Eagles falls short in region championship, captures second seed in upcoming playoffs

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — As I stepped onto the field at McConnell Talbert Stadium, I could feel the electricity in the air. The Northside Eagles, who were in second place coming into the game, were about to battle the Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets for the region championship. Northside played a great game Friday, but they came up a bit short against Thomas County Central, the undefeated region champs. Riding the momentum from back-to-back wins—an upset at Lee County and a blowout win against Veterans at home—Northside looked like the better team early in the game, keeping Thomas County under control with their stout defense. Thomas County played extremely well in the second half, however, making big plays when they needed to score.

Thomas County won the toss and elected to kick the ball, so Northside received the opening kickoff. It was a defensive struggle in the first quarter, with both teams trying to find a way to get their offense moving. Northside managed to pick up a first down, thanks in part to a penalty, but they couldn’t get the ground game going, so they had to punt it away. The punter hit a beautiful punt, pinning Thomas County deep inside their own territory, at the three-yard line. Thomas County moved the chains, using short passes and runs, but Northside’s defense was flying around the field, laying hats on people. There was definitely some hitting going on in this game.

Despite getting great field possession on the nest offensive series, Northside could not capitalize, and they exchanged possessions several times. In the first quarter, Northside’s defensive backs had Thomas County’s wide receivers on lock down, reading the routes and batting away passes.

Late in first quarter, D.J. Hudson, who took over the starting role against Lee County, got things going with a big run, putting Northside near Thomas County’s 20-yard line. Northside picked up another first down in the second quarter, setting up first-and-goal from the nine-yard line. Thomas County’s defense managed to hold Northside to a fourth down, but a penalty put Northside half the distance to the goal, and Coach Alligood, liking his chances from the one-yard line, decided to go for it, and Hudson finished off the drive with a sweep around the left side, putting Northside up 7-0 after they tacked on the extra point.

Thomas County’s high-powered offense finally woke up on the next drive. Northside gave up a long run, something Coach Alligood said they needed to avoid if they wanted to win this game, but Northside’s defense tightened up when Thomas County was threatening to score a touchdown, and they held Thomas County to a field goal, making it 7-3 Northside. Thomas County managed to march down the field on their next drive, however, and they scored on a 31-yard pass, putting them up 10-7.

Although they gave up 10 points, Northside’s defense was playing well in the first half, keeping the prolific offense of Thomas County, who is used to putting up big numbers as they averaged over 40 points a game this season, in check. Northside got the ball back right before halftime, and they put together a nice drive, which culminated in a 14-yard touchdown run by Duke Mcclinton, who dove about four feet and hit the pylon with the ball on a brilliant run. This put Northside up 14-10 before halftime.

On the opening drive of the second half, Thomas County drove the ball right down the field, scoring on a short run to go up 17-14. From that point on, it would be all Thomas County Central as Northside could not find the end zone in the second half. Ricardo Jones intercepted a pass in the third quarter, which would have given the Eagles great field position, but a Thomas County player stripped the ball on the interception return, giving the ball back to Thomas County. That was a tough chain of events, which seemed to suck the life out of the home crowd.

Thomas County scored again to go up 24-14, and that would be the final score. Northside threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter, which sealed the deal for Thomas County.

“They made a couple more plays than we made,” said Coach Alligood after the game. “It comes down in a game like this to whoever makes those plays—they did and we didn’t. Hats off to Coach Rogers and Thomas County Central—it was a heck of a ball game.”

Since Northside beat Lee County, they remained in second place in the region, and they will host a playoff game Friday against Glynn Academy, who also went 6-4 on the season. It should be a good matchup, but Northside should be able to take care of business and move on to the next round. Northside has already beaten some of the top teams in the state—North Cobb and Lee County—so we know they can compete against any team they will face in the post season. Their defense is one of the best defenses in the state, and they held Thomas County Central to just 24 points, which was their lowest point total by far this season.

If Northside can get hot and stick to their style of smash-mouth defense, they could go the distance in the playoffs. They have a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, but DJ Hudson is a young quarterback, and he made several mistakes against Thomas County Central, including two interceptions. He has a lot of potential, however, and he gives Northside more options with the passing game. If he can hit his stride in the post season, it could elevate Northside’s offense, which would be huge. Hudson showed some flashes of brilliance against Veterans—a game in which Northisde put up over 50 points, their highest point total the season. As Coach Alligood has previously stated, Northside just has to execute and not give up the big plays. We will have to see how it turns out.

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