The dominance over rival GHS continues for the Eastside football team.
On Friday night at Citizens Field, the host Rams got six first half touchdown passes from senior quarterback Nelson Tambling to rout the Hurricanes, 63-0, on Senior Night.
The Eastside senior class finished 4-0 against GHS and outscored the ‘Canes, 174-0.
“I’m so proud of these seniors,” said Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins. “They came out and did what they’re supposed to do, took care of business, another shutout. We had a great performance, but we’ve got to fix those small things, getting ready to go into the playoffs, so we’ve got to get better.”
Eastside won the toss and elected to receive. The Rams (8-2), who won their fifth straight game, set the tone on the first drive of the game.
They marched 67 yards on five plays and completed the drive with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Tambling to senior Antonio Cortez for a quick 7-0 lead.
“Definitely a tone setter,” Tambling said. “I think something we’ve been working on on offense is being able to set the momentum early, be able to start fast…I think we’ve gotten better and better at it throughout the season…I think we’re definitely starting to roll, so that’s why we wanted the ball. We trust our defense. But hey, we want to get the offense moving.”
Gainesville turned it over on its first offensive possession and Eastside went up 14-0 on a 50-yard pick-6 by sophomore cornerback Malicah Williams.
GHS (2-8), which lost its seventh straight game, fumbled on its next possession and junior Ja’Marian Reaves recovered, giving the Rams the ball at the Hurricanes’ 37-yard line.
Despite an Eastside personal foul and a Rams’ holding call, sophomore running back ran for 21 yards on a 1st down and 20. A few plays later Tambling completed a 15-yard scoring pass to senior Kaleb Mckinnon for a 21-0 lead with 2:21 remaining in the opening quarter.
Following a Gainesville punt, the Rams began their next drive at the GHS 40-yard line.
Gardner, who entered the game needing 115 yards to go over 1,000 yards rushing, had back-to-back 12-yard runs, followed by runs of 6, 3, and 2 yards. Two plays later, Tambling threw a 4-yard TD pass to senior Marcus Coefield for a 28-0 lead.
But the Rams weren’t done yet.
They began their next possession at the Rams’ 40-yard line, and on the first play Gardner raced to the house for a 40-yard scoring run and a 35-0 lead, ensuring a running clock in the second half should the lead hold up.
“He’s a heck of a ball player,” Hoskins said. “Shout out to our offensive line for blocking their butts off and shout out to our defense, man, they played really, really hard.”
The scoring run put Gardner over 100 yards and he would finish the half with 134 yards on only 12 carries to help him reach the milestone.
“I want to thank my O-line for the 1,000 yards today,” he said. “I came out and played my heart out for these boys. The whole line came out and did their part, and I got it.”
Gainesville senior Aric Welch returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards, but on the first play from scrimmage, senior Demarco Daniels intercepted a tipped pass by GHS quarterback Jai-Shawn Sanford at the Eastside 31-yard line.
Senior Caylen Ferguson began the next drive with a 29-yard run to move the ball into GHS territory again, and Tambling completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to Coefield for a 42-0 lead with 6:07 to play in the half.
It got uglier, as GHS was backed up to its own 11-yard line and senior Tramayne Montague had an interception and 15-yard return down to the ‘Canes 10-yard line.
On the next play, Tambling found McKinnon again on a 10-yard scoring pass for a 49-0 lead just 28 seconds after the previous touchdown.
After a Gainesville punt, Tambling threw his 6th touchdown of the night, a 31-yard pass to senior wide receiver Caylen Ferguson for a 56-0 lead at the half.
“We kind of came in the game aiming to try to get our seniors a touchdown,” Hoskins said. “He found some great looks, threw the ball really well, got a couple guys wide open, and I’m just happy and proud of those guys.”
Eastside’s offense finished 7-for-7 on touchdown drives in the first half.
Late in the third quarter, with Eastside’s reserves in the game, GHS sophomore Samuel Warren had a 52-yard run, followed by a 16-yard run, to put the ball at the Eastside 16-yard line.
However, Hoskins put his first team back in the game and Reaves intercepted a pass in the end zone to preserve the shutout.
“We tried to make sure we secured the shutout, letting the seniors go out with four years of GHS never scoring on them,” Hoskins said.
The Rams then marched 80 yards, highlighted by a 73-yard run by sophomore running back Camron Woods down to the 6-yard line.
Sophomore quarterback Andrew Sutherland threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to senior Kamariyon Mack in the right corner of the end zone to complete the scoring.
Eastside, which entered the game as the No. 4 seed in Class 3A-Region 2, will find out on Thursday during the FHSAA’s bracket release show when and where they will play in the first round of the state playoffs in two weeks.
The Rams could have a rematch against No. 5 seed South Sumter (Bushnell), whom they defeated in overtime to win the 3A-District 5 title on Oct. 10.
High School Football Scores
Thursday, Oct. 30
Chiles (Tallahassee) 55, Suwannee (Live Oak) 28
Crescent City 36, Keystone Heights 9
Trenton 39, Central (Brooksville) 21
Friday, Oct. 31
Bolles (Jacksonville) 31, Columbia (Lake City) 0
Branford 49, Hamilton County (Jasper) 6
Buchholz 34, Cardinal Newman (West Palm Beach) 30
Chiefland 42, Union County (Lake Butler) 0
Eastside 63, GHS 0
Fort White 19, Baker County (Glen St. Mary) 7
Impact Christian Academy (Jacksonville) 64, P.K. Yonge 6
Newberry 40, Trinity Catholic (Ocala) 16
Santa Fe (Alachua) 17, Weeki Wachee 0
Williston 64, KIPP Bold City (Jacksonville) 0
OFF – Bradford (Starke), Dixie County (Cross City), Hawthorne
SSAA Playoffs (First Round)
Thursday, Oct. 30
11-man 3A championship
2 Oak Hall 28, 7 Trinity Prep (Winter Park) 7
Atlantic League 1A Championship
1 Interlachen 74, 2 Bronson 36
Friday, Oct. 31
Atlantic League State Championship
2 Fernandina Beach 48, 7 Bell 21
8-man 1A championship
5 First Coast Christian (Jacksonville) 38, 12 Cornerstone Academy 0
6 Saint Francis Catholic Academy 54, 11 Oasis Christian (Winter Haven) 0
8-man state championship
3 Merritt Island Christian 38, 14 Countryside Christian 0
