Forrest County AHS has finally put an end to its losing streak as the Aggies handily defeated Seminary 26-13 Friday at home.
“It’s been 700 days since the last time we won a football game, and the kids kind of bought into that a little bit,” FCAHS coach Larry Dolan said. “They were able to stop that streak, and that was big. We made first-game mistakes, and it was ugly in the first half. We had three turnovers in the first half. We found a way to win, and that’s good. That’s something they haven’t been able to do; hopefully, we will build on it. It’s just going to get tough as the road goes.”
FCAHS’s win was led by a 227-yard, three-touchdown performance by running back Keeghan Rodgers.
Dolan’s biggest critique of his team was the passing game, as Brett Robertson was 2-for-9 and threw for 42 yards. Rodgers also attempted two passes, as he went 1-for-2 and threw for 27 yards.
“We had a little big play potential with Keeghan,” Dolan said. “He had some huge runs. He had a 70-yard run called back in the first quarter. He had a big night.
“We didn’t throw the ball great. We would throw it great but would drop it, and then we would throw it bad when we were wide open. It was one of those deals where we just didn’t get it all together. I think there is potential there (but) we are going to have to throw the ball some.”
However, the Aggies will have a tough task of maintaining the momentum as FCAHS goes on the opened the season with a 56-20 win over Long Beach. Defensively, Dolan believes that the Pirates’ defense shares similarities to Seminary.
“It’s the same concept,” Dolan said. “Every time they run (that defense), it’s against somebody that’s a Wing-T type offense. It’s kind of a 5-4 (scheme) with nine guys in the box type of deal. We have to block well.
“They’ve got some kids upfront that really gets after it. They have those same skill guys in the secondary. They’re a challengeable opponent for sure.”
The Pirates’ quarterback Ladd Scriber threw for 181 yards and three touchdowns in the win. Notably, three different receivers hauled in a touchdown. On the ground, running back Jaacquez Alexander-Dedeaux rushed for 135 yards and four touchdowns on 13 carries.
“They are very explosive,” Dolan said. “The quarterback throws the deep ball well. They’ve got two really good receivers, and their running back is really fast. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
FCAHS will travel to play Pass Christian, with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m. Friday.
“We just have to keep getting better,” Dolan said. “These first five games are to just prepare us for region play. We sure would like to win some of them. We need to get better at what we do, and when we get to region play, maybe we’ll win a couple of games and get into the playoffs. If we take our turnovers away and kind of keep the ball away from them, that’ll be our best defense on Friday night.”
