Football in the state of Georgia is ramping up all over with the season just a few weeks away. The Eastside Eagles, coached by Jay Cawthon, are looking to build off of last year’s success. The Eagles’ season came to an end in the Quarterfinals of the GHSA AAAA state playoffs against the Creekside Seminoles, 26-0.
Teams across are reloading with the majority of their roster intact but the Eagles will try another way to win as the 2025 season approaches.
“This is a new team and will have a new identity and they have bought into it, “ Cawthon said. “Each senior class wants to try to outdo the previous senior class, so I’m looking for the competition that the 2026 senior class will bring to the table.”
Cawthon and his staff lost over 17 seniors on last year’s squad which will lead to a lot of players gaining experience as the season progresses especially on the defensive side of the ball. According to coach Cawthon the theme of this defense is “Inexperience.”
Eagles will look different defensively as stars like Bailey Benson and Christian Gass are off to NC State University and the University of Tennessee respectively, to continue their college careers. So new faces will be shining on each level such as Xavier Joseph on the defensive line and Jemeel McMichael for the linebackers as will make a name for themselves as the year goes on.
“We do have our starter linebacker, Jameel McMichael who is the leader of that group, “ Cawthon said. “Overall I do feel real good about our linebacker group. But the Defensive line could be our strength with Xavier and Decorey Crumbley.”
On the other side of the ball, the Eagles’ offense will be led by senior quarterback Payton Shaw, who is a 3.5-year starter. And the Eagles’ have been a predominant running team and Shaw still thrive in the offense as he grew with the system
“Last year Payton threw for almost 2000 yards with 20 passing touchdowns and hopefully we can expand the playbook,” Cawthon said. “I think he’s getting more comfortable with the offense due to playtime experiences he had over the last few years.”
Even though they still have their starter at the quarterback position the offense will now have to rely on some players who have played meaningful snaps. The senior running back tandem of Myles Mims and Tyler Solomon will look to carry the load on the ground for the Eagles’ this season with the loss of Georgia Tech enrollee, Jayden Barr.
Barr led the team in rushing last year with hitting over the 1,000 yard mark. Mims finished just a few yards short of the same mark. Mims feels like him and his running mate Solomom will turn heads this season.
“You can expect an explosive run game with the 1-2 combo of Solo and I,” Mims said. “We will be able to feed off each other’s energy and also understand what mental toughness Jayden displayed all last year playing both sides of the ball.”
Cawthon is heading into his fifth year as the head coach of the Eagles. His team finished 11-2 overall and 5-1 in Region 8-AAAA. The sole loss coming to the eventual state champion, the North Oconee Titans 40-35 in an instant classic on the road.The Eagles averaged 37.9 points per game on offense while the defense averaged giving up 13.7 points per game.
“With being in the same region as the defending state champions, it will help us understand where we are as a team heading into late October and making a playoff push, “ Shaw said. “As a leader on the team, our standard is our standard so it’s my job to make sure that the standard doesn’t change.”
The Eagles took on Peachtree Ridge Lions in their fall scrimmage on Aug, 7 at Peachtree Ridge before taking on their county rival, Newton eight days later with the kickoff starting at 7:30 p.m. at Sharp Stadium The Eagles are looking to start the season by defending the Newton Cup as they defeated the Newton Rams, 26-15 and the Alcovy Tigers 54-9 to secure last year’s Newton Cup.
