 3 yard run at 8:03 of the second and closed the first half when Ivory hit Tijuan Green out of the backfield with a perfectly thrown 22 yard touchdown pass down the left sideline with only 28 seconds left in the second quarter. Devon Pike’s third PAT made the score 21-15 in the favor of Northside at the half.


North Clayton forced a Northside ‘3 & Out’ to open the second half, but Ricardo Negron pinned the NC Eagles deep in their own territory with a 46 yard punt. Four plays later, Northside senior Damon Lopez dropped back from his normal down lineman position and made a leaping interception at the North Clayton 14 yard line. Two plays later, Northside ended its scoring at 7:25 of the third quarter when Green scored on a 7 yard run. Pike remained perfect on the night and Northside led 28-15, but the drama was not over. North Clayton proceeded to go on a 10-play 62 yard drive culminating in Burnett’s 2nd TD run from 10 yards out. The PAT was blocked by Northside’s Keith Townsend, and the score stood at 28-21 with1:42 left in the third quarter.


Northside drove to the North Clayton 23 in nine plays before turning the ball over on downs with 9:33 left in the game. North Clayton gained a big field position advantage after an exchange of punts between the two teams, and they took possession at the Northside 35 with 1:40 left in the game. However, North Clayton could not take advantage of the great field position as they committed 3 penalties and threw 2 incompletions to start the drive, but now from midfield, Burnett hauled in a 27 yard pass to give his team a first down at the 23. Northside senior Charles McKensie then sealed the victory for THE Eagles with an interception in the endzone. The Eagles then ran out the clock and ran their record to 3-0 with a hard earned road victory over a very good North Clayton team.