Northside-“My heart was pounding…I knew I had to catch it or I would get in trouble”, this was Eagle’s Views Ethan Andrews response after he found himself wide open and the ball in the air heading towards him for the game winning touchdown. The catch and the score dawned a win for Eagles View, yet a devastating blow to the Joshua Christian Eagles after leading most of the game. The Eagles View Warriors would win the game 26-20 thanks to the Andrews catch.
Joshua Christian received the ball first led by sophomore quarterback Tyree Bryant. The Eagles started the game on the ground starting with their run game led by senior running back Joseph Christian, who was able to gain two yards in his first two runs. Bryant was able to run for the first down on a long third and eight.
After running the ball on consecutive plays. Joshua Christian was able to get the ball in the red zone against the Warriors. Running the ball up the middle allowed for a defender to get their hand on the ball causing a fumble that was recovered by Eagles View’s junior running back and strong safety Jakahri Johnson.
Eagle’s View Coach Andrea started his first offensive possession with several trick plays trying to throw off the defensive schemes of Joshua Christian. A direct snaps to sophomore running back Cory McCalip and senior fullback Michael Gebremedhin Jr yielded minimal gains. After what seemed to be quick three and out by the Warriors, they faked a punt on fourth down and ran for the first down behind junior wide receiver Jacob Kern.
Penalties and runs with little gains were the name of the game for the rest of the possessions to end the quarter, neither team was able to make any moves on the ball. Defensive tackles by the Warriors Kern and the Eagles senior defensive back Dewayne Brown stopped teams from gaining first downs. The start of the second quarter the Warriors had the ball and had two back to back open field runs by Hunter and Kern to put the Warriors in scoring position. After three failed run attempts, they were able to punch the ball in with a run by Gebremedhin. Eagles View led 6-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Warriors kicked it short to Brown and he ran it back 65 yards for a touchdown, after the two-point conversion Joshua Christian would be up 8-6 and take a lead into halftime.
In the second half, an impressive kickoff return by Andrews got the momentum on Eagles View side. However, an overhead snap took them back over 15 yards. The Warriors were forced to punt, yet Joshua Christian was unable to do anything with the ball either and was forced to punt. Joshua Christian finally got on the board after a long run set up a short touchdown run the Eagles were now up 14-6 over the Warriors.
The Eagles were hyped and could taste victory in the air. They were playing great defense, and all they had to do was keep it up heading into the fourth quarter. Yet Eagles View had an answer to that momentum. Kern ran for a big first down of 25 yards on third and four. This set up a Hunter touchdown for the Warriors, they weren’t able to convert the game tying two point conversion so the score was now 14-12.
The fans started to get into the game, chanting and trash talking one another. Joshua Christian desperately wanting its first win and avenging a 52-0 loss to Eagles View from the previous year. Eagles View did an on-sides kick that the Joshua Christian recovered. The Eagles senior fullback Darran Mathis was able to score making the score now 20-12 in favor of the Eagles with eight minutes left in the game.
The Warriors got the ball back after good defensive play-calling and play making and ran it down the field on the back of Hunter. Hunter was able to score a touchdown for Eagles View, but once again the two-point conversion failed as they trailed Joshua Christian by two points 20-18.
The Eagles were looking to run out the clock, yet a quick three and out with almost no time coming off the clock put the ball back in the Warriors hands. Yet the first play of the drive saw a pass forced into double coverage getting picked off by Brown seemingly sealing the victory for Joshua Christian.
Questionable clock management by the Eagles forced them to punt and gave the Warriors one more chance to score. This time they wouldn’t miss. A wide-open Andrews caught the ball and ran untouched or the score.
After the successful two point conversion the score was 26-20 Eagles View with just seconds left on the clock. Joshua Christian tried a Hail Mary but it was intercepted by Hunter ending the game.
Eagles View was led by Hunter with two touchdowns and an interception. Joshua Christian would be led in the pass attack by Bryant with 70 pass yards. Christian would lead them on the ground with 101 rush yards. Casstleberry led the defensive attack with 9 tackles and 3 big sacks.
Joshua Christian (0-3) will travel down to Orlando to take on Jordan Christian Prep (1-1), continuing their journey to look for the football programs first win. Eagle’s View (2-1) will travel to Interlachen (2-1), looking to avenge their loss from last year.
