GRAY, Ga. — The Eagles’ season came to an end Friday night following a 66-42 loss to the Jones County Greyhounds in the second round of the AAAAA state playoffs.
It was a tale of two halves for the Eagles.
The game got off to a quick start. The Greyhounds marched down the field first but came away with nothing as Eagles’ junior Jordan Edwards jumped a route and intercepted Jones County quarterback John Alan Richter in the end zone.
Just a few plays later, the Greyhounds got the ball right back with an interception of their own.
Eagles’ quarterback E’sean Arnold’s pass was picked off by Javian Washington to give the Jones County offense the ball around midfield.
The Greyhounds took advantage as Javious Bond scored on a 48-yard run to put Jones County up 7-0.
The Eagles shot right back as the offense put together a stellar drive led by Arnold and the Eagles’ leading rusher Dallas Johnson. The drive finished with a 1-yard touchdown run by Johnson to tie the game 7-7.
The tie lasted until the second quarter when the Eagles and Greyhounds started to trade touchdowns just before halftime.
Jones County broke the tie early into the second quarter with a 17-yard rush by Bond to put the Greyhounds ahead 14-7.
On the next drive, Arnold led the Eagles offense down the field before capping the drive with a 22-yard touchdown pass to Cole Shannon to tie it back up at 14-14.
The Greyhounds responded on their next drive with a 3-yard quarterback keeper by Richter to give Jones County a 21-14 lead.
With less than a minute left in the half, the Eagles broke through and tied the game on Johnson’s second touchdown of the game to even the score at 21-21.
As time expired in the second quarter, Carrollton converted a 38-yard field goal to take a 24-21 halftime lead.
The Eagles received the kickoff to open the third quarter, and with the ball around midfield, Arnold and Shannon connected once again for a momentous 24-yard gain to put the Eagles at the goal line.
Two plays later, Johnson found the end zone for a third time to put the Eagles in the lead 28-24.
The Greyhounds quickly regained their lead and never looked back.
Bond took in the carry on the goal line for his third touchdown of the game to put Jones County ahead 31-28 early in the third quarter.
Following the touchdown by Bond, Jones County attempted three straight onside kicks and recovered each.
The three onside kicks led to a trio of touchdowns for Richter.
Richter connected with both Tyler Stewart and Zion Ragins for the first two touchdowns before taking it in himself for the third.
After a close game at halftime, the Eagles quickly found themselves down 52-28 before the fourth quarter even started.
The Eagles went on to lose 66-42.
Eastside finished with an 8-4 record and were able to put together another quality run through the playoffs.
