The first time the Eastside football team played South Sumter (Bushnell), a 27-21 victory in overtime on Oct. 10 to win the Class 3A-District 5 title, the Rams trailed 13-0 at the half.

But on Friday night at Citizens Field in the FHSAA Class 3A-Region 2 Quarterfinals, No. 4 seed Eastside scored on its first three possessions for a dominating 42-15 victory at home against the No. 5 seed Raiders.

Senior quarterback Nelson Tambling had four touchdowns, two on the ground and two through the air, as the Rams led from start to finish for their sixth straight victory.

“It’s actually my first playoff game and win of my entire high school career as a football player,” Tambling said. “It just means an overwhelming sort of thing for me because it’s been kind of like dreams come to fruition sort of thing, something you dream about since you were a little kid.”

South Sumter began the game with an onside kick, but the Rams recovered at their own 49-yard line.

Three straight running plays by sophomore running back Javaris Gardner gained 15 yards to put the ball in Raiders’ territory.

Later in the drive, on a 4th-and-2 at the Raiders’ 15-yard line, senior Kamariyon Mack ran for nine yards down to the 6-yard line.

Following a false start, Gardner scored on an 11-yard run to give Eastside (9-2) a 7-0 lead following senior kicker Elijah Dressel’s extra point with 6:11 remaining in the first quarter.

“I think it gave our defense a lot of momentum too,” said Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins. “Hey, we’re up 7-0, all we’ve got to do is stop them. I think our defense already plays great, but when they can come out and let their hair loose and peel their ears back…defense has been doing it all year, but I think once the offense gets started, it just gives a boost to that defense.”

Although the Raiders (6-5) converted a 4th-and-1 from their own 37-yard line on their first possession, their drive stalled, and they punted it back to the Rams.

From their own 33-yard line, Gardner ran for 13 yards to get the ball near midfield, and three plays later, Tambling completed a 40-yard pass to senior wide receiver Kaleb Mckinnon to the 12-yard line.

“Coming into the week, we had a great week of practice, from film study to getting on the field, walk-through, to live action and practice, so we were pretty prepared,” said Mckinnon, who finished with four catches for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

Gardner scored his second touchdown, a 12-yard run with 31 seconds left in the quarter, for a 14-0 lead.

Eastside flipped the field with a punt return by senior Caylen Ferguson to the South Sumter 34-yard line, followed by a 15-yard penalty against the Raiders, which put the ball in the red zone.

Tambling had runs of four and three yards to the 7-yard line, followed by a 6-yard run by Garnder. That set up a 1-yard scoring run by Tambling for a 21-0 lead with 7:35 to play in the half.

After South Sumter punted again, Eastside began a drive at its own 38-yard line and drove down to the Raiders’ 6-yard line. A false start moved it back to the 11-yard line and the drive stalled.

But that’s when momentum shifted.

Dressel’s 27-yard field goal was blocked and returned to the Eastside 31-yard line by junior Kiwanis Cope.

Four plays later, junior quarterback Milo Patterson completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Louis Brown with just two seconds left in the half to put South Sumter, which would receive the second half kickoff, on the scoreboard for the first time.

“We went into halftime, and we told them, ‘Hey, you just gave them life right there so defense, you got to come out and get a stop,’ and they did, and we went down and scored,” Hoskins said. “And that’s what’s got to happen. You know, a swing like that when a team scores right before half, and getting the ball out of the halftime, is a big swing, so we had to make sure that we came out and stopped them, and we had to do something when we got the ball.”

South Sumter moved the ball from its own 21-yard line to the Eastside 35-yard line on its first drive of the second half.

However, senior outside linebacker Tramayne Montague got his third interception of the year and returned it nine yards to the Eastside 40-yard line.

Gardner, who finished with 18 carries for 165 yards and two touchdowns, had a 55-yard run to the Raiders’ 1-yard line, and Tambling scored from a yard out for a 28-7 lead just three minutes into the second half.

Tambling added touchdown passes of 9 and 32 yards to Mckinnon to ensure a running clock with 6:51 remaining in the game.

Eastside will travel to top seed Bishop Moore (Orlando) next Friday in the regional semifinals. The Hornets (10-1) defeated No. 8 seed Hernando (Brooksville), 61-6, to advance.

Football scores

FHSAA Regional Semifinals

Friday, Nov. 14

Class Rural-Region 2

4 Taylor County (Perry) 28, 13 Trenton 7

Class Rural-Region 3

3 Chiefland 44, 14 Sneads (7-3) 6

Class Rural-Region 4

7 Williston 42, 10 Lafayette (Mayo) 14 

2 Hawthorne 42, 15 Branford (7-3) 0

FHSAA Regional Quarterfinals

Thursday, Nov. 13

Class 6A-Region 1

1 Buchholz 49,8 Oviedo 41

Friday, Nov. 21

Class 2A-Region 2

1 Bradford (Starke) 55, 8 Avon Park 0 

2 Calvary Christian (Clearwater) 34, 7 Santa Fe (Alachua) 30

3 Cocoa 42, 6 Newberry 13

Class 3A-Region 2

4 Eastside 42, 5 South Sumter (Bushnell) 14 

Class 4A-Region 1

3 Columbia (Lake City) 35, 6 Rickards (Tallahassee) 0 

SSAA  Regional Semifinals

Friday, Nov. 14

11-man 3A Second Round

Oak Hall 51, The Masters Academy (Oviedo) 34

8-man 1A

Saint Francis Catholic Academy 73, The Classical Academy of Sarasota (Sarasota) 60