Eastern Greene's football team played six squads this season, currently alive in the playoffs with seven or more wins.

A schedule like that produced a 1-8 record, but it also toughened the T-Birds up the hard way under new coach Shawn Nikirk. Last Friday, just about everything clicked for Eastern, which kept the faith and knocked out South Decatur, 34-20, in their Class 1A Sectional 47 opener.

"It's huge," Nikirk said. "You get to the end of the year, and it's a fresh slate. That's our motto moving forward. The excitement on the kids' faces after that win on Friday night, it was evident.

"It was big for our program, no matter what happens this week."

Eastern Greene got it done at the line of scrimmage. The offense was well-balanced, with 164 yards rushing behind 88 from Eli Engleking a

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