Eastside’s season was on the line. And it didn’t look pretty.
Trailing Thomson by seven in the first round of the Class AAAA playoffs, the Eagles were at their own 3-yard line with a 1:40 to play. They had no timeouts. But there was no panic. That came earlier, when they came out sluggish, committed four turnovers and fell behind by 21.
Poised and calm, Eastside coach Rick Hurst didn’t give any urgent instructions to his team, and communication among coaches on the headsets was calm. The Eagles had been in a similar situation in Week 2 and managed to put together a 95-yard scoring drive in a little over a minute to tie a game they eventually won in overtime against Madison County. But it was still a daunting task.
The drive started with sophomore quarterback Austin Holloway hooking up with Quintrell Mathis over the middle to get the Eagles out of the shadow of their goal posts. Leading receiver Josh Sims caught a tunnel screen to pick up and 3rd-and-10 and move into Thomson Territory. The drive stalled, though, at the Thomson 34, leaving the Eagles faced with a 4th-and-10.
Hurst called a throwback screen, a play that had gone for about 40 yards earlier in the game.
“We thought they were going to bring pressure and that we were going to be able to get it off and have some running room,” Hurst said. “But actually their defensive line just stopped; so our offensive line stopped. Our quarterback took off and scrambled and a couple receivers took off down the field. I thought we were going to get called for lineman downfield, but everyone just kind of stopped, except for Austin (Holloway). Quin Mathis got behind everyone, and Austin saw him and heaved it about 50 yards for a touchdown. It was exciting.”
It was exciting, yet calm during the drive. Hurst credits the late-game preparation that team practices every Wednesday. During these drills, he gives the team the situation—the time, the score and how many timeouts—then runs the clock and makes the offense execute.
“I often hear kids on our sidelines on Wednesday saying ‘We’re a no-huddle; why are we doing this?’” Hurst said. “Then you get in that situation and you see exactly why.”
The Eagles would go on to beat Thomson in double overtime on a missed extra point. Now, Eastside has to take its poise and preparation on the road to face a surging St. Pius X team in the second round. The Golden Lions have won nine in a row since dropping their first two games.
Hurst pointed to defensive end Arthur Holmes and linebackers Cody Mash (great linebacker name) and Micah Hart as to players who need to step to contain the St. Pius patented option attack.
“It’s one of the most deflating offenses for a defense if you can’t stop it,” Hurst said of the St. Pius ground game. “They’re content to get 3, 4 yards and a first down. They’ll do it all night. But I like our plan.”
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