Eastside High vs. Orange Park: A Messy Game in the Sky and on the Field As Rams Lose

By Jensen Young and Angel Wells

First Half Offense

The Orange Park Raiders had an impressive first half showing on offense. They scored a rushing touchdown by senior running back Alex Collier, a passing touchdown from Vincent Walker Jr. to Stewart Udell Jr. and a 40 yard field goal. Eastside High Schools’s offense, on the other hand, was looking a little lackluster. The Rams only scored one rushing touchdown courtesy of Carleton Brooks. Orange Park’s Diego Soto also contributed over 75 receiving yards in the first half.

Penalties and other defensive mishaps

Penalties proved to be a big problem for Eastside’s defense. The Rams defense gave up two pass interferences, a face mask penalty, and one personal foul for 50 yards of penalties in just the second quarter.

Eastside’s defense was continuing to struggle through the third quarter despite not giving up any points. There were some players looking lost and a timeout wasted because there were too many men on the field. Just before the end of the third quarter, there were two unsportsmanlike conduct penalties and and an ejection for Eastside High and Orange Park following a fight after a kickoff. Another altercation occurred on the sideline halfway through the final period resulting in a second ejection for the Rams.

Second Half Showing

Both teams put points on the board in the second half. Deion Jenkins scored a rushing touchdown for Eastside and Sean Dixon scored a receiving touchdown for Orange Park. Eastside freshman quarterback Holden Johnson was very quiet in the first half, but got more comfortable in the second half with 10 passes and eight completions for 119 yards. A pretty decent showing from the freshman in Anthony Richardson’s absence.

Overall play and going into next week

Throughout the game, the entire Rams team displayed quite the lack of discipline which was a very large factor in their 10 point loss. Eastside High drops to 2-6 but looks to bounce back next week at Santa Fe. Santa Fe will be coming off of a win and stands at 4-4 on the season.