By Brandon Park
Staff Writer

Homecoming week ended on a sour note last Friday as the Morgan County Bulldogs suffered their fourth consecutive region loss of the season to Region 8AAA frontrunner Eastside by a score of 35-7.

With the loss, Morgan moves to 1-4 in region play and to 1-8 overall.

The Eagles continue their bid for the top spot with the win, moving to 4-1 in regioin competiton and to 8-1 overall.

“We had multiple opportunities to stop Eastside in this game,” Defensive Coordinator Clint Jenkins said. “We missed several tackles that put us out of the game early. We have to credit Eastside for their strong play. They are probably the best team in the region.”

The Eagles started fast, scoring on their first two possessions, and seemed to have little trouble moving the ball on the ground.

Morgan, on the other hand, struggled moving the ball early, going three-and-out on their first two drives.

Several personal foul penalties aided the Dogs on their next two possessions, but the faster defense of Eastside was able to stop Morgan short of scoring.

Quarterback J.D. Hawkins showed signs of greatness on a number of plays with accurate completions to Dante Hall and Terence Harper.

Clay Duvall gave Morgan a scoring opportunity when he intercepted a pass late in the second half. Unfortunately, the Dogs were again stopped short of the endzone by Eastside’s defense.

The Eagles would add two more scores late in the half, sending the Dogs into the locker room down 28-0.

The second half would play out much like the first, with Eastside scoring early moving the score to 35-0 before the end of the third quarter. The officials would call the mercy rule at the beginning of the fourth, so the clock did not stop until time expired.

Morgan did manage to put the ball into the endzone when Ryan Glosson busted a 12 yard run.

Mogan will travel to Oconee County for their last game of the season. In the region, Oconee stands at 3-2, and fighting for the fourth playoff spot.