COVINGTON, Ga. -- The seniors of Eastside Eagles stepped their game up when it was needed most as they led the team to a come from behind victory over the Morgan County Bulldogs on senior night. 

The Eagles had a slow sluggish start, but head coach Champ Young was not worried about trailing at halftime. He knew that his team could pick up their game and find a way to earn the victory.

“We weren’t sharp and we addressed that at halftime. Nobody yelled, nobody was mad and we took care of it,” said Young. “This is a fun group because they’re not arrogant, but they are confident. There’s a reason why they’re confident.”

The star of the game was senior outside midfielder Kade Mote, who had a special night with an outstanding hat trick. Mote broke through multiple times in the second half against the Bulldogs defense and it led to the win. 

With the Eagles trailing by a score of 1-0 in the second half, Mote quickly gave his team a comfortable 3-1 lead with three quick goals in a ten-minute span.  Mote was more than pleased with his performance and Young could not be happier with him and the support for each member of this team.

“That is awesome man. It was cool and he played really well,” said Young “One of my favorite things about this group is that he was on the bench with us at half time to start, came out second half, him and Hunter (Rowell) both. Both of them had fantastic games, but they’re cheering and screaming for each other to better.”

This support of each and every member of the team has truly stood out to Young and he believes that it is what makes this group so very special. The way that each of the player’s play for each other is something that Young said he felt was missing in year’s past and could lead to a special season.

“They’re here for each other and they’re working for each other and that’s something that I can’t say, top to bottom, we’ve had every year here,” said Young. “That’s why I think that we have a chance to be something special this year because they’re just all so close to each other.” 

Senior Jackson Jolley came back on in the second half after earning a yellow card earlier and quickly scored a goal. Jolley was subbed off immediately because Young did not want to risk the chance of not having him for their upcoming game against Druid Hills, which will decide the winner of the region.

Star senior Kade Mote knows how important this upcoming game was and how this Morgan County game will help the Eagles shape up their play for a region champion deciding game on Tuesday.

“It’s definitely going to boost our confidence because we haven’t been playing the greatest of teams lately and this was a good challenge,” said Mote. “We just have to be us and come out strong and if we do that, we got this game in the bag.”

Eastside girls blank Morgan County

Senior Night 2019 was a total success for Eastside soccer Friday night at Homer Sharp Stadium. 

The Lady Eagles (11-3-1, 5-1 in Region 4-AAAA) scored twice in the first 12 minutes of play and twice in the final 10 minutes to win 4-0 over the Morgan County Lady Bulldogs (6-8-0, 4-2 in Region 8-AAA). 

Freshman Lizzie Teasley sent a perfectly weighted through-ball to a streaking Aralyn Everett who crossed the ball from the right to the far left in front of the Morgan County goal mouth where Bailey Love kicked in the game-winner with 33:02 left on the first half clock. 

Less than five minutes later, Teasley launched a free kick that Everett headed in from the penalty spot into the back of the Lady Bulldog net to make it 2-0. Both teams played outstanding defense until late in the second half when Katie Oakley scored off a ball off the foot of Mya Cummings that deflected off a Morgan County defender with 9:59 remaining to be played.  

Everett notched her brace with 3:22 on the clock when she headed a ball down and into the Lady Bulldogs goal that Love had sent in after her corner kick was rejected back out to her. 

Tuesday, the Lady Eagles will also host Druid Hills (10-4, 5-1) for second place in the region. 

*Mike Harrison contributed to this report.