The Northside Eagles had to travel up I75 to the GA Dome for their semifinal battle with the unbeaten Tucker Tigers. The Eagles entered the game on a 28 game winning streak and having shut out their first three playoff opponents. The Eagles saw one of these streaks quickly stopped and the other in deep peril of ending.

The speedy Tigers shocked the Eagles early and often by the success they enjoyed running the ball wide on Northside. Tucker first struck from 36 yards out on a sweep after only 2:09 had elapsed off the first quarter clock. Tucker extended its lead to 14-0 in the second quarter on another TD run. The Eagles could not get anything going on the ground early on, but they did manage to cut into the lead some when Joe Scott connected with Nick Bass on a 27 yard TD pass that was set up by a 23 yard Scott to Evan Arthur pass on the previous play. Devon Pike was good on the PAT and the Tiger lead had been trimmed to 14-7 with 8:06 in the second quarter, but the Tigers immediately struck back with a 68 TD run which was immediately followed up by the return of an Eagle fumble for another touchdown to send the Eagles into the GA Dome locker room at halftime with a shocking 28-7 deficit.

After a nice 30 kickoff return by Bass to open the third quarter, Northside senior QB Marques Ivory, out 6 weeks with a broken fibula, trotted onto the field for the first time since injuring his leg in the Upson-Lee game. Ivory’s appearance seemed to inspire the Northside players and fans, but the enthusiasm was quickly dampened when the Eagles lost another fumble in Tucker territory, but this time the Eagle defense bowed its collective neck and held the Tigers. Ivory and Eagle offense took back over, and Ivory connected with senior Kevyn Cooper on a 69 yard TD strike with 8:40 on the third quarter clock. Pike’s PAT cut the lead to 28-14 and an historic Northside comeback was underway. The Eagles threatened to score again, but instead turned the ball over on downs when a potential touchdown pass was mishandled. However, once again the Eagle defense, led by juniors Eric Fields and Abry Jones refused to allow the Tigers to extend their lead. Tucker was able to pin the Eagles deep in their own territory when they downed a punt on the Eagle 5 yard line. Three plays later the Eagles had pushed the ball out to the 18 yard line, and then Ivory dropped back and hooked up with Cooper again on a long, beautiful 82 yard touchdown pass with 9:28 to go in the game. Pike’s PAT trimmed the Tiger lead to 28-21 and the Eagle faithful were rocking the Dome. Finally, with 2:32 left in the game, the Eagles completed their miraculous comeback when senior Brandon Jordan made an incredible circus catch while falling into the endzone despite the ball being tipped and being interfered with by the Tiger defender. Devon Pike then lined up for the crucial PAT and once again the snap, hold, and kick were good and the score was finally even at 28.

The next goal for the Eagle D was simple: stop the Tigers “Right Now” and get the ball back to the red-hot Ivory led offense, and they did not disappoint. Using 2 of their timeouts to help conserve the remaining time on the clock, the Eagles pushed the Tigers backwards before forcing the fourth down punt from the 13 yard line. Nick Bass caught the punt on the Eagle 48 and the punt return team set up a great wall along the right sideline enabling Bass to return the kick 22 yards to set the Eagles up in great field position at 30 yard line. A couple more Ivory passes had the Eagles on the 2 yard line with 12 ticks remaining on the game clock. The Eagles took a delay penalty to help Pike with the severe right hash angle. Pike placed the tee down at the 12 yard line; Donnie Werden’s snap was perfect; Joe Scott smoothly handled the snap and placed the ball on the tee and Pike drilled the 22 yard field goal through the middle of the uprights, and the improbable had been accomplished.

The Eagles had overcome a 28-7 deficit in the second half to propel themselves into their third straight AAAA state championship game. After being scorched by over 300 yards rushing and 28 points in the first half, the Eagle defense rebounded for a stellar second-half shutout to enable Marques Ivory and the Eagle offense to score 24 unanswered points to pull off the incredible comeback. With only 2 practices after being cleared to play after sitting out 6 weeks to mend his broken leg, Ivory astounded everyone with his monumental second half performance – 11 of 16 passing for 3 TDs and nearly 300 yards.

The Eagles now must travel to south Georgia to face off with the Ware Co. Gators for the 2007 AAAA State Championship next Friday at 7:30.