Northside 55, Warner Robins 3

The rivalry between Northside High School and Warner Robins High School has waged on a long time and always will as long as the two schools stand tall and continue representing the city. That said, the two places of learning do not have to pretend there is currently a rivalry in football. Friday night’s game between the Eagles and the Demons at The Mac told everyone in attendance -the stands were nearly full on the Warner Robins side and were jam packed on the Northside end- that at least for the time being, the football rivalry is dead. The Eagles defeated the Demons 55-3, scoring points on 80 percent of their offensive drives, most of which were aided by Warner Robins turnovers that left Northside deep in Demons territory. The Demons turned the ball over six times on Friday night; three by way of fumble and a total of three interceptions. The fumbles came on mishandled snaps and traditional deposits of the football into the hands of would-be tacklers. Demons head coach Mike Chastain is in his first year with the program after years of success at Houston County High School and understands there will be a few bumps in the road and growing pains along the path to success. If nothing else tonight has to make for a heck of a teaching tool for junior Demons quarterback Dalton Hedden, a former Northside football player. His three interceptions all but guaranteed the Eagles (the “home” team for this game) an advantage since they kept coming deep in Warner Robins territory. His first interception came courtesy of senior outside linebacker D’juan Smith. Two plays later following a Tobias Oliver 15-yard scramble and a DeSean Dinkins one-yard run, the Eagles were up 7-0. Oliver, a senior quarterback with years of experience in big games for Northside, scored touchdowns in this game with his feet, arm and hands. He would catch a 20-yard touchdown from sophomore backup quarterback Jadin Daniels to put the Eagles ahead 14-0 late in the first quarter. Dinkins would finish the game with 135 rushing yards.

To say it was just Northside’s night is to take credit away from an Eagles defense that never allowed more than three consecutive Warner Robins first downs. Senior free safety Tae Daley and junior linebacker Cam Williams both had crowd pleasing hits on Warner Robins ball handlers. Senior strong safety Isaiah Nelson recovered a fumble on the Demon 11 yard line. Sophomore defensive back Tubby McCall’s interception at midfield was returned to the Warner Robins 17 yard line and swiftly followed by a 4-yard run by junior running back Courtney Patmon for the Eagles’ final score of the night.

Northside brings to the table one of the region’s best running back combinations in Dinkins and fellow senior Trayvon Willis who is listed as a receiver on the depth chart but carries the ball out of the backfield as much as he catches it. He would score his only touchdown of the game during the second quarter on a 21-yard burst up the middle of the field while being chased in a valiant effort by Warner Robins’ sophomore defensive back Keshawn Duvall. At times it felt like the Demons were doing a lot more chasing than being chased. Their sole points on the evening came from their best player -at least during this game- senior kicker/punter Eli Mashburn. The 6′, 180-pound Mashburn, on more than one occasion punted Northside either in their end zone for a touchback or very close to it. One punt ended up on the one-yard line after rolling a few yards. Even the brilliant Mashburn couldn’t hide from the bad Warner Robins mojo on this night, fumbling a snap on a punt attempt that put Northside in scoring position.

Having taken care of little brother, the Eagles will move on to a tougher task this Friday when they host the Henry County High School Warhawks (4A-Region 4, McDonough, Ga.) at The Mac. The Warhawks have not played a game since their season opening scrimmage against intra-city rival Ola on Aug. 12. Here’s to hoping they get a better test than they did against their “rival” Warner Robins.

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