BROOKLYN – Although it was just the first loss of the season, Forrest County Agricultural’s night was as frustrating as things can get.
The epitome of the night’s frustration occurred towards the end of the third quarter, just after the Aggies turned the ball over on three straight drives. FCAHS’ offensive line missed a block, and quarterback Brett Robertson took a big lead that led to a scoop and score for Stone as the Tomcats routed the Aggies 56-6 on Friday night.
“He got hit before he handed it off,” FCAHS coach Larry Dolan said. “We just didn’t block very well. They were very aggressive, and we knew that. They didn’t do anything that surprised us. The speed of the game may have got us. We have to get better because I thought our offensive line, I thought, was going to be our strength, but right now, it’s not.
“(Stone is) a good team, and they just beat us.”
In total, FCAHS committed six turnovers, all of which the Tomcats scored on, and barely eclipsed 100-yards of total offense.
“It was probably me not having them ready, I don’t know,” Dolan said. “We just turned the ball over too much. (Stone) played great on defense. We never did get into a rhythm. We miss-kicked a couple of balls. I don’t know, just things kind of started rolling downhill. We couldn’t stop them, and they are good. They are all I thought they were going to be, defensively, especially. We just have to get better.”
After Stone took a 7-0 lead, the Aggies turned the ball over on their first drive of the game as Robertson was intercepted for the first of three times.
FCAHS’ lone successful drive of the night came with just under three minutes left in the second quarter. Short field position helped set up a 3-yard touchdown run for running back Keeghan Rodgers, who led FCAHS with 87 yards on 19 carries. The Aggies had several favorable opportunities with field position, with Tomcats coming 80 yards in penalties in the first half.
The prime example came just before the half as the Tomcats committed back-to-back personal fouls that led to Stone facing a first and 30. Despite the unfavorable position, Stone’s quarterback Connor Tice found Chasden Collins for a 32-yard touchdown on third and 17 to push the lead to 21-6.
“They had a 30-yard penalty, and they still scored,” Dolan said. “It was one of those things where we have to go back to the drawing board. This will be a test for this team to decide if they are going to revert back to what’s been going on the last few years. We have to try and get better. I want to play our best and get beat. I don’t want to play our worst and get beat.”
Then in the third quarter, things derailed quickly for FCAHS with Aggies either fumbling or throwing an interception on every drive and helped Stone score 28 points. Tice finished the game 11-for-13 and threw for 128 yards and two touchdowns and ran in a score. Stone’s running back Daylon Collins scored three touchdowns and ran for 89 yards on 13 touches.
Despite the ugly loss, Dolan is confident that his team still has success to build on, especially since it was just FCAHS’ first loss of the season.
“You have to look at the whole body of work,” Dolan said. “We lose tonight, but we are 3-1 in the first four ball games. If we look at it that we are 3-1 and have had some success, then we can build on that success.
“We got beat by Stone County once. We don’t need to be beat by Stone County next week too.”
FCHAS will hit the road next week to face West Marion.
