Ethan Souther will never forget his final homecoming game at Chestatee High.

Accounting for six touchdowns will have that effect.

In Friday's first half alone, the senior quarterback threw for two touchdowns, ran for three and amassed a combined 178 yards of total offense en route to the War Eagles' 57-0 win over Gilmer at War Eagle Stadium.

"It's special, that's the only way to describe this," said Souther, who rushed for 126 yards and passed for 101 overall. "I'm just happy we came out and did what we did."

What the War Eagles did was waste no time putting points on the scoreboard. With less than four minutes off the game clock, Ethan Souther led Chestatee (4-2, 2-0 Region 7A-AAA) on a 66-yard, eight-play drive that ended with Souther finding a wide-open Justin Byers for a 17-yard touchdown. That was the first of two touchdown passes from Souther to Byers in the first half.

When not dissecting the Gilmer (0-6, 0-3) defense through the air, Ethan Souther and brother Ben Souther were running through - and in one case, around - the Bobcats.

The Souther brothers combined for 179 yards rushing in the first half, 102 of those by junior running back Ben Souther.

Ben Souther's lone touchdown was something straight out of a video game. On second-and-3 from the Gilmer 26-yard line, Souther took a handoff, raced toward the sideline, and with tacklers all around him, juked his was around every oncoming Bobcat, across the width of the field and into the end zone.

"I just kind of did what I did," said Ben Souther, who couldn't say whether or not that run was the best of his career. "I just used my vision to get in and try to out smart them."

That run by Ben Souther, who rushed for 107 yards on 10 carries, capped a flawless first quarter for Chestatee. In just 12 minutes on the field, the War Eagles put up 27 points, scoring a touchdown on all four possessions.

The flawless first quarter was followed by a sensational second. Only this time, the War Eagle defense got in on the scoring barrage.

On Gilmer's first possession in the second quarter, senior cornerback Spencer Gruenenfelder intercepted a pass by Gilmer quarterback Thomas Davis and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown.

After a 2-yard touchdown by Ethan Souther increased the score to 40-0, senior safety Jonathon Cain picked off another pass by Davis.

That interception set up Ethan Souther's second touchdown pass to Byers, a 27-yard strike to give the War Eagles a 47-0 lead.

"I'm proud of Ethan," Chestatee coach Stan Luttrell said. "I'm harder on him then I am most because I still remember Ethan as that little sophomore quarterback that had never played on a Friday night.
"To see him have a night like tonight, I'm just proud of him."

Moving from quarterback to running back throughout the game, Ethan Souther's scoring spree ended when he carried the ball 47 yards and into the end zone on his first rushing attempt of the second half.

"One of our players wasn't able to play tonight, so I'll play wherever the team needs me," Ethan Souther said. "If that's left tackle, it's left tackle. If it's running back, it's running back. Holes need to be filled and I'm willing to help out there."

Not lost in the senior quarterback's six touchdowns was the strong defensive performance by the War Eagles. Chestatee held Gilmer to 78 total yards of offense, recording just its second shutout in three years.

"We talked about it all week, shutout, shutout," said senior linebacker Chase Vasser. "Our defense is playing phenomenal; we just have to continue it."

Luttrell agrees. "It seems like every week out defense is getting better, and that's one of our goals is to get a shutout," he said. "I was very proud of them, and thankful they were able to get that."

The zero for the opponent's score combined with the 57 points for Chestatee gives the War Eagles momentum heading into next week's showdown with White County.

"We don't have much time to celebrate," Ethan Souther said. "We got to focus on White County. We've been waiting for them the whole year."

The War Eagles visit White County at 7:30 p.m. Friday.