Warner Robins shuts down Northside for eight straight wins in the Crosstown Showdown

WARNER ROBINS — The Warner Robins Demons beat their crosstown rival, the Northside Eagles, 34-12 in the continuation of the longest head-to-head series in Georgia high school football history. 

The Demons stout defense won the turnover battle and kept the Eagles’ offense out of the end zone the entire game. However, Northside’s special teams made several big plays throughout the night.

PHOTOS: See more photos from the 67th edition of the Crosstown Showdown.

Warner Robins (2-1) struck first as Skylar Williams tossed a six-yard touchdown pass to Daymond Batts halfway through the first quarter. 

Northside (2-1) answered with a field goal from Cody Nelson after the Warner Robins defense put together a goal-line stand. 

Late in the second quarter, Williams connected with Rasean Dinkins for a 28-yard touchdown pass to go up 14-3. 

On the ensuing kickoff, Northside suffered a horrific blunder and fumbled the ball deep in their own territory. This gave Warner Robins the ball back with less than a minute left on the clock. 

Seeking to go up two scores at the half, Warner Robins lined up to kick a field goal, but a swarm of Northside defensive linemen blocked the kick. 

Bristol Blasingame recovered the ball for the Eagles and raced down the field for a 71-yard touchdown to close the scoring gap between the teams. Instead of going up 21-3 at the half, it was 14-10 Demons to end the first half.

Will Shepherd, kicker for Warner Robins, made two huge game-altering tackles on special teams in the second half. Without Shepherd making those stops, the score would reflect differently. 

Williams made big plays with his arm and his feet when it mattered most for Warner Robins. 

On the Demons’ first drive in the third quarter, Williams rushed for over thirty yards on one play to set up a red zone touchdown scamper by Travis English Jr. to make the game 20-10. 

Northside put together a solid drive — a 46-yard pass to Blasingame from Jayden Wright followed by a pair of first down runs — but they were unable to capitalize on good field position and turned the ball over on downs.

A three-and-out later by the Demons gave the ball back to the Eagles at midfield. On the first play of the drive, Wright fired to his left and the ball was intercepted by Dinkins, the first of his two interceptions on the night. 

Not one to stay on the sideline for long, Williams found Dinkins again for 32 yards to go up 27-10. 

To start the fourth quarter, the Warner Robins long snapper snapped the ball high over Shepherd’s head, who was able to recover the ball, but tossed the ball out of the end zone for a safety. 

The Demons marched down the field from their own 27-yard line for the final points of the night on an 11-yard rushing touchdown to put the game well out of reach. 

Rasean Dinkins, a two-way athlete for Warner Robins committed to Georgia Tech, had a huge game on both sides of the ball, contributing three total touchdowns on offense and two interceptions on defense. 

Warner Robins head coach Shane Sams was ecstatic after the game (and his Gatorade bath) and noted the good with the bad: 

“I thought our kids came out and played pretty well. We dominated on offense and defense, but our special teams hurt us a little bit. I think the game could have turned out differently if we did not have some of the mistakes on special teams, so those are things we have to clean up.” 

The win for Warner Robins broke their own win streak record in the series, besting a seven-game run over Northside from 1968-1974. 

The Demons now lead the Eagles 42-25 in the series. 

UP NEXT

The Warner Robins Demons will head across town to take on the Houston County Bears (3-0) in a non-region game next Friday, Sept. 6 at 7:30 p.m. 

The Northside Eagles will be on a bye week and will see action the following week on the road against the Burke County Bears (2-1) in a non-region game on Friday, Sept. 13 at 7:30 p.m.