Eastside Ready to Show Its Stuff After "Vanilla" Preseason

Eastside High School Head Football Coach Jeff Thomason said the Eagles' preseason has been “up and down.”

“We've been very vanilla with everything we've done,” Thomason told members of the Greer Touchdown Club Thursday. “We haven't shown a lot.”

The offseason was very good for the team, he said.

“We had a lot of guys bought in,” Thomason said.

He said senior members of the team are helping him deal with “attendance issues.”

“With guys that don't know how to get there,” Thomason said. “We haven't went in to a preseason Jamboree or a preseason scrimmage with everybody eligible to play yet. We've had four missing at least every time we went in to every game or whatever we've been doing, because of attendance issues. Those are the guys you see on the sidelines with the gold - well, I say it's yellow- yellow shirts on, because they didn't do what they're supposed to do.”

He said this year's offseason has been the “best offseason.”

“I tell people all the time I consider this really our second year of doing what we need to do to get better,” Thomason said. “The first year … we kind of hung on. We said, 'Let's hang on and get through this. Get to the end of the season intact. Let's compete well and get to the end of the season.'”

Last year, the team made great sides.

“The first two years here, we've been worried about Eastside,” Thomason said. “We're finally getting to the point now where we can actually go in with a game plan against who we're playing. We can look at what they're giving us and game plan against this. Our guys have bought in and are ready to go.”

He said he's looking forward to tonight's game against Riverside.

“It's a big rivalry for us,” Thomason said. “Our student body's bought in – they're fired up. The kids are fired up and ready to go and the faculty's onboard. If you get a chance, come out and watch us. Come out and watch (Riverside High Head Coach) Phil (Smith) and those guys too. I'm sure it's going to be some good football.”

The Riverside vs. Eastside game begins at 7:30pm tonight at Riverside.