WS Chronicle

BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE

FOR THE CHRONICLE

Opportunity knocked frequently on East Forsyth’s door in its season opener against Reynolds last Thursday. The visiting Eagles didn’t hesitate to cash in and the end result was a 36-12 victory in junior varsity football action at Deaton-Thompson Stadium.

East Forsyth took full advantage of favorable field position and Demons miscues to score four of its five touchdowns for the night. Coach Ron Horton’s team proved to be anything but one-dimensional offensively.

Quarterback Brandon Bullins threw touchdown passes to Jordan Barrett and Nick Childs. Running back Jaeolon Maxie spearheaded the ground game with a pair of scoring runs.

“This first game was about what you would expect,” Horton said. “We had the mistakes and first-game jitters, but we were able to work through it. In spite of that, it’s still a win and I’ll take it.”

The Eagles bolted to a 21-0 lead with 5:05 to go in the first half. East came up with a partial block of Nate Allen’s punt from the end zone and took over on RJR’s eight-yard line. Four plays later, Maxie scored on a one-yard plunge to give his team a three-touchdown cushion.

Reynolds closed strong in the final minute of play in the second quarter. Mysta Goodloe connected with Dimaggio Wilson on a 32-yard pass. Two plays later, Goodloe fired a 22-yard touchdown pass to Rashon Bethea with 51 seconds remaining to make it a 21-6 game at intermission.

The Demons narrowed the deficit early in the third quarter when Charlie Mensh hooked up with Bethea on a 50-yard scoring play. With East Forsyth up by 21-12, it seemed that the tenor of the game had started to turn in RJR’s favor.

A costly Demons turnover, however, derailed their comeback hopes. A low snap from center got away from Mensh who was lined up in the shotgun. With the Eagles defense set to recover the loose ball and possibly score another touchdown, Mensh kicked the ball out of bounds, which resulted in a safety.

Reynolds had a short kickoff and East Forsyth took over on the Demon’s 39-yard line. The Eagles capped another scoring drive with Bullins’ 23-yard touchdown toss to Childs, who made a diving catch in the right corner of the end zone for a 29-12 lead.

“I saw a lot of fight out of our guys, and they didn’t quit,” said Coach Rod Dunlap of Reynolds. “There are several areas we need to work on and clean up. If you take away the good field position they had and our turnovers, we’re right there. As long as our players continue to buy in to what we’re doing, we’ll be OK.”

The Eagles defense, which had two interceptions and three fumble recoveries, added the finishing touches when Jomaad Cater picked up a fumble and raced 42 yards for the game’s final score.

“Our defense made mistakes, but they made some plays too,” said Horton. “They played well coming down the stretch and gave us good field position, which gave us a lot of chances to put points on the board. We should have scored more, but we’ll get better at that. It’s a lot easier to get better coming off a win rather than a loss.”