Football: Eagles crank up offense in 33-13 scrimmage win

East Jackson, coming off a 3-7 season, now has some momentum as it prepares for its Aug. 31 opener at Banks County. Click here for scrimmage photos.

“It was a good night for us,” Eagle coach Brian Smith said. “We were more of a spread team than we had been and I think it showed that our work is kind of paying off a little bit.”

For a group that had trouble passing the ball last year, the Eagles went to the air for some big plays in routing Monticello, which won four games last year. Josh Saucier (25-yards) and Austin Lumpkin (60-yards) both had touchdown receptions.

“I thought we protected the passer pretty well,” Smith said. “We probably completed more passes today (Thursday) than we have in forever.”

The Eagles also got rushing scores from Davante Gresham (six yards), quarterback Austin Beauchamp (one-yard sneak) and Trevor Presley (40 yards).

Smith was generally pleased with how things went offensively.

“He (Beauchamp) got in a little rhythm and the defense kept putting us in good field position all night,” Smith said. “That was big for us. It was a good night.”

Smith noted that the East Jackson defense hemmed up Monticello’s rushing attack.

“I was really pleased also that we stopped the option pretty well,” Smith said.

The main concern of the night came on special teams as the Eagles “didn’t do a great job kicking,” Smith said.

“We’ll go back and work on that, but all in all, it was a pretty good night for us,” Smith said.