It’s too early to tell who might emerge as top team in county
BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE
FOR THE CHRONICLE
After six weeks of play, here’s a look at the state of affairs for two junior varsity football teams. Due to the editorial deadline for SportsWeek, this outlook does not include results for the games that were played on Monday night.
Even though the season is at its mid-point, there’s still no clear pick as to which team will finish up as Forsyth County’s mythical JV football champions. The coming weeks will surely separate the pretenders from the contenders. Here are some observations about West Forsyth and Mount Tabor – two teams who are most likely to contend for the title.
West Forsyth (4-0) was the only undefeated team going into the final week of September. The Titans have been tough to deal with because of their ability to score points in a hurry. West Forsyth has a nice offensive balance and enough weapons to break down any defense. When Kenyar McPhatter and Mack Duke aren’t doing damage as a lethal running back tandem, quarterback Drew Latham has two prime receivers in Kallai Buyna and Jamon Brown.
The defense, led by Clifton Mack and Sean Wells, shows signs of being formidable, but tends to be too porous. In three of their games, the Titans allowed 83 points. The key to West Forsyth’s season could come down to how well the defense is able to limit opponents in a tightly-contested game.
Mount Tabor, on the other hand, hasn’t shown itself to be nearly as balanced offensively as the Titans. The Spartans get the job with suffocating defense and a crunching ground game.
The defense rates among the best, with linemen Timar Jackson and Cole Foley holding down the fort up front. Je’Vonte Legrande continues to deliver strong performances as one of the anchors of the secondary.
Offensively, the Spartans rely on another Legrande brother – De’Vante, a slasher who runs well between the tackles, but who also has the run-away speed to score from anywhere on the field. The one possible issue with this team is how well the offense will function if the rushing attack is slowed down. That’s exactly what transpired in the Spartans only loss of the season so far (6-0 to Carver).
In the coming weeks, Mount Tabor is sure to face opposing defenses who will stack the line with eight and nine-players, fronts designed to nullify the run. To counter that, look for quarterback Thomas Brabham to employ more play-action passes to wide receiver Qumar Price.
If the Spartans can get more out of their passing, they’ll be tough to beat because they typically don’t surrender a lot of points at the defensive end.
