It was billed as an interstate showdown of 2007 state champions as the Eagles hosted the Booker T. Washington Tornadoes from Miami, FL on a hot Saturday afternoon in middle Georgia. In the end, the smashmouth toughness of Georgia high school football won out over the flash & dash of Florida high schools. With more than 10 delays in action from injury timeouts due to cramps and exhaustion from the BTW players, the Eagles wore down the visitors from south Florida with the superior conditioning and pounded the Tornadoes into submission by a score of 31-7.

Just 3 minutes into the game, BTW displayed the flash they are known for as the shocked the Eagle faithful with a quick 49 yard touchdown pass. The Eagles, however, would not panic. On the next Tornado possession, senior Darius Ivey busted up the middle to block the BTW punt and then picked up the ball himself at the 1 yard line and ran it on in to the endzone for a touchdown as the horn sounded indicating the end of the first quarter. Devon Pike added the PAT and the quarter ended with the 2 teams tied at 7 apiece. The second quarter saw the Eagles start to enforce their toughness and conditioning as they slowly began to take over the game. With 3:05 left in the half, Devon Pike drilled a 42 yard FG to make the score 10-7. The Eagle defense forced another punt and the Eagles took over with 1:22 left in the second quarter on the BTW 46 yard line. Running their 2-minute offense to perfection, Northside found itself at the BTW 11 yard with 5 plays later with 11 seconds left on the clock. Senior Joe Scott pitched to Xavier Bacon on a perfectly executed option play, and Bacon scooted untouched into the endzone with 5 ticks left on the clock. Pike added the PAT and the teams went into halftime with the Eagles leading by a score of 17-7.

The second half saw the Eagles completely wear down the tornadoes with a stifling defense and punishing rushing attack. BTW’s only threat ended with a missed 31 yard FG attempt midway in the third quarter. Bacon added a 1 yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter; Pike’s PAT made the score 24-7. Northside finished the scoring with a grinding 12-play, 75 yard drive that ended with Scott connecting with tight end Jordan Brandon on a 2 yard touchdown pass. Alex Crist added the PAT and the final score of 31-7 was on the board with 2:32 left in the game. Scott completed 8 of 12 pass attempts for 93 yards and a touchdown while Bacon finished the afternoon with 176 yards and 2 TDs on 28 carries.

The Eagle now travel to Columbus, GA to take on another 2007 state champion – AAA champ Carver Tigers next Friday night in their final non-region game of 2008.