The Northside Eagles traveled to southeast Georgia to Waycross, GA to face the Ware Co. Gators for the AAAA State Championship. The Eagles entered the game with a record of 14-0 and riding a 29 game winning streak. The atmosphere in Waycross was electric and filled with anticipation of the championship game. However, for the second week in a row, the Eagles fell behind early.

Senior quarterback Marques Ivory the Eagle offense onto the field after the defense forced a Gator punt, but on the first play from scrimmage, Ivory was picked off by stand-out Gator defensive back Victor Daniels. The Eagle D again held and Ware Co. punted the Eagles deep into their own territory. Daniels stepped up again to stop the Eagles when he picked off his second pass of the game, however, once again the Eagle defenders kept the Gators out of the endzone. The Gator did pin the Eagles deep at their own 5 yard line for the third straight possession, but also for the third straight possession, the Eagles turned the ball over – this time on a mishandled snap and the Gator recovered at the Eagle 5. Northside’s defense made it hard for the Gators, but Ware Co. finally punched the ball in on a 3 yard TD run. The PAT made the score 7-0 with 0:27 left in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Eagles finally righted themselves on offense and began moving the ball, and the defense continued their stellar play. Finally, after a eight play / 58 yard drive, Northside broke into scoring column when Ivory hit Tijuan Green on a 6 yard TD pass with 3:26 left in the first half. Devon Pike’s PAT made the score at 7-all and sent both teams to the locker room all tied up.

The Eagles opened the third quarter with an 8 play / 44 yard drive that stalled at the Ware Co. 15 yard line, but Devon Pike came in a drilled a 32 yard field goal to give the Eagles their first lead of the game at 10-7. Abry Jones and Eric Fields continued to harass the Gator offense and forced another Gator punt. The Eagles were driving again when Ivory connected with TE Evan Arthur on a 10 yard completion but Arthur was stripped and Ware Co. returned the fumble for a touchdown, but the score was called back because the Gators were called for blocking in the back. However, this only delayed the Gators getting into the endzone as Victor Daniels stretched the ball over the goal line after a 2 yard run to put Ware Co. back in front 14-10 with 1:22 left in the third quarter.

At the end of the third quarter, the Northside crowd rose in unison and held up the “96” placards that had been handed out to them prior to the game to form a “96” blanket tribute to their former teammate Chris Johnson. The Eagles used this inspiration to go on its decisive scoring drive. After crossing midfield, senior running back Tijuan Green lined up in the shotgun as the lone back and took the direct snap as he had several times all season. Except this time, after taking his initial step into the line, and for the first time all season, dropped back and threw the ball long down the field in the direction of senior Nick Bass. Victor Daniels of Ware Co. again had great coverage, but Bass had one step on the Gator star and caught the ball in stride and continued on into the endzone to complete a beautiful 40 yard touchdown pass. Pike’s PAT made the score 17-14 in favor of the Eagles with 5:23 left in the championship. The defense again refused to allow the Gators to drive the ball. With Abry Jones hitting the Ware QB just as he released a pass, junior Darius Ivey intercepted a wobbly pass and returned the ball 17 yards to the Gator 15 yard line. The Eagles tried 3 running plays to help milk the clock down but could not get a first down, but sophomore Devon Pike was again perfect on the field goal attempt – this time from 30 yards out and the Eagles led 20-14 with 2:40 left. The Eagle defense again came up big forcing the Gators to give the ball up on downs, and the Eagle offense was then able to run out the clock and win the second state championship in school history. The Eagles became only the seventh team in GHSA history to win back-to-back state championships while going 15-0 in each year.

The Eagles returned home to a loyal, raucous crowd in the school parking lot at 3:00am riding a 30 game winning streak and holding the title of Back-to-Back STATE CHAMPIONS!

It’s Great to be a Northside Eagle!!