The David Emanuel Academy Eagles traveled north to Augusta on Friday night to take on the Augusta Eagles, a non-region opponent, in their final regular season game. Despite a strong defensive effort, offensive struggles proved costly as DEA fell 24–14 to close out the regular season at 5–5. Both teams opened the game trading three-and-outs before Augusta broke the scoreless tie with a 40-yard touchdown pass. After a missed extra point, DEA continued to battle field position challenges, ending the first quarter trailing 6–0. In the second quarter, Augusta extended its lead with a 30-yard touchdown run to make it 12–0. DEA finally found a spark on the ensuing kickoff, when senior athlete Sailor Powell returned it 85 yards for a touchdown. Hudson Starley caught the two-point conversion from Robert Reynolds, cutting the deficit to 12–8. Augusta answered once more with a sustained drive capped by a 16-yard run, taking an 18–8 advantage into halftime.
After the break, both defenses tightened, with neither team finding much rhythm offensively. Late in the third quarter, DEA closed the gap when Reynolds connected with Powell on a 27-yard touchdown pass, bringing the score to 18–14. However, Augusta struck early in the fourth quarter to extend its lead to 24–14, and the Eagles’ comeback attempt came up short.
Sailor Powell was named Most Valuable Player and Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance. Tucker Free earned Offensive Player of the Game, while John-Nathan Martin received Defensive Player of the Game honors. Riley Phillips was recognized as Practice Player of the Week.
The loss dropped DEA to 5–5 overall (3–4 in region play) to end the regular season.
Coach T.C. Guyer reflected on the game and looked ahead to the postseason, saying:
“We hurt ourselves tonight. We did not perform well offensively, and it hurt us. Ultimately, we lost this game up front, and that’s something we’re going to have to fix. We’ll come back in on Monday, revamp some things, and get ready for the playoffs.”
David Emanuel Academy earned the #9 seed in the GIAA playoffs and will face #8 Monsignor Donovan of Athens on Thursday, October 31.
