As the calendar changes from September to October there are certain things that begin to happen. The days begin to get shorter and the trees will soon start their dazzling display of yellow, orang, and brown. For Georgia high schools it means fall break from classes, while football teams go full steam ahead into region play. 

At Eastside High School, the Eagles are having a season to remember. That is a pretty strong statement to make when you consider that they have just played five games and had two bye weeks. Folks, as you well know, it's not always about how much time you spend doing what you do, but rather it's what you do with the time that you have. The Eastside Eagles have made the most of that time both on and off the field.

"We lost some real quality seniors," says Eastside Head Coach Troy Hoff. "We have some really good returning players. Some of our young players have stepped up and some of this year's seniors are showing some great leadership. We have a lot of program guys and guys who had great off seasons." 

One of those guys who had a great off season is junior quarterback Noah Cook, who had an outstanding spring playing baseball. He has loads of experienced weapons on offense in senior running backs Taylor Carter and J.R. Rogers, while Jamari Brown and Jerry Mays are dual threats as receivers on offense and safeties on defense.

Coming off an 8-3 mark last season, the Eagles would start 2018 facing a challenging schedule that featured five non-region games against teams from higher classifications. The Eagles passed the first test with a 42-17 win over Ola on the road. The next game was one that needed no pregame hype. "The Newton-Eastside game is a big game," says Hoff. "It's a packed house, standing room only game. One that our kids and the community love to play because these guys have been playing together or against each other going all the way back to rec ball."

The county rivalry held a bitter memory for the Eagles who were blanked by the Rams 40-0 last year. "Newton is a 7A team with a lot of great athletes," says Hoff. “We are not always going to see that kind of speed and athleticism on the field. It's a game early in the season that can give us an indicator of where we are, and I think it was really good for us this year." 

Eastside beat Newton 27-20 and a 35-7 win the next week over Alcovy secured county bragging rights for the season, but it was something that took play just days before the Newton game that commanded the attention of the community east of Atlanta. Covington Police officer Matt Cooper had been shot in the head while responding to a shoplifting call at a local department store. Cooper was a graduate of Eastside and played on the football team and his shooting sent the entire county reeling. This year's Eastside Eagles team wanted to do something to show support for the wounded officer.

Eastside principal Jeff Cher, who was a coach at Eastside during the time that Matt Cooper attended the school, pulled together the Touchdown Club and the Covington Police Department on a plan to honor Cooper and recognize all area law enforcement. After the Alcovy game, Eastside had bye weeks before and after their fourth game of the season, a 37-0 win over North Clayton. The plan was to honor Officer Matt Cooper and area law enforcement before the Luella game, and the bye weeks gave all parties involved time to prepare.

"They were excited, but didn't understand how big of a deal it was," recalls Hoff. "A number of our players know Officer Cooper because their parents either work in law enforcement, emergency medical response or fire department, so their paths cross during the course of work. I don't think it really hit them until they came walking out from behind that banner and seeing the lights flashing on (Cooper's) squad car in the corner of the end zone and all the uniformed police officers. Even members of Officer Cooper's Eastside team were on hand to help lead the team out."

The moment was captured by local, regional and national media outlets, as a high school football game provided the backdrop for an event that galvanized a community the way that few other events can. How many times have we seen sports provide that perfect moment that allows us to show pride, give hope and leaves us feeling just a little bit better?

When it was all over the scoreboard read Eastside 58, Luella 15, but the game had been relegated to an afterthought. "The outreach of the game was bigger than the game itself," says Hoff. "After the season is over our players are going to be able to look back and will never forget the impact they had on the community. For one night they were the focus, and more importantly what they brought the focus to. It's one of those teachable moments that this great game we play allowed us to bring together."

Like I said earlier, it has been a season to remember for the Eastside Eagles, and they have only played five games. The region schedule kicks in on this Football Friday in Georgia as the Eagles fly to the southside to visit the War Eagles of Woodward Academy. The winner of this game will be in the driver's seat to capture the title in Region 4-4A.

Don't forget to watch Football Friday's In Georgia this Friday night as the GPB Sports crew rolls into historic Northcutt Stadium for the region 3-7A showdown between the North Paulding Wolfpack and the Marietta Blue Devils. It all gets started at 7 p.m. with the All Access Pass on the Great GPB!