WS Chronicle

North Forsyth and Walkertown both marched into last Friday’s game unbeaten. Most people predicted the Vikings to come away with the victory, but Walkertown showed they are not the same old Wolfpack as they decisively defeated the Vikings 41-28.

“So many people had counted us out and didn’t think that we could play with other schools in the city and I was just happy that our kids stepped it up and played hard,” said Rodney McKoy, Walkertown head coach.

Big plays set the tone early for the Wolfpack and once they seized momentum, they never relinquished it. Walkertown jumped out to a 15-0 lead utilizing the passing game. Wolfpack quarterback Marque Hall found Jerimih McIntyre for the first score late in the opening period and hit Sean Brown for his second touchdown pass of the first half early in the second quarter.

McKoy said he wanted to find some openings in the passing game that could put his players in space with the opportunity to make plays, and that’s exactly what they did.

“I got to take my hat off to coach (Bernard) Williams, because they had a good scheme, but we felt like we could take advantage of some plays in the passing game and we did,” said McKoy. “So, I was just happy to come over here and get this win.”

The game looked to be getting out of hand early when the Wolfpack were driving for their third score of the game, but fumbled and it was recovered by North Forsyth. Several plays later, Vikings quarterback Deshaun Jones scored on a quarterback keeper to close the gap to 15-6 after the failed two-point conversion.

Walkertown answered right back with a touchdown of their own on their next possession. Right before the end of the half, Hall hit Brown on a pass down the seam and Brown did the rest by scoring his second touchdown of the game.

The Wolfpack running game, led by Brown and Will Slater, has been very effective the first couple of ballgames this season. McKoy figured the Vikings would want to stop their running game and used this to his advantage.

“The biggest thing is they are going to put everybody up there in the box to stop our running game, so we figured we got to be able to open it up and pass the ball some because they are going to be man to man,” McKoy said. “We had a good plan and a good scheme, and we made some really big plays in the passing game early and it got us off to a good start and then we started running the ball well once we thought they got a little tired.”

Walkertown held a 22-6 lead at the half, but the Vikings still had a lot of fight in them. Coming out of intermission, Jones found Chance Lyons for a touchdown that made the score 22-14 midway through the third quarter.

The momentum looked like it was swinging toward the Vikings, but once again the Wolfpack had an answer. Mr. Versatility, Sean Brown, received the ensuing kickoff and returned it for a 90-yard touchdown, his third of the day. Brown did it all Friday night by running and receiving, as well as in the return game.

“He can play, and I am happy he is on our team,” McKoy said about Brown. “He is one of those guys that you can bottle him up a couple of times, but at some point, he is going to make something happen in the game. He played well and had a couple of touchdowns.”

The toughness and fortitude instilled in the Viking players by their coaching staff was evident in the second half. Instead of tucking their tails and giving up, the Vikings continued to press on, even when down by multiple touchdowns. 

“I tell them that we are a family and to keep playing,” said Vikings head coach, Bernard Williams, about why his team never gives up. “The ballgame is not over until you see the triple zeros on the scoreboard and to just keep playing hard and not give up. I tell them they have to play with some passion, you have to play with some pride, and you have to play with some purpose. That’s what I tell my guys, just to keep on keeping on and we tried, but things just got out of hand for us.”

Following that kick return touchdown from Brown, the Vikings opened up the offense a bit and began to move the ball. After an impressive drive, Jones connected with Lyons in the endzone for their second touchdown hookup of the evening, bringing the score to 29-20 with 3:23 left in the third.

Walkertown punched it in two more times in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. The Wolfpack defense clamped down when it mattered most and shut down any comeback efforts from the Vikings late to seal the victory. Coach McKoy was happy with the defensive performance, but knows improvements must be made.

“We didn’t play as well as I expected defensively, but you can tell we kind of got a little tired, but that’s football,” he said. “You can’t take nothing away from Coach Williams, because that no huddle, hurry up offense was effective, and he is a good football coach and North is a good football team. To get this win against them tonight was huge.”

Even though the Vikings suffered their first loss, Williams found some positives that he could take away from the game to help the team improve. He credited Walkertown for their coaching game plan and is excited to coach his team up for next week’s game.

“We played a very good team tonight in Walkertown and they are well-coached and they did a great job tonight,” Williams said. “We asked our guys to just do what they have been coached to do and play within our offense and we asked our quarterback to lead the team. We got some things done and I am very proud of them.”

Williams was also impressed with the maturation of his quarterback and how Jones stepped up as the game progressed.  

“Last week, he kind of had a tough game and I went to him and I told him, ‘Hey, I need you to lead this team.’ I kept telling him all week, I said, ‘You can do it, you can do it’ and to keep working hard and keep trusting Coach (Oscar) Ledbetter and your offensive line. He did mature tonight, and he did show some great gains by showing some progress and I can’t be more proud of him.”

Coach McKoy says he is happy with his team’s 3-0 record, but says his team needs to play well in all four quarters of the game to reach the level they want to achieve. He credits the kids and the coaching staff for their great start to the season.