THE STREAK IS OVER: Northside dominates Warner Robins to snap historic nine-game losing streak in Crosstown Showdown

WARNER ROBINS — When Northside football coach Daniel “Boone” Williams hosted his community meet-and-greet in early 2025, he said he would try his hardest not to lose to Warner Robins.

Last year the Demons were able to escape thanks to a late explosive run from quarterback Chandler Dyson. By the time Warner Robins got the ball back with 4:41 left on Friday, there was no one play that could save them from the 32-10 final. Their side of McConnell-Talbert Stadium began to empty.

On the blue side, coaches could be seen dancing. Fans cheered, yelled and threw their towels around as they soaked in the fact that, finally, the streak was over.

“It means a lot, man. For the community, for the tradition, for everybody. This nine years was a long time” Williams said. “To go ahead and get this one right now, that’s so big for this place. … I can’t describe it. I’ve won state championships, and this [feeling is] right up there with it.”

Before the season Williams said that he wanted this team, led by Texas A&M commit Elijah Patmon, to be the one people look at in the future and say, ‘This is where things turned around.’

There is still a lot of season to go, and the Eagles did not play a perfect game, but they have a winning record for the first time in two years and the trajectory seems to be pointed upward.

“They understand they can be in a dog fight. That was a one-point game for the longest,” Williams said. “They kept battling. They kept going, and we ended up finding a way to [be] victorious.”

The dog fight

The first half was, for lack of a more gentle term, ugly.

Warner Robins’ offense has adopted a lot of fake snaps; it caught Northeast offside plenty last week, and Northside fell victim to it multiple times in different drives throughout the opening two quarters.

Both offenses went three-and-out on their initial possessions, but the Demons got on the board first with a Dyson rushing touchdown. Their fake snaps garnered two offsides calls on that drive.

On the ensuing drive an Eagles receiver slipped on second down to set up 3rd-and-long which they did not convert. Their offense was dead in the water going into the lightning delay with under two minutes of game time left in the first quarter.

The Demons led 7-6 at halftime because of a missed point-after attempt.

“I told somebody this earlier, this is going to be a four-quarter football game, and that’s exactly what it was. We had to play together as a team,” Williams said.

Before the break, Northside tried to open up the passing game with sophomore quarterback Keirion “KT” Tate, to mixed results. He came alive in the second half.

All three of his rushing touchdowns, and many of his explosive passing plays, came in the final two quarters.

The first play from scrimmage in the third quarter was a 25-yard pass to Jereion Wims. On their next drive he salvaged a broken play by snaking through the defense for 49 yards into the end zone. That score put the Eagles up 12-7.

There is a long, promising future ahead of Tate, who already has multiple college offers from Eastern Carolina University, Georgia State University and others.

“We had talked at halftime [about] what we needed to do to come out victorious, and he did everything he needed to do,” Williams said. “That kid has the rest of this season and two more years of high school football. Can you imagine where he’s gonna be, how slow the game is gonna be going for him in two years?”

Williams has already seen some of his leadership potential, too.

“He’s our general. He’s our leader. He talked to the team on Thursday, that’s who he is,” he said.

Patmon, to no one’s surprise, was heavily involved throughout the night.

The senior and Atlanta Journal-Constitution Super 11 selectee was routinely met with double and sometimes triple teams as the Demons tried their best to keep him away from the ball.

Still, he found his way to Dyson on several occasions, one of which resulted in a fumble recovered by the Eagles.

Tate ran in his second rushing touchdown on the next drive, a 26-yard dash on the first play, to put Northside ahead 18-7 with 4:22 left in the third quarter.

“The birthday boy did what the birthday boy needed to do,” Williams said on Patmon. “I told him at halftime, ‘Playmakers make plays,’ and he made all the plays … being that guy. Being the playmaker, being Elijah Patmon.”

Ja’noah Hicks certainly earned a mention, too. Between his 69-yard touchdown catch in the first half, his 49-yard grab to set up Northside’s 25-10 lead in the fourth, his late interception and his special teams play, there were a lot of things for Williams to praise after the game.

“Ja’noah Hicks is an absolute ball player,” Williams said. “He had a pick right there in the end. He had a big punt return. You name it, he can do it. He is Mr. Athlete, and he gave us everything we needed tonight.”

Ahead 15 with 7:03 to go, you couldn’t count the Demons out given their tendency for dramatic comebacks in the first two weeks, but Patmon came up big to shut them down.

He batted Dyson’s pass down on second down and on third down he sacked the quarterback again to set up 4th-and-12.

For the final score of the game Hicks took the direct snap and rolled right, where he found Tristan Harry wide open past the secondary. That 50-yard touchdown pass sent the home side into pandemonium as it all but sealed the deal with 3:55 left to play.

Following the final buzzer, Williams made the rounds talking to coaches, players and fans from both sides of Watson Blvd. His team celebrated with each other and their friends, and he’ll certainly let them enjoy it, although only for a little while.

“I’m gonna go ahead and tell them we got practice on Monday,” Williams said, deadpan. “Back to business. Enjoy this one, on Sunday, we rocking and rolling. On Monday we back to practice.”

UP NEXT

Northside will host Westlake on Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Warner Robins heads up to Newton to start a three-game road trip on Sept. 11 at 7:30 p.m.