The Sonic Drive-In-Player-of-the-Game for Thursday, September 20 is Anthony Richardson of the Eastside (Gainesville) football team.
The junior quarterback, a University of Florida commit, thew for 241 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another 157 yards and four scores as Eastside routed Homecoming foe Lake Weir (Ocala), 62-27, on Thursday night at Citizens Field in Gainesville.
Richardson scored his first touchdown only 52 seconds into the game to give Eastside an early 7-0 lead. After Tim Johnson returned the opening kickoff to the Lake Weir 10 yard line, Richardson ran it in two plays later from five yards out to give the Rams the early lead.
Eastside fumbled twice late in the first quarter and actually trailed Lake Weir 13-7 early in the second period, but scored three straight touchdowns to take a 28-13 lead into the halftime break Richardson added a 19 yard TD pass to junior wide receiver Carlteon Brooks, and senior running back Darnell Greenwood ran for two scores to give the Rams the halftime lead.
Eastside really put the game on ice in the third quarter, helped by their prolific quarterback. After Lake Weir closed to within 28-20 on the opening drive of the third quarter, Richardson took over. He ran for a 6 yard touchdown and another 49 yard scamper, and completed his second touchdown pass of the night to Brooks, this time from 16 yards to extend the Rams lead to 49-20 heading into the final period.
Richardson capped off the amazing performance with another long run of 51 yards to the end zone halfway through the fourth quarter to give Eastside a 56-27 lead. The final Rams touchdown came with under 2 minutes to play on a 6 yard run by freshman Kendrick Wooden.
Richardson scored six of the final seven touchdowns for Eastside, which is now 4-1 and has four straight wins after an opening week loss to city rival Buchholz (Gainesville). The Rams will be back home next Friday at Citizens Field for a huge District 6-5A game against North Marion (Citra). The Colts (3-1) play Gainesville tonight at Citizens Field in a game you can hear right here on The Prep Zone and local radio (92.1 FM in Gainesville & 100.1 FM in Ocala).
Lake Weir drops to 3-2 with their second straight loss. The Hurricanes host South Lake (Groveland) in a District 5-6A contest next Friday.
Every game The Prep Zone will recognize a Player-of-the-Game. The recipient receives a $10 gift certificate courtesy of Sonic Drive-In of Gainesville & Ocala.
