Whether it is a 7-on-7, a padded camp or just a regular practice in the heat, the Eastside Eagles have stayed busy as they prepare for what they hope to be another deep playoff run in 2025.

The Eagles competed at a pair of camps at both the University of Georgia and at Georgia Tech in June. When Eastside took the field for the 7-on-7 in Athens, it ended the day as the event’s runner-up as the Eagles showcased their skills between the hedges at Sanford Stadium.

Although he does not put too much weight into the results of 7-on-7, head coach Jay Cawthon spoke about positives he took away.

“We don’t put a lot of stock into 7-on-7, but we lost our first one by two to Brookwood then we won eight straight. [We] made it all the way to the championship which is good for our kids, they got to play in Sanford Stadium. Obviously it's really good for the secondary and the wideouts and the quarterback,” Cawthon said. “We don't like to do a ton of 7-on-7s, we feel it creates some bad habits, especially from a defensive standpoint. But I am proud of the way the guys competed against some tough competition. It was a good experience for them.”

Since the 7-on-7 camps, the Eagles have been at home as they battle through the heat of the summer. The team even traveled a county over to Social Circle for an annual padded camp.

As the team approaches the “dead week” from June 30 to July 4, Cawthon expects the practices to be turned up a notch when they all return.

“This week has really been the only week we have been hindered [with heat],” Cawthon said. “The guys are here in the morning just doing our thing. I am proud of the guys and the effort they put in. We are going into dead week now. The ball really gets going in a hurry when you get back from dead week, because you are about a month away from strapping it on for that scrimmage and a month away from opening it up. Things get turned up a bit more, it is a bit faster when we get back from dead week.”

With July on the horizon, Cawthon spent some time discussing the team’s outlook going into this season, and started with the run game.

Eastside has leaned into the run game for years, and the combo of Myles Mims and Tyler Solomon are set to pick up where former Eagle Jayden Barr left off. 

However, the success of the run game may be dictated in the trenches, where Cawthon had to replace a few seniors from last year.

“We lost three really good offensive lineman, so we will have some new faces up there,” Cawthon said. “Obviously, we are going to try to establish the run. But who knows, we don’t know our identity yet, we go from year-to-year. Our identity the last three to four years has been the downhill run but I don’t know. It is going to take the first three to four non-region games to find out who we are and see if we need to change some things. I do think we have a good staple of running backs as usual so we will see where that takes us.”

Although Barr led the team in touchdowns by a wide margin, Mims led the team in rushing yards with 967, which amounted to 8.3 yards per attempt. Solomon rushed for 566 yards in 2024(5.2 yards per attempt).

Perhaps the biggest returning piece for the Eagles in 2025 is quarterback Payton Shaw, who is set to enter his third season as the team’s starter. Midway through the offseason, Cawthon feels Shaw looks the part of a quarterback with that much experience under his belt.

“He is doing a great job, obviously we are going to expect a few more things out of him,” Cawthon said. “He threw for 1,600 yards and 18 touchdowns last year and we ran the ball so good that people fail to remember that he didn't throw an interception until the quarterfinal game. He was very efficient with the football, he managed the game very well. Obviously, we are going to need him to step up for him to take us to where we need to be.

“We are trying to open the playbook a little bit more. We don’t want to throw too much on him, but we would love for that run game to take a little pressure off him.”

On the defensive side, Cawthon tabbed Xavier Joseph as a player from a similar vein.

Joseph is one of Eastside’s veterans in 2025, and he has already announced his commitment to Appalachian State.

Joseph’s brother, Jean Claude, played the same position for Eastside before he signed to Tulane after the 2023 season. 

“No doubt, Xavier is a baller,” Cawthon said. “He is one of the best to ever come through here, I’ll tell you. From a student-athlete standpoint, everything he does is to the Eastside standard. The defensive line may be our strong-suit coming back. We lost the entire back-end, we lost two Power 4 linebackers. We do have Jameel [McMichael] back, our middle linebacker. I am excited to see some of our young guys step up who we have developed — that’s what we take pride in here. They have waited their turn and we will see what they do in front of the lights.”

Joseph and McMichael lead a defensive that is now coached by Jason Tester, a former Eagles assistant that returned this offseason to be the team’s next defensive coordinator.

For Cawthon, it feels like the staff picked up right where they left off.

“It’s like he’s never left,” Cawthon said. “He was gone for a while but I think he is having a great time, the kids are relating to him well. It has been a whole process of going through some new terminology things, but our kids are catching on. I know he is really excited and I am excited for a whole new defensive staff, they have done a heck of a job.”

As the Eagles continue to work through the offseason and fill the voids left by the seniors of last year, Cawthon shed light on a few unfamiliar names that will be known by the end of the year.

Cawthon noted players such as wideout Jace Taylor, lineman Adrian Byrd, linebacker Jamarcus Justice and receiver Garrett Brooks as just a few players that he expects to have extended roles this year.

“A lot of these kids have never played on Friday night or meaningful downs, so we will see how they respond,” Cawthon said.

With the challenges of practicing through the heat and the construction of the stadium in the next field over, Cawthon has been happy overall with the progress.

“I am just proud of the kids’ effort, in working and conditioning and just carrying on our tradition and our standard,” Cawthon said.