WS Chronicle

Just when it appeared that West Forsyth’s junior varsity might suffer its fourth loss of the season, Marquis Bodney gave his team the jump start it needed in a 14-13 comeback win over Davie County last week.

During the second and third quarters, victory seemed highly unlikely for the Titans, who had problems generating offensive consistency. Davie County, in the meantime, controlled the tempo of the game with its explosive read-option rushing attack that featured quarterback Chris Reynolds and running back Stephon Dalton.

Even though West Forsyth trailed 13-6 at the start of the fourth quarter, it wouldn’t take long for the momentum to begin to swing in its favor. Davie had the ball at its own 20-yard line when Reynolds fired a pass over the middle that Bodney intercepted and ran back 33 yards for a touchdown. Bodney capped the scoring for the night when he caught a pass from Malachi Simmons for the two-point conversion to give West Forsyth the lead for good.

“I just followed the quarterback’s eyes and waited for my chance,” said Bodney, a sophomore safety. “I knew he would try to get the ball to the tight end, so I baited him into making the throw. Once the ball was in the air, I just cut underneath (the receiver), got the pick, and took it all the way back (for the score).”

The Titans defense slammed the door on the War Eagles potential game-winning drive with two minutes left to play in the game. Davie had a third-and-eight at midfield, but Denard Smalley of West Forsyth stopped Dalton for no gain. On fourth down, Reynolds completed a pass to Juarez, but Bodney and Xavier Barringer teamed up to take Jaurez down a half-yard short of the first down.

West Forsyth (5-3) took over on downs and ran out the clock with Jerome Warren rushing for two first downs over the final minute of play.

This was the second week in a row that West Forsyth staged a heart-thumping second-half comeback. Two weeks earlier, Bodney recovered a lost fumble that led to the winning score in the Titans 34-33 victory over Reynolds.

Bowman

“What you saw out there tonight was a bunch of kids doing whatever they needed to do to win a football game,” said Coach Brian Bowman. “Seems like every week, it’s somebody different who steps up. That’s been the story for this season. You keep going until the (final) whistle blows and that’s because you just never know what might happen.”

West Forsyth has recovered from a horrendous September. The Titans lost three straight that month, but are now in position to finish strong with remaining games against Reagan (tomorrow) and North Davidson (Nov. 7).

“We take the wins as they come,” said Bowman. “We’re happy to be where we are at this time of year.”