DANIELSVILLE, Ga. — The Eastside Eagles claimed a road region victory 37-7 over Madison County Saturday on the back of five rushing touchdowns.

The contest between the Eagles and the Red Raiders was originally scheduled to take place on Friday night. However, the game was moved to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 due to inclement weather from Hurricane Helene.

When the teams finally took the field in Danielsville, the run game was on display for both squads.

Madison County opened the game with the ball and methodically moved down the field with only run plays before the Red Raiders found the end zone. A one-yard rush from Garrett Smith on the goal line put Madison County ahead 7-0.

Eastside managed to get down into the Red Raiders’ red zone, but were held to a 25-yard field goal from Jonathan Gomez that split the uprights.

Following a punt from Madison County, Eastside got ahead and never looked back.

The Eagles moved down the field once again before Georgia Tech commit Jayden Barr took the two-yard carry in for a score. Barr’s touchdown put Eastside up 9-7 after the point-after attempt from Gomez was blocked.

Empty drives from both teams sent the game into halftime with Eastside ahead 9-7. At this point of the game, only three passes were thrown — all of which coming from Eastside quarterback Peyton Shaw.

Shaw was unable to find the end zone through the air on Saturday, but the junior connected on a couple of chunk plays and gained valuable yardage on the ground with his legs.

Going into Saturday, Eastside head coach Jay Cawthon knew the challenges of facing an offense like Madison County, but felt the Eagles’ defensive plan did the job.

“Playing this offense, they were trying to keep the ball away from us and shorten the game. They did that in the first half,” Cawthon said. “Our defensive coach did a great job scheming it up. Proud of the way we came out in the second half.”

Coming out of halftime, Eastside struck fast.

On the first snap of the second half, Barr ripped off a 68-yard run that set up the offense deep into Red Raiders’ territory. On the next snap, Myles Mims took the carry 12 yards for the score to put Eastside ahead 16-7.

Mims’ score set off a chain reaction for the rest of the second half as every remaining drive ended in the Eagles’ favor.

On Madison County’s next drive, the Red Raiders fumbled the ball on a rush up the middle which allowed Tyler Solomon to get the recovery for Eastside.

A few plays later, Barr took the ball into the end zone for a three-yard score.

The Red Raiders found success early on the ensuing drive as they pushed across midfield. However, when faced with a fourth down and long, Madison County rolled the dice and went for a fake punt.

The play was snuffed out by the Eagles, who took down the ball carrier well short of the line to gain.

Mims went on to score his second touchdown of the day on the next drive as the junior took the carry in for the 19-yard touchdown. Mims’ second score gave Eastside a 30-7 advantage.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Red Raiders went to the air for the first time of the day. The pass from Brayden Clark went right into the hands of Barr for the interception.

On the ensuing drive, Barr struck big on a 33-yard touchdown run to seal the deal in Eastside’s 37-7 region win.

The win moved the Eagles to 5-0 on the season with a perfect 2-0 start in Region 8-AAAA. Eastside sits atop the region standings with North Oconee (6-0, 2-0).

With the team set to take the field on Thursday, the team was already facing a short week. Now that the week is even short with the Eagles and Red Raiders playing on Saturday, Cawthon shared the team’s plan for this upcoming week. 

“We have a Thursday plan that we do. This is the first time we have played on a Saturday and come back on a Thursday,” Cawthon said. “We are going to stick with the same plan our kids are used to. We have some nicks and bruises. That is what I am worried about a bit because it is going to be another physical game with Walnut Grove.”