Thursday March 28th, 2024 4:36PM

Football: Eagles 1 win from ending long playoff drought

By Jeff Hart Sports Reporter

COMMERCE, Ga. — It’s been a LOOOOOOONG 13 years since East Jackson has gotten a chance to play beyond early November. It’s been a half-dozen years since they even sniffed a possibility of making the playoffs.

But that’s exactly where East Jackson coach Cameron Pettus and his staff have their group entering Friday night’s huge showdown with Providence Christian in Region 8-2A.

Beat the Storm (2-6, 0-3 Region 8-2A), and the Eagles (4-4, 1-2 Region 8-2A) secure their first playoff spot since 2009. Lose, and well ... they aren’t really talking about that or much else.

“All we’re focused on right now is just getting ready for our next game,” Pettus said. “Just trying to approach this week like any other week.”

But for a program that has been hungry for success of any kind, it isn’t any other week. Not since taking on Jackson County and Hart County to end the 2016 season have they been in a position even to contemplate a playoff possibility. They won both of those games but lost out on a three-way tiebreaker with the Panthers and Monroe Area to finish fifth.

Following those two region wins, they lost 23 straight Region 8-3A games until finally ending that streak with a 26-0 win over Franklin County in 2021. They opened Region 8-2A play this year with a 55-24 win over Banks County before dropping back-to-back region games to Fellowship Christian (30-14) and Union County last week (17-14).

It’s not a must-win to get into the playoffs, but with a season finale against perennial power Athens Academy (6-2, 2-1 Region 8-2A) next week, this is certainly their best opportunity. If they lose out, they would be eliminated.

Pettus said they have not shied away from the possible history they could make Friday night. He admitted they addressed it bright and early on Monday.

“The kids know the big picture. We don’t have to hide it from them, and we haven’t,” he said. “We talked about this on Monday. I think they have embraced the challenge and are looking forward to it. 

“This is what we’ve been building toward since I’ve been here, and we’re ready to go. I think the whole community is super excited and has been so supportive. It’s been a struggle for us the first few years, but now you can see the hard work paying off.”

The obvious matchup looks to be the East Jackson offense vs. the Storm defense. The Storm have given up 146 points (48.6 points/game) in region play. The Eagles have scored 199 points, the third-most in program history. Eagles’ running back Gary Maddox III is third in the region in rushing with 725 yards and 9 TDs. Junior running back Dekan Williams has added 314 yards, and freshman quarterback Drew Richardson has jumped into the starting role, completing 57 percent of his passes for 559 yards and 3 TDs.

But the key matchup may be the Eagles' underrated defense against a Providence offense that can be explosive. East Jackson is allowing just 16.6 ppg while the Storm has averaged 32.2 ppg over their past five games, including scoring 36 or more three times.

Last week, the Eagles held a Union County offense that had been averaging 39.4 ppg in its previous five games to just 21, although the Panthers scored in the final moments to pull out the win.

“I think the key for us will be, can we contain their offense? They can be very explosive,” Pettus said. “Our defense has played very well, I think, the entire season. We have a lot of confidence in that group.”

The other big question for Pettus and Eagles is, have they thought about what kind of celebration they want if they pull off the win on Friday?

“Not at all. Not yet,” he said. “All I will say is that we really want this for these seniors who have been with us the entire time and worked so hard to get into this position. That’s the biggest thing I can think of.

“But if we do win on Friday, I think we will see the validation of the things we have done to get here. We’re ready to go!”

  • Associated Categories: Sports, High School Sports, Friday Game Night
  • Associated Tags: High school football, East Jackson football
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