BROOKLYN – In a battle of tough, physical defenses, it was the men in maroon who stood victorious in the end.
Forrest County AHS forced four turnovers, turning three of them into scores and the fourth stopping a last-gasp drive in the red zone as the Aggies secured an 18-6 victory over Vancleave Friday night at Henley Field.
Forrest County (2-1) won its second consecutive game after a season-opening defeat, while the Bulldogs (1-2) dropped their second straight after a victory in their opener.
“I thought they were spectacular tonight,” said FCAHS coach Larry Dolan of his defense. “Vancleave is such a physical team, and we were worried about them running up and down the field. But we just had some guys make some plays. Overall, it was a super effort by our guys.”
Neither team could get much going offensively for most of the first half, and the game was played mostly between the 30-yard-lines until the Aggies forced a play on defense.
On a third-and-15 from the Vancleave 35, junior nose guard Jeremiah Daniels crashed in the pass rush, sacked Bulldog senior quarterback Hunter Parker, forced the ball out and recovered the fumble at the Bulldog 32.
“We’re not who we thought we were,” said Vancleave coach Kevin Fant. “And I don’t know what (FCAHS) did last week, but they weren’t the same team we saw on film all week. Credit Forrest County; they popped us in the mouth.”
On a third-and-9, Aggie junior quarterback Brett Robertson found sophomore Terrence Horne who outleaped the defender to the ball for a 31-yard scoring play with 1:37 left in the half.
“That was just an incredible throw by Brett, and I just went up and got it,” said Horne, who caught five balls for 51 yards. “”When I hit the ground, I thought the ball was coming up on my chest, but I kept it in.”
Disaster struck the Bulldogs again on the first play after the kickoff, when Daniels stuck his hand up in front of a pass from Parker and held on for an interception at the 30-yard-line.
“We’ve been going over that little screen that they run,” said Daniels. “I saw it, they didn’t block me, I saw the screen and I just made a play on the ball.”
The Bulldogs kept Forrest County out of the end zone, but the Aggies were still able to cash in the turnover on a 43-yard field goal by senior Hayden Grice as time expired in the first half for a 10-0 halftime lead.
FCAHS turned the ball over twice, a pick on a halfback pass and a fumble midway through the fourth quarter that stopped a promising drive in Vancleave territory.
“He made a few mistakes, and I put the freshman (Parks Brock) for a few series there (in the second half),” Dolan said. “He’s going to be a good one and I wanted him to get some reps.
“But they’re coming along. They do what we ask them to do. We’re not going to spread it out and throw it all over the place. But play-action pass and that sort of stuff works off what we do offensively.”
Vancleave got right back in the game on what would prove to be its only big play of the night, a 59-yard burst up the middle by senior Derik Forehand for a touchdown on third down after the opening kickoff of the second half.
A bad snap on the PAT kick kept the score at 10-6 with 10:31 left in the third quarter, plenty of time for the Bulldogs to mount a comeback, but the Aggies stopped them at every turn.
Vancleave’s defense made plenty of big plays, but the Bulldogs had trouble corralling an Aggie rushing attack that totaled 136 hard-earned yards.
“Our line played really well tonight,” said Dolan. “And, especially in the second half, I thought (junior Omarion) Reed ran the ball really hard. That’s what he said at halftime, ‘coach, they’re on me,’ and I said, ‘just keep plugging,’ and he did.”
It was Horne who got the early yardage for FCAHS, finishing with 63 yards on 12 carries, mostly in the first half.
“My O-line does a good job blocking; they open the gaps for us, and we find the ones to hit,” said Horne. “We grew up some tonight. The team chemistry is real good. We’ve been playing together for awhile and playing for each other. I love all of them out there.”
Reed got the bulk of the work in the second half, rushing for 55 yards on 15 carries for the night.
“It was a great game tonight,” said Reed. “Coach has taught us to pursue to the ball and get better every snap, take care of each other, play with heart and keep fighting. Just be a good leader; that’s what Coach has taught us the most.”
Still, the defense got Vancleave the ball at the Aggie 45 after sacking Robertson on a fourth-down play. But the Bulldogs were stopped on a fourth down of their own, then spent most of the rest of the half on their side of the field.
“Defensively, we’ve struggled the past few years, especially in the first half of games,” said Fant. “Then, this year, they’ve played great. They gave us multiple opportunities, and we just didn’t play well.”
Indeed, the Bulldogs only netted 177 yards of offense for the game, and were hurt by nine penalties for 60 yards, many at critical moments.
The clinching blow for Forrest County came with under three minutes to play. On a third-and-15 from the Bulldog 22, Parker was picked off again, this time by Aggie senior Jacob Martin, who carried the pick to the 2-yard-line, and Reed blew in over left guard for the score.
After the Bulldogs were called for back-to-back encroachments on the PAT kick, the Aggies chose to go for two and converted on a pass from Roberston to junior Corbin Horne and an 18-6 lead with 2:38 to play in the game.
A pair of roughing the passer calls helped Vancleave mount a last-ditch effort that carried the Bulldogs to the Aggie 12, but Forrest County junior Jarrod Dyson stepped in front of a sideline pass to apply the final blow.
“That was a good test for us,” Dolan said. “When we play a good non-region opponent like that, it helps us get better for down the road.”
FCAHS is on the road to battle Greene County next week, while Vancleave returns home next week to host George County.
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