The North Forrest Eagles 2019 Homecoming game against the St. Patrick Fighting Irish will be a game to “always remember,” according to NFHS Principal Jennifer Riels.
Inclement weather, which rolled through the Pine Belt Friday night, the first rain in more than a month, halted the game with about two minutes left in the first quarter. Play resumed about 10:30 p.m., but another onslaught of weather required a halt to the game. A decision was made by Riels, and the two head coaches, NFHS’s Anthony Dillon and Coach Trey Bailey, to continue the second half of regulation play at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, with the score standing at North Forrest-12 and St. Patrick-0.
Prior to game time on Friday, Dillon challenged his team to “play above their expectation” and “make it a good night for the (Homecoming) queen by getting a win.”
It is safe to say the Eagles took their coach’s message to heart and gave all their grit in the opening half. They put two touchdowns on the board in the first 24 minutes. The first one being an 11-yard run by J. Weathersby Jr. with 2:06 remaining in the first quarter. Immediately following Weathersby’s rushing TD, both teams cleared the fields due to lightning. With over two hours of weather delay, the Homecoming game continued around 10:30 p.m. on Friday night.
When play resumed about 10:30 pm. the Fighting Irish came back out on the wet field with hopes of momentum shifting in their favor. Unfortunately, with 26 seconds remaining in the second quarter, St. Patrick’s quarterback K. Chatman stepped back on 4th & 11 and heaved the ball into the end zone. Little did he know, North Forrest’s D. Booth would be on the receiving end of his pass and would run 100 yards down field for another Eagles’ touchdown.
The Eagles’ defense would not let up. The next St. Patrick’s drive resulted in another interception that was thrown by K. Chatman. This time, North Forrest’s cornerback T. Pollard would pick him off, ending the first half.
The story remained the same for Bailey’s team on Monday night. With multiple turnovers on both defense and offense, the Fighting Irish did not find a single score. North Forrest, on the other hand, conquered the entire second half.
Weathersby went on to throw a 16-yd reception to Pollard to add to the scoreboard in the third with 4:37 on the time clock. Not stopping the scoring madness there, middle linebacker J. Arrington scooped up a fumbled ball by Irish in the fourth quarter and got the last scoring touchdown for the Eagles.
North Forrest added to the scoreboard in each quarter, which resulted in a final score of 25-0. Dillion knew it would be a difficult task for his boys since they did not get much rest in between Friday’s first half and Monday’s second half.
“My team doesn’t have much time to celebrate over the win because they have another huge game in a few days against the defending division champs, Collins Tigers,” Dillon said. “I congratulate the guys and work now to shift their focus back to the drawing board to take on Collins Friday night.”
The game is set for 7 p.m. October 11.
