The Tigers led by only a point at halftime, but they put on an impressive performance in the second half to secure the victory.
“Jordan is an incredible student of the game,” Archer head coach Dante Williams said. “He loves to be coached hard. He wants to do something special at the school he grew up at.”
Eastside (2-2) received the opening kickoff and quickly moved to near midfield. The Eagles’ Myles Mims then took a handoff over the left tackle and outraced the defense to score from 54 yards. The extra point was no good and the visitors held a quick 6-0 lead.
Do was intercepted on the Tigers’ first possession, giving Eastside a great opportunity to pad its lead. However, a sack on third down by Archer forced a punt.
After a touchback on the punt, the Tigers (2-2) took over on the 20 and blended a drive of Do completions and runs by Tyree Begne to race down the field. Eight plays after the drive began, Do scored on the keeper over the right side. Andrew Rogers’ extra point put Archer on top 7-6.
Eastside responded with a lightning quick, four-play drive of its own. On second down from the 19, Mims took the handoff on the jet sweep to the left side of the offensive line. Finding an opening, Mims raced for 64 yards to the Archer 17. Two plays later, the Eagles’ Josh Barr scored on an 11yard rush where he started through the left and cut back to the center to find no defense in front of him to prevent the touchdown. The extra point put Eastside on top 13-7.
Archer then countered with an 80-yard drive that lasted one minute, 33 seconds. Do completed a 21-yard pass to Jamari Smith to move the ball the Archer 43. Do then ran for 15 and Begne rushed for two and 10 yards in succession. Do hooked up with Malik Gassant for 18 yards to the Eagles 12. Two rushes by Do resulted in the touchdown, the scoring play coming from three yards out.
Trailing 14-13 as the teams moved into the second quarter, the Eagles answered the call again. Facing a second and 11 from its own 34, quarterback Payton Shaw found a wide open Xavier Joseph on the right side close to 20 yards downfield. Joseph gathered in the pass and raced for a gain of 41 to the Archer 24. Two plays later, Barr used a jet sweep around the left side to score from the 15. The extra point was good to give Eastside a 20-14 advantage.
The Tigers were stymied on the next possession but it didn’t result in them falling deeper behind their guests. Eastside moved from midfield after receiving the punt to the Tigers’ 30 where it faced fourth down. A 47-yard field goal attempt was wide and the lead remained at six at the midpoint of the quarter.
Archer used its quick strike offense to move quickly into scoring position A 43-yard completion down the right sideline from Do to Cohl Hendon moved the ball to the Eastside 23. The duo connected again on a 17-yard completion with Hendon breaking free in the left corner of the end zone for the touchdown. The extra point was good and Archer took a 21-20 lead into halftime.
The first half statistics were as close as the scoreboard reflected. Eastside gained a total of 245 yards with 144 coming on the ground and 101 through the air. Mims led the Eagles with 131 yards. Archer gained 232 yards with 90 being on the ground and 142 through the arm of Do.
Arched continued its mastery on offense to start the second half. Backed up and starting on its own 14, the Tigers moved out to the 38 when Do completed an 18-yard pass to Robbie Dunn. A facemask penalty on the Eagles moved the ball to the Eastside 29. A penalty for an ineligible player downfield backed the Tigers up momentarily but then Do hit Hendon down the seam for a 32-yard scoring strike and a 28-20 lead.
Eastside was unable to respond on its opening drive of the second half. With the punt team on for the Eagles, the snap sailed over the head of punter Jaciel Camacho and while he was able to gather in the snap, he was tackled in the end zone for a safety and a 30-20 Tigers lead.
Archer continued its relentless offensive attack after receiving the free kick after the safety. Do found Begne alone over the middle and hit the senior running back with a short 15-yard completion that was turned into a 56-yard play after the run. On the next play, Do connected with Robbie Dunn from 10 yards out to put Archer up 37-20 at the middle of the quarter.
Eastside appeared to be stopped on its next possession but a fake punt on a snap to Mims resulted in a 30-yard run and a first down at the Tigers 37. However, the Tigers defense stiffened and a 37-yard field goal attempt to cut the deficit to a two-score game was pulled wide to the left.
Archer dipped into its bag of tricks on its next possession. After a 39-yard scramble from Do and a 16-yard completion to Dunn, Dunn lateraled to Malik Gassant on the near sideline. Gassant then completed a 24-yard pass to a wide open Begne for the score.
The Archer defense held Eastside out of the end zone for the rest of the game to complete the second-half shutout.
“Coach (Bryce) Smith had done an incredible job all year with the... Click here to read full article
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