After picking up its first win of the season over Raleigh last week, West Marion (1-4) couldn’t make enough plays to hang with Forrest County AHS (4-1) Friday night in a 21-6 loss.
The game began in a rather anti-climatic fashion with both teams punting twice and turning it over in the first 14 minutes of game action. Then Jeremiah Holmes made a play.
With the Trojans facing a second-and-6, Holmes faked a jet sweep handoff, hurdled a defender at the line, broke a tackle in the second level with a stiff arm and made reservations for 6 with a 61-yard touchdown run. The Trojans two-point conversion was called back for an illegal forward pass, but they took an early 6-0 lead with 8:55 remaining in the second quarter.
However, it didn’t take long for the Aggies to make some noise themselves. Facing a fourth-and-inches, quarterback Evan Clark was stuffed on a sneak attempt, but spun out of the arms of West Marion lineman Blake Lowery and raced 43 yards to set up Forrest County AHS with first-and-goal. Three plays later, Clark scored from two yards out on another quarterback sneak. With the PAT good, the Aggies took a 7-6 lead midway through the second quarter.
Neither team moved the ball the rest of the half and went into the locker rooms with the score 7-6. But then the Aggies run-heavy Wing-T offense began to wear on the Trojans. The Aggies marched 66 yards on their opening drive of the second half that was capped off by yet another Clark quarterback sneak and took a 14-6 lead.
Over the next six minutes of game time, disaster ensued for the Trojans. After a couple of solid plays to begin the drive, the Trojans ran the same jet sweep action that led to Holmes’ touchdown run. But the play was doomed from the get go. With the play clock running down, the timing of the snap was off as Adryane James crossed Holmes’ face. James was forced to jump out of the way of the ball and although he was successful, Holmes couldn’t see the snap as it bounced off his hands to the ground. He tried to pick it up and run with it rather than fall on it, but was unsuccessful, leading to an Aggies recovery.
Three plays later, Forrest County AHS running back Nathan Whitley bullied his way into the end zone for a 6-yard touchdown, giving the Aggies a commanding 21-6 lead midway through the third quarter.
“Another week where it’s close at the half and we can’t find a way to finish. We were so close to making some big plays to be in the ball game and then we just don’t do it,” West Marion head coach Brad Duncan said after the game. “The plays are there and it’s not because the kids aren’t playing hard — they’re playing hard — we’re just going through that stage right now where we need to find someone to make some plays. Forrest County is better than Raleigh like we expected them to be. They executed better than Raleigh, and that was the difference in the ball game. They played harder than what we saw last week and we didn’t rise to that.”
Trojans running back Charles Lewis hurt his ankle on just his second carry of the game, hindering West Marion’s initial game plan. With Holmes having to carry the offense, as well as anchor the defense as the starting middle linebacker, coach Duncan realized he was asking too much of his sophomore signal caller and brought in freshman Jayden Duncan to run the offense.
“When Charles got hurt, our running backs were pretty much nonexistent after that. Jeremiah had a long run to score on a busted play, but that was it. He played so hard offensively and defensively that he just gave out and got tired,” he said. “Jayden came in and completed a couple passes, but played like a freshman, though, taking sacks when you need to get rid of the ball.”
Jayden Duncan provided the Trojans offense with an initial spark, completing his first four attempts and getting the Trojans inside the Forrest County AHS 10-yard line. However, Cyrus Thompson fumbled fighting for extra yardage to end the drive, and Duncan misfired on five of his last six attempts while taking four sacks on the Trojans final two possessions of the night.
Coach Duncan said the fumbled snap that led to a Forrest County AHS touchdown early in the third quarter and Thompson’s fumble near the end zone killed West Marion’s chances.
“(The turnover battle) is very important. If you take away two plays from them offensively, we’re in the ball game. We’re two plays away, but the turnovers add up and that puts us in a hole. You can’t overcome that when you’re playing somebody that’s even with you or better than you,” he said. “We’re going to keep working, though — go Monday through Thursday again — try to get better and get ready for Columbia Academy.”
The Trojans will host cross-county Columbia Academy — the first ever meeting between the two Marion County schools — Friday night in a highly anticipated matchup.
“I think it’s going to be really big. It’s going to be good for both communities and the county. It’s the first time in their 50-year existence that CA is going to play a public school in the county. It’s going to be a great thing for us over here and a great thing for their school. It’ll be a great atmosphere, and they’re not a bad football team,” Duncan said. “They beat Purvis who beat us. They have some good numbers statistically. We just have to find a way to get better and make a play to win a ball game.”
The Cougars offense will pose a different type of threat for the Trojans than what they have seen the past two games. After facing Raleigh and Forrest County AHS’ Wing-T attacks, the Trojans will have to adjust to a spread opponent, which excels both on the ground and through the air, especially with play-action.
Many around the county are excited to see how the two teams matchup, and it should be an entertaining game.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
Pictured Above: Cyrus Thompson races down the sideline for a punt return touchdown that was called back due to a penalty. | Photo by Joshua Campbell
