Buchholz Secures Win Against Eastside With Second-Half Surge

After a slow start to the high school football game Friday night at Citizens Field, the Buchholz Bobcats pushed forward in the second half to secure a 35-7 win against the Eastside Rams.

Aside from a 14-yard touchdown run by Jasiah Powell in the first quarter, the Bobcats (3-0) struggled to finish several possessions in the first half thanks to a tough defense from the Rams (1-2). Despite the Rams’ impressive defense, a lack of response from its offense meant Buchholz was dominating the field-position game.

As the clock wound down in the final seconds of the first half, the Bobcats edged out the Rams to a nail-biting 7-0 lead at the half.

Second-Half Statement

The Bobcats came back from halftime with a new intensity. Solid plays from Buchholz players launched them into the red zone before quarterback Trace Johnson found Justin Williams for a jump ball to the back corner to make it 14-0.

Following the touchdown, the Rams made their first response of the game to cut the deficit to 14-7.

However, the Bobcats continued their second-half surge with two identical touchdown runs by junior wide receiver Daionte Hicks on reverses to put the game out of reach.

“They were the same play actually. The same play back-to-back, we did the same thing and we scored.” – Wide receiver Daionte Hicks said of his touchdowns.

Daionte Hicks takes the end-around 6 yards to paydirt, extending the Buchholz lead back to 2 scores.

21-7 with under 10 left in the game.

🎥: @EMizeski pic.twitter.com/ukuyBlmYrA

— Paul Hof-Mahoney (@hofmahoney_p) September 7, 2024

Buchholz commanded possession the rest of the way to walk away with its dominance of the series intact. Buchholz coach Mark Whittemore shared some words of wisdom he gave his team before the game that helped the Bobcats go out and take the win:

“Play hard, play to the whistle and just to give incredible effort,” Whittemore said. “So, that’s usually what I harp on. You can’t beat incredible effort.”

 Up Next

Buchholz’s home game against Bradenton Manatee (2-1) has been moved to Santa Fe High School in Alachua at 7 p.m. Friday. Eastside plays Ocala Trinity Catholic (1-2) at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Citizens Field.