WS Chronicle

When you establish yourself in all three phases in the first game of the season, that usually bodes well for your team.  That’s exactly what the Eagles of East Forsyth accomplished in their game against Mt. Tabor last Thursday on their way to a 42-13 victory at home.

To begin the game, both teams seemed tentative on offense, which is typical for the first game of the year.  The defenses had the upper hand until East was able to get on the board, first taking a 6-0 lead.  Later in the quarter sophomore starting quarterback Gammon McReynolds went down with a lower leg injury. 

Most often an injury to your starting quarterback in the first quarter of the first game would spell disaster for most teams or at least damage moral, but not the Eagles.  Backup quarterback Ty’Shaun Lyles stepped in and immediately made his presence felt.

By halftime, Lyles and company took a 6-0 lead and stretched it to 36-0.  Lyles threw two touchdown passes and was helped by a pick 6 along the way that gave the Eagles even more cushion.  Wide receiver Micah Crowell made a number of catches in traffic bailing his quarterback out on a ball that was up for grabs in the end zone.

“Micah and Ty are freshman and if they continue to stay humble and work hard they will be great in the future,” said Eagles head coach Ronald Horton.  “They still have a lot to learn as all freshman do but I am pleased where we are so far.”

On the other sideline, the Spartans were shell-shocked during that second quarter where it seemed everything that could have gone wrong did.  Even though they were blanked in the first half, the team continued to fight hard all day long.

“We are starting a lot of new guys and we are very young,” said Mike Lovelace, Mt. Tabor head coach.  “East Forsyth just came out and took it to us.  The had a good game plan and spread the ball around well offensively.”

“We are still trying to find our identity and it will come,” he continued.  “It’s a young group and we have a lot of new starters, so we will be back but it doesn’t get any easier.”

The Mt. Tabor defense settled down during the second half of the game.  They only allowed a late touchdown late in the fourth quarter with time running out.  Lovelace was impressed with their tenacity.

“There is about six new starters on our defense and they’re having to come in to learn a lot of new things,” said Lovelace.  “We were fortunate last year to be as deep as we were but this year we are still learning.  Hats part of the learning curve and we are just gonna get better each week.

The starting defense of the Eagles did not give up a score.  The only time Mt. Tabor crossed the goal line was when the reserves were put onto the field.

“Our coaches demand that intensity, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” Horton said.  “On defense we want to have the attitude and get all hats to the ball and these are the thing we teach.  We can do things to still get better, but they did what we coached them to do all week.  I am pleased after week one for sure.”

There were a few bright spots for the Spartans as Tyress and Brian McIntyre played very well throughout.  Tyress made a number of clutch plays from the quarterback position while Brian ran hard and was very elusive all evening.  Lovelace raved about the potential of both young men saying “they both have a chance to be really, really good.”

Coming off of an undefeated season last year, Lovelace admits they go into every game thinking they can win.  He says he knew the game would be a tough one and acknowledged the obvious target on their backs because of their history of success.

Horton said his team as a whole has two goals this season; win every game they play and win the conference. 

“Those are just our main goals outside of bettering ourselves every time we step out on the football field,” said Horton.  “We remind them of how hard they have to work and the things they have to do to put themselves in a situation where we can play for the conference title at the end of the year and possibly an undefeated season.  But we have to take it one step at a time.”