COVINGTON, Ga. — It may have been Eastside’s season opener Friday night, but the Eagles looked in midseason form. The Eagles shut out the Luella Lions 34-0 at Sharp Stadium. 

Though it was seemingly a complete team effort through the entire 48 minutes, Marion Eubanks’ fourth quarter interception sealed the deal. 

With 6:33 left in the contest, Luella’s backup quarterback Markell Aguirre experienced what starter Kylen Hart often did — pressure. Trying to evade Eastside’s pursuit, Aguirre heaved the ball in the middle of the field. 

Similar to a center fielder in baseball, Eubanks tracked the ball in mid-air. As soon as he had the interception, the junior cornerback pointed to the end zone. All at once, Eastside defenders turned into offensive lineman and paved Eubanks' path for a pick-6. 

Eubanks’ score placed a bow on the dominant, season-opening victory. 

Nevertheless, it was Eastside’s rushing attack that dictated terms early. 

On the opening possession, Eastside's backfield trio of Anquez Cobb, Jayden Barr and JP Harris engineered a 68-yard touchdown drive. Cobb put the finishing touches with a one-yard touchdown to score his team’s first points of the new campaign. 

Then, the defensive line made their mark on the outcome. 

On Luella's second possession is when Jacorey Jackson made his presence known. The senior defensive lineman came up with a strip sack and recovered the fumble to set up a first and goal at the five-yard line. 

That was one of three turnovers the Eagles’ defense forced, which also came up with a few turnovers on downs in the red zone. 

Two plays later, Barr scored a 4-yard touchdown. Barr's first of two touchdowns gave Eastside a 13-0 advantage. Barr scored again on a direct snap and pushed his way into the endzone to extend the lead 20-0.

Special teams got in on the scoring festivities after that. 

With seconds ticking on the first clock, Tyler Marks fielded a punt and returned it for a long touchdown. Marks’ score gave Eastside a 27-0 halftime advantage. 

From there, the Eagles never looked back. 

Players like Jackson, Xavier Joseph, Bailey Benson and even Barr were constant thorns in Luella’s side for most of the second half. Lions ball carriers hardly had any room to maneuver on Sharp Stadium’s updated playing surface. 

That assisted in Eastside’s quest for a 1-0 start to 2023. 

Two weeks from now, the Eagles will be back in action. They will face-off against crosstown rival Newton Rams in the 2023 edition of the Newton Cup rivalry.