After an off the week the Eagles and their fans made the long drive to the Augusta area to take on the Lakeside Panthers of Evans, GA. Northside showed the sluggish effects typical coming off a bye week coupled with the long travel, but after Lakeside became the first team to score on the Eagles this year with a third quarter touchdown pass, Northside’s intensity picked up and they powered on to a 30-7 victory.
The Eagles lead 10-0 at halftime thanks to a 30 yard field goal by Dillon Mixon following a 75 yard drive that stalled and to a 8 play 65 yard drive that ended with a one yard touchdown run by Shaquille O’Neill. Lakeside missed a 37 yard field goal as time expired in the first half to run Northside’s shutout string to 10 straight quarters to open the season.
The shutout streak came to abrupt end with 8:09 left in the third quarter when Lakeside found the endzone with a 33 yard touchdown pass. The sudden score by the Panthers seemed to shock the Eagles back to life. After the touchback on the kickoff placed the ball on the 20 yard line, senior Shaquille O’Neill and Northside’s offensive line wasted no time with 3 running plays that covered the entire 80 yards culminated by O’Neill’s 12 yard touchdown run exactly 54 seconds after Lakeside broke Northside’s shutout string. Mixon’s PAT made the score 17-7. With 10:43 left in the fourth quarter, Briar Van Brunt connected with Zedrick Scott on a 23 yard touchdown pass. The PAT was no good. Finally, after a 9 play/66 yard drive, Marte Polk scored on a 3 yard touchdown run with 1:30 left in the game and with Mixon’s PAT finished the scoring on the night for a 30-7 final to run their record to 3-0.
Northside hits the road again next week when they travel all the way down to Bainbridge, GA for their first Region 1-AAAA contest.