A 16-point halftime lead for Eastside was nearly erased against Trinity Catholic on Thursday evening at Citizen’s Field, and it came down to the final play for the Rams to win it.
Leading 16-10 in the final seconds, a Hail Mary heave from Carter Schofield was tipped and landed in the right hand of Eastside defender Orian Ellis Jr., who was lying on his back.
“Had to get deep, a deep ball. My homeboy Dennis (Hale), shoutout to him, he tipped it. I kind of caught it with one hand,” Ellis Jr. said. “I kind of reached for it, and then when I hit the ground, it kind of bounced in my hand even more. I just secured it.”
With the win, the Rams snap a two-game losing streak and move back up to .500 on the season.
“I’m happy that we got back on the winning track,” said Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins. “We needed that after two tough losses, but I was not impressed with the second half.”
A short touchdown rush by Eastside quarterback Andrew Sutherland was followed by a 26-yard touchdown catch from Daijon Johnson, coupled with a missed extra point kick, plus a 32-yard field goal from Elijah Dressel for a 16-0 Rams lead midway through the second quarter.
From there, sloppiness plagued Eastside and Trinity Catholic began to chip away.
Late in the second quarter, the Rams recovered a fumble inside the Celtics’ 20-yard line. Despite eventually having first-and-goal from the five, three runs of no positive yardage made it fourth-and-goal.
Rather than attempt the field goal, Eastside threw an incomplete pass and turned the ball over on the 7-yard line. The Rams went 1-for-5 on fourth-down conversions on the night and had a mirage of penalties late in the game. The defense, however, remained strong throughout the third quarter.
“We’re a ‘bend but don’t break’ defense,” Hoskins said. “But we’ve just been having too many penalties. That’s on me. We’ve been very undisciplined these last two games, starting with the Buchholz game, and this one put them in a position to get some points. But the defense, they’ve been playing great all season.”
It would take until the fourth quarter for Trinity Catholic’s offense to find points with a five-yard touchdown pass from Schofield and a 32-yard field goal to make it 16-10 with 6:23 left.
A surprise onside kick attempt failed, and Eastside drained almost five minutes of clock while forcing the Celtics to use all three timeouts behind 58 yards rushing from Kennith McClellan.
Ellis Jr. ended Trinity Catholic’s hopes in the final second of the game with his one-handed interception.
Next week, Eastside (2-2) host Williston (1-1), who plays Zephyrhills Christian Academy on Friday.
