Northside football wins battle of the birds 38-18 to open the season

WARNER ROBINS — Northside rode the energy of their charged defense and powerful running game to come out on top in this battle of the Eagles. James Turner led the offense with two rushing touchdowns, while on the defensive side Markel Johnson and Isaiah Haynes each had a pick-six of their own.

To start the game, The Eagles’ (1-0) defense promptly sent Eagle’s Landing (0-1) off the field in a three-and-out.

Northside started their drive from around the 50-yard line due to a shanked punt. Conservative runs and wide receiver screens carried them to the 20-yard line. However, they turned the ball over on downs instead of attempting the long field goal, giving possession back to the Golden Eagles.

The Northside defense returned to the field, and on the second play of the drive, linebacker Isaiah Haynes caught a pick-six to put Northside up 7-0.

Running back James Turner powered through a 13-yard run to put Northside up 14-0.

Eagle’s Landing responded by putting together a solid drive punctuated by a two-yard quarterback keep from Breylan Dewberry. However, this drive was kept alive more than once by a few Northside offsides penalties. A missed extra point put the score at 14-6.

A field goal put Northside up 17-6, but the offense slowed down in the following drives.

Quarterback Jayden Wright threw interceptions on back-to-back drives. After the first interception, the defense was able to make a goal-line stand and get the ball back inside the one. After escaping the trouble of the poor field position, Wright threw a pick-six. Another missed extra point from Eagle’s Landing put the score at 17-13

Northside offense kept its composure and put together a bruising drive. Taylor scored his second rushing touchdown to put the score at 24-12 going to halftime. 

Northside faced fourth-and-long on their first drive of the second half. Wright threw up a prayer to the end zone and wide receiver Briston Blasingame gave the Eagles their one and only passing touchdown to push the score to 31-12.

The defense scored again for Northside as Markel Johnson brought in a pick-six of his own to make it 38-12.

The Golden Eagles had the final score with a minute left, making the final 38-18.

There were questions about who was going to lead this Eagle backfield this season. James Turner answered strongly on Friday with two rushing touchdowns. Defensive pressure, especially the pass rush, was clicking as well.

While the final score appears dominating, Northside has plenty of room for improvement.

“We got some things to fix. Offsides a couple of times on third and fourth downs … There were penalties that would keep us from scoring or giving them an opportunity to extend the drive,” Northside coach Ben Bailey said. “ So just some discipline stuff. We made a lot of progress but we are not where we want to be.”

UP NEXT

Eagle’s Landing’s special teams struggled to execute. Because of this, Northside drives often started near midfield. It will be interesting to see how this Eagle offense handles tougher starting field positions in their matchup at Baldwin next Friday, Aug. 23 at 7:30 p.m.