More than a decade ago, East Lake hosted Plant in an epic playoff game. The Panthers forced a tie in the final 28 seconds of regulation, then won 28-21 en route to state title in 2011.
On Friday, the teams met in the postseason for the first time since that showdown.
Once again, the game was tight – for a half.
There were a barrage of big plays as each team traded scores before going into halftime tied at 14.
After that, the Eagles took control.
Led by an aggressive, opportunistic defense and bruising running game, East Lake scored 24 unanswered to cruise to a 38-14 victory in Friday’s Class 4 region semifinal in the Metro Division.
The Eagles, the top seed in the region, will host Ocoee in next week’s region final.
After the Panthers’ Jaquez Kindell returned a kickoff for a touchdown to tie it at 14 at the half, East Lake poured it on thanks the running of Luke Yoder.
In the third quarter, Yoder ripped off a 57-yard run for a touchdown to make it 21-14. The Eagles added 10 more points on a short touchdown run by Caleb Coburn and a field goal by Jacob Lawrence.
Ahead 31-14, Yoder took a pitch, then turned on the afterburners on a 97-yard touchdown run to round out the scoring.
Yoder finished with more than 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns.
On defense, Nick Marabella picked off two passes.
