The Northside Eagles opened their 2012 season on the road north of Atlanta at the home of the Flowery Branch Falcons. Both teams began the season ranked in the top ten of AAAAA. The Northside faithful turned out in full force as the visitor stands were overflowing with Eagle fans, and they were rewarded with an impressive 45-7 victory to kick the 2012 campaign to a great start.
After an exchange of punts to begin the game, the Eagles opened the scoring on their second possession when senior Keshun Hill scored on a 40 yard touchdown run. Isaac Rivera kicked the PAT for the 7-0 lead. Flowery Branch answered with a 63 yard drive that ended with a 5 yard touchdown pass to tie the game with 10:55 left in the second quarter. This touchdown ended the scoring for both teams in the first half as the teams entered the locker rooms tied at 7.
In the second half, the Eagles would demonstrate their strength and conditioning as they took complete control of the game by scoring on their first six possessions while shutting out the Falcons. Curtis Martin began the onslaught with a 4 yard touchdown run followed up by Rivera’s PAT for the 14-7 lead. The Eagle D forced a punt and the Eagles were again knocking on the door when QB Glenn Smith’s helmet came off after a big hit and he was forced by rule to leave the game for a play. Backup quarterback Marcus Ivory calmly trotted in, took the snap, and tossed an 18 yard touchdown pass to Hill. Rivera’s PAT made the score 21-7. After an interception by Northside’s Darius Holmes, Donte Bryant scored on a 16 yard touchdown run; the Rivera PAT extended the Eagle lead to 28-7. With 11:40 left in the game, Hill scored again on a 30 yard run. Rivera was again drilled the PAT for a 35-7 lead. Five minutes late, Rivera nailed a 27 yard field goal to push their advantage to 38-7. With 4:07 left in the game, Lee Bradley ended the scoring on the night with a 9 yard touchdown run. John Tignor added the final point after for the final score of 45-7.
In addition to Holmes interception, Trey Payne recovered a fumble for the Eagle defense as they held the Falcon offense to 151 total yards. Isaac Rivera kicked 7 of his 8 kickoffs into the endzone, was 5 for 5 in PATs and 1-2 in field goal attempts.
The Eagles face a quick turnaround as they face new county rival – Veterans High School on Thursday night at the MAC for their home opener of the 2012 season.