WS Chronicle

The running game for East Forsyth was the catalyst that led to their win against Grimsley last Thursday. The combination of Ja’Mon Smith and Traylon Ingram propelled the Eagles to a 21-0 victory against the Whirlies, who fell to 4-2 overall.

The Eagles took the opening kickoff of the game and proceeded to use the running game to set the tone for the game. Smith capped off the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run down the right sideline, breaking several tackles in the process.

Minutes later, East Forsyth put together another impressive drive. Still utilizing the running game, the Eagles added to their lead when Smith scored his second touchdown of the quarter with an impressive 36-yard touchdown run to give East Forsyth a 14-0 lead early on.

Even though the Whirlies offense was not on track, the Grimsley defense bounced back in the second quarter. They held the Eagles offense at bay by not surrendering any second quarter points.

“I thought after the game started going, our defense started clicking a little bit,” said Jesse Tripp, Grimsley JV head coach. “It was tough sledding on offense. We put some things together, but we just started off slow and when you are playing East Forsyth, a team that good, you can’t start off slow.”

With a 14-0 lead heading into the third quarter, East Forsyth looked to build a bigger lead. Their defense stopped Grimsley on the opening drive of the half and then the offense went back to work. Eagle quarterback Jaylen Raynor connected with Ingram for a touchdown pass to extend the lead to 21-0.

Tripp stated his team has gotten off to a slow start in a few of their games this year, so they were comfortable being in this position. After halftime, the Whirlies showed a lot more fight on both sides of the ball, but the Eagles were up to the task.

“We have been in that position before with this group,” he said. “We have a lot of freshman playing, so it’s a really young group. They have battled all year and it doesn’t matter how much time is left, doesn’t matter about the score, you’re just trying to get better, play and do your job every single snap.”

In the fourth quarter, East Forsyth slowed the tempo of the game to secure the victory. Grimsley stayed in attack mode, but came up short of crossing the goal line. Even though they were shut out, Whirlie quarterback Khalil Stimpson was one of the bright spots for the team.

“He has grown up a lot in just about six weeks and he has a long way to go,” Tripp said about Stimpson. “He’s going to be a really good player; he plays with a lot of effort and will be a great leader for this program for the next three or four years.

“He’s got a long way to go and I talked to him about what that position entails, because it’s the hardest position in all of sports, I think. With him and our running back, Kelvin Harper, those guys make a really good duo back there and when times get tough, they are the ones that want the ball.”

Tripp says this was their last non-conference game before their conference play begins and it was a great test for them.

“This was a test for us and kind of a gut check to kind of see where we are at and some of the things we need to work on,” he said.