COVINGTON, Ga. —E’Sean Arnoldproved his worth as both Eastside’s starting safety and starting quarterback Friday night against Alcovy.
The senior’s play led the Eagles in spoiling the Tigers’ homecoming by way of a 41-6 victory — the program’s ninth straight win against its crosstown rival.
Arnold concluded the game with two scores — one passing and one rushing — that helped put the game away around halftime.
"I'm just an athlete who makes plays," Arnold said. "That's all I do is make plays."
In the closing seconds of the first half, Arnold connected with Saabir Berrien for a 20-yard score to extend the Eagles’ halftime lead to 27-6.
Then, coming out of halftime, Arnold intercepted an Ashton Evans pass and seemed to have returned it for a pick-6. A block in the back penalty negated the touchdown, but that didn’t seem to matter to Arnold.
Two plays later on offense, Arnold got his touchdown back by electing to keep the ball and rush 32 yards for the score. At that point, the rout was officially on as Eastside led 34-6 with 10 minutes to go in the third quarter.
Head coach Jay Cawthon had nothing but nice things to say about Arnold.
"He's a leader...plain and simple," Cawthon said. "He does everything we ask him to do and the kids love him. He plays hard and does everything the right way.
He's part of our best 11 on both sides of the football."
Though Arnold dropped the hammer, it was Eastside’s stacked running back group that did most of the damage.
DJ Henderson, a senior in the group, bookended the Eagles’ scoring.
Henderson scored from 15 yards out with 6:51 remaining in the first quarter to give Eastside a 6-0 advantage. Then, with 1:15 left in the third quarter, Henderson scampered for a 20-yard score to cap Eastside’s scoring for the night.
Kenai Grier wouldn’t be outdone as he also added two rushing touchdowns.
Grier’s first score of the game came with 3:07 remaining in the first quarter. He took the hand-off from Arnold after Jayden Barr went in motion to the right of the formation.
Barr’s motion opened up the middle of the field and made way for Grier to muscle in for a touchdown from five yards out.
The next score for Grier was powered by the senior running back and Eastside’s offensive line.
Out of the wildcat formation, Grier took the direct snap and went behind the right tackle for a 4-yard score.
Alcovy didn’t lay down, though.
In fact, the Tigers made their presence known before either their defense or offense could touch the field.
On the opening kickoff, Alcovy forced a fumble that they recovered at its own 33-yard line. But the Tigers ended up turning the ball back over on back-to-back possessions to kill their drives.
Head coach Spencer Fortson highlighted how he wants his team to remain aggressive throughout each matchup.
"We saw some guys come out and show that they're ready to play football," Fortson said. "We can build upon those things. There are some things I know we need to correct. But there were some things here and there throughout the game that we can hang our hat on."
Fortson’s squad added some creativity in their offense to help move the ball against Eastside.
At the 11-minute mark of the second quarter, Ashton Evans took the snap, tossed it to Nasir Watson on motion who then tossed it to Bernard Johnson.
Johnson located Evans who sat in the middle of three Eastside defenders. Evans managed to rise above the defenders for a 20-yard reception.
That drive stalled yet again for Alcovy, but the Tigers got their lone score of the game on the next drive.
With 4:27 left in the third quarter, Evans rolled out to his left on second down. The senior gunslinger located Watson wide open in the left corner of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown.
Watson wasn't 100 percent pleased with his performance despite his touchdown reception.
"It felt good [catching a touchdown against Eastside," Watson said. "But I felt like I could've done better."
At that point, though, the game was decided and Eastside utilized its underclassmen to bleed the clock and preserve the win.
Seeing younger players perform on Friday night was special for Cawthon.
"That was awesome to see," Cawthon said. "[Our underclassmen] basically took out the whole fourth quarter on one drive. Very seldom do they get that much experience on a Friday and that just gives them some experience."
One Alcovy football player didn’t walk away from Sharp Stadium empty-handed.
Caleb Mathis, a senior tight end and running back for the Tigers, was announced as the class of 2022’s homecoming king at halftime. Jayla Powe won homecoming queen.
Eastside (2-1) will remain at Sharp Stadium for the third straight week when the Eagles host Ola (2-1) next Friday. It’ll be Eastside’s final non-region tune-up before it enters the Region 8-AAAAA schedule. Meanwhile, Alcovy (1-2) play next Saturday, Sept. 17 when the Tigers host their Region 3-AAAAAA opener against Mundy’s Mill (2-1).
Fortson is excited about his team beginning region play.
"The main focus is to continue to get better within ourselves," Fortson said. "Then, if we do that, when we show up on Saturday, we'll be ready to go."
