FORNEY, Texas — North Forney won’t go undefeated in 2019. Following a 14-33 loss to the Ennis Lions on Friday night, the 2019 Falcons finally found out what it feels like to lose a game. In a game in which the Falcons trailed by only a touchdown at halftime it never felt as though North Forney threatened to take the lead. They never led and missed countless opportunities to breakthrough against Ennis.
FORNEY, Texas — North Forney won’t go undefeated in 2019. Following a 14-33 loss to the Ennis Lions on Friday night, the 2019 Falcons finally found out what it feels like to lose a game. In a game in which the Falcons trailed by only a touchdown at halftime it never felt as though North Forney threatened to take the lead. They never led and missed countless opportunities to breakthrough against Ennis.
To say the Falcons only lost because of the missed opportunities wouldn’t be fair to Ennis who made some clutch plays in the second half and never allowed North Forney to sustain momentum from one series to the next.
Ennis’ first drive of the game was interrupted by an interception by Falcons linebacker Ethan Monaco for the second week in a row. In what would be a microcosm for the game however, the Falcons would give away that gained momentum by following up the turnover with a three and out offensively.
Ennis would have two long first half runs of 66 and 89 yards, with the latter being a touchdown run itself. The Lions would lead 0-14 and it looked like this game might end up getting away from North Forney similar to last year’s game against Ennis. Except two things would change that would keep this game close throughout much of its entirety.
With North Forney’s offense struggling to move the chains, and backup quarterback Zach Tucker having only thrown for 5 yards through the air the Falcons made a change at quarterback. In a somewhat surprising scene, Head Coach Randy Jackson decided to put in the original starting quarterback Jacob Acuna. Acuna was scheduled to sit out again this week while recovering from an upper body injury. At the time of the switch, Tucker was 1-9 for 5 yards. The Falcons’ offense would feel the boost and score a touchdown on Acuna’s first drive.
The other change that would keep this game a 7-14 halftime score is the play of the defense and the defensive line in particular. The defense would eliminate the long runs allowed early in the first half. That development would allow North Forney to have a chance in this game.
The second half would be a frustrating one for the Falcons. After an exchange of 3rd quarter touchdowns capped by a 5-yard acrobatic catch from Jacob Acuna to Collyn Shipley in the corner of the endzone, the rest of the game would belong to the Lions. That score would make it 14-20 in favor of Ennis and the Falcons offense would struggle to gain traction. The passing game which spent half of the game going against a brisk wind, found it hard to give Acuna enough time to make deep throws while attempting a comeback.
North Forney’s defense would have Ennis in multiple third and longs in the second half but would fail to force Ennis off the field in almost every scenario including a gut-wrenching dagger on third and fourteen in which Lions receiver Laylon Spencer would make an incredible catch in traffic for the put away touchdown.
North Forney’s rushing attack that was so lethal through the first three weeks sputtered against Ennis only accumulating 3.9 yards per attempt on 49 carries. Add that to the putrid 67 yards of passing for North Forney and it’s a wonder the Falcons were within a touchdown midway through the second half. The usually efficient quarterback play of the Falcons saw both quarterbacks combine to complete 5 of 19 passes for only 72 yards. The Falcons’ defense would allow 442 yards on the night and the final score would end up being 14-33 Ennis.
Other Game Notes
Ennis Lions quarterback, Collin Drake would rush for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Falcons’ leading rushers on the night were Ty Collins (14 carries for 99 yards), Jacob Soto (22 carries for 68 yards and 1 touchdown), and LaMarcus Kirk (9 carries for 43 yards).
Ethan Monaco intercepted two passes in this game giving him 3 in the last two weeks.
Akanimo “Nemo” Asuquo recorded a sack and forced on of the Monaco interceptions.
Next week North Forney 3-1, (1-1) will come home to face Corsicana 3-1, (1-1). Kickoff is at 7:30pm and you can catch the radio broadcast on YouTube.com starting at 7:10pm.