Pride sparks Eagles in old rivalry game
TAYLORS – It took junior running back Chance Pride one quarter to solidify his legacy in the age-old clash that is the Eastside and Riverside rivalry.
Pride delivered three scores to push the Class AAAA Eagles to a 34-13 win over the Class AAAAA Warriors at John Carlisle Stadium on Friday night.
Dondre Thompson and Jameer Goodman added another two scores for the Eagles (1-1). Quarterback Jordan Morgan passed for two touchdowns.
Sophomore quarterback Andrew Brown connected on a touchdown pass to senior receiver Kris White and Logan DiBenedetto passed to Robert Morrow for Riverside’s two scores.
“They were chanting my brother’s name the entire night, and that fueled my energy and electrified something in that made me play better,” said Pride, referring to Notre Dame freshman Troy Pride, The Greenville News All-Upstate Boys Athlete of the Year in 2016.
The third quarter was all his.
EAGLES: Schedule, standings
WARRIORS: Schedule, standings
Pride delivered all three of his touchdowns, first on a 10-yard run at 9:22 and again on a 40-yard sprint to the end zone a few possessions later to put the Eagles ahead 21-6. Morgan delivered a short pass to Pride, who took off for a 62-yard score to put the game away.
Eastside opened rotating between quarterbacks Morgan and T.J. Grist, before settling with Morgan through much of the game. Any concerns up front quickly dissipated as the Eagles’ offensive line opened running lanes for Pride, Thompson and Morgan, who churned out several long runs.
The Warriors (1-1) had a scoring opportunity early in the second quarter, set up a 39-yard punt return by Brooks O’Brien and runs from Brown. Antoine Kaheleh drove a field-goal attempt wide left.
The Warriors’ defense struggled to contain the running tandem of Grist and Thompson in the second quarter. Thompson powered inside the red zone with less than four minutes till half to give the Eagles the 7-0 edge.
Brown answered, engineering a six-play, 60-yard drive, capped with a touchdown pass to White to close the half.
Eagles coach Steve Wilson said his team delivered a solid win and he was proud of Pride’s performance.
“What can I say? He’s a great football player,” Wilson said. “When we’re playing against him in practice, we can’t touch him and other people have problems catching him.”