Eastside Rams Shut Out North Marion Colts, 42-0

The Eastside Rams are one step closer to another district football title after routing the North Marion Colts, 42-0, Thursday night at Citizens Field.

Eastside Finds Comfort in the End Zone

The Rams (3-2 overall, 1-0 district) found no problem seeing the end zone against the Colts. Eastside scored six touchdowns in 10 drives.

Halfway through the first quarter, junior running back Corvin Byrd found his way through Colts defenders to score the first of four rushing touchdowns for Eastside.

Success did not stop there for Eastside. In three consecutive drives, the Rams racked up a whopping 22 points in the second quarter for a 28-0 advantage at the half.

The first of these scores was a 55-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Adrian Curtis to junior wide receiver Davion Pugh.

A play made by the special teams set the tone for the remainder of the game for the Rams. Defenders blocked a Colts’ punt that was recovered by the Rams and carried into the end zone by Victor White for their third touchdown of the game.

Rams coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins praised his special teams unit.

“That blocked punt, easy touchdown, we talked about it today in film session,” he said. “You know, they just came. The guys came and executed the game plan.”

The half ended with a 20-yard touchdown rush from Curtis.

Two more rushing touchdowns were scored in the second half by senior running back Joshua Benjamin and sophomore running back Kenneth Mcclellan in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.

 

Rams’ Persistent Defense

On both sides of the ball, the Rams came into this game with a dominating mindset. The defense toppled every opportunity that North Marion (1-3, 0-1) held with the ball.

Eastside had five interceptions in the game, two were caught by senior safety Dj Anderson.

“Just watching film and preparing for the game and knowing what’s gonna come,” Anderson said of his picks. “I just made the play that came to me.”

Anderson also shed light on the coaches’ ability to put together a great game plan.

Tensions Arise in the Pursuit of District Title

In the third quarter, a mild altercation occurred after a late hit from a North Marion player. Tension increased and the quarrel had to be split up by officials and coaches.

Hoskins got his team to regroup.

“I got them together and gave them a message,” he said. “You know that’s not us. We’re better than that. We do our talking out on the field and let the scoreboard do that.”

Anderson spoke about the team’s motivation to win Thursday night’s game.

“We just want to get this win for our coaches. They put in so much work.”

Up next

Eastside will play at Orange Park Ridgeview at 7 p.m. next Friday. Hoskins said preparation will be key.

“Taking it one game at a time, you know? Staying focused,” he said. “Staying prepared. Understanding what happened last year. Bad taste in your mouth, and, again, I asked the boys at the end of the game  ‘How does this feel?’ They said it felt great so let’s continue that.”