Eastside plays Dunnellon at Citizens Field on Thursday. [Isaac Edelman]

Eastside Notches Comeback Victory Against Dunnellon On Homecoming

Isaac Edelman October 4, 2024 Eastside High School, High School Sports 59 Views

A late receiving touchdown by Caylen Ferguson helped complete the comeback for Eastside in its 14-12 Homecoming win against Dunnellon.

“It was a great win … much-needed to go 1-0 in the district and get a chance to go to the playoffs,” Eastside coach Harold “Gator” Hoskins said. “We talked about it all week … well the last two weeks … that we needed to come in and take care of business. I’m proud of these guys.”

Hurricane Holdup

The teams were scheduled to play last Friday, but Hurricane Helene had other plans. It didn’t matter ,though, as the teams were ready to go head-to head in their  matchup Thursday night at Citizens Field.

Eastside (4-2) took a 7-0 lead on it first drive after a short rushing touchdown by running back Kamariyon Mack from wildcat formation.

“It felt good … I’ve been telling coach all week to give me the ball in the first half and I had to go make a play for him,” Mack said.


Dunnellon (3-3) also had an efficient first drive when quarterback Dylan Curry threw a short touchdown pass to wide receiver Tre’Quori Rollerson. However, kicker Mark Pastorella missed the extra point to keep Eastside in front, 7-6.

The rest of the first half was scoreless as the teams went through communication issues, specifically Eastside. The Rams used all three of their first-half timeouts within the first 15 minutes of the game. Eastside quarterback Andrew Sutherland also struggled to connect with his receivers to force Hoskins to stick with the run.

Some Struggles

The struggles continued for Sutherland in the second half. With 9:13 remaining in the third quarter, Dunnellon cornerback Sean Martin picked off Sutherland and ran the ball into the end zone to give the Tigers their first lead of the game. Pastorella again missed the extra point to make it only 12-7.

Eastside created a turnover of its own with 40 seconds left in the third quarter when Orian Ellis Jr. picked off quarterback Dylan Curry.

The Rams couldn’t convert the turnover into points. However, Eastside got the ball right back as Curry threw his second straight interception — this time to Malicah Williams — with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

This time the Rams converted. Sutherland threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Ferguson to put Eastside up 14-12 with 6:20 remaining.

Ram Tough

Eastside’s defense played lockdown football for the rest of the game behind the play of junior linebackers Tramaine Montague and DeMarco Daniels.

Halftime adjustments led to the win, Hoskins said.

“We changed the schemes on the blocking, we challenged the offensive line, we came out and were able to run the ball better, and when we needed a play at the end we made one,” Hoskins said.

Eastside needed the big play from its quarterback. And Sutherland did just that in the fourth quarter by catching the Tigers defense off guard after so many consecutive runs from Mack.

“They (Dunnellon) tried to load the box and stop the run so we knew they were going to give us man-to-man on the outside,”  Hoskins said of the game-winning play. “It was a great route from Ferguson and a great ball by Sutherland.”

Dunnellon was no easy matchup. It entered No. 5 in Class 3A. But Eastside came prepared.

“We have to keep fighting, we can’t give up and we have to keep fighting as a family,” Montague said. “Whatever we have to do to get guys in a position to score … we’ll do it.”

Up Next

Eastside travels to Bushnell to face South Sumter next Friday. Dunnellon will also play Friday, but at home against North Marion.

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