FORNEY, Texas — It was senior night for North Forney at Citybank Stadium in Forney, Texas, on Friday night, but the Falcons don’t have many seniors on their 2021 roster. It showed in the first half against Woodrow Wilson High School.
The Falcons looked strong both defensively and offensively on the first two possessions of the game. North Forney’s defense first forced a turnover on downs thanks to a big fourth down stop from senior linebacker LeMarcus Kirk. Then senior quarterback Nate Billings led the Falcons offense on a 61-yard touchdown drive that was eventually capped off by a 27-yard touchdown run by junior running back DeShaun Brundage.
That’s it. That’s all the scoring North Forney did in the first half against the wildcats.
The first half featured thirteen penalties between the two teams. North Forney also turned the ball over twice and allowed a fake punt for a first down that eventually turned into three points for Woodrow Wilson.
The defense held strong in the first half however, allowing only 10 first half points thanks in large part to two sacks from senior linebacker Tre Jones and a forced fumble and recovery by senior defensive back DeMarcus Kirk. The Falcons trailed 10-7 at halftime.
The second was a different story.
The two teams exchanged leads 5 times in the first 14 minutes and 28 seconds before settling on a 29-29 tie with 9:32 to play in the 4th quarter.
Although the penalties didn’t let up and the defense showed some signs of fatigue, the Falcons’ offense would find it’s rhythm in the second half. Both North Forney quarterbacks, Billings and junior Mike Phillips, would lead alternating touchdown drives on each of their first two possessions of the second half.
The first touchdown came when Billings found junior wide receiver Tylan Crochett for a 15-yard touchdown pass near the side of the end zone on a 50/50 ball that Crochett snagged in over the defender. The first touchdown pass from Phillips again went to Crochett this time via an 18 yard touchdown pass where the two Falcons showed great chemistry as Phillips rolled out and avoided the pressure, then directed Crochett down field where Phillips eventually found him for 6 points.
The second touchdown for Billings came when he found (insert broken record) Crochett down the middle of the field for an 18-yard touchdown pass. On the very next North Forney offensive possession, Phillips would use his legs to take off up the middle of the field on 4th down and 9 from the 12-yard line for the Falcons go ahead score breaking the 29-29 tie, putting North Forney up 36-29.
Crochett finished the night with 10 catches for 169 yards and 3 touchdowns.
The Falcons would get fortunate on the ensuing kickoff when a perfectly placed pooch kick by North Forney junior kicker Collin Randall ended up being recovered by LeMarcus Kirk, placing the Falcons at the Wildcat 19-yard line.
North Forney had to settle for the 25-yard Randall field goal and the 39-29 lead with 7:10 to play in the game, but the Falcons didn’t need anymore.
North Forney’s defense put the clamps on the Wildcats offense the rest of the night and the final score was North Forney 39 and Woodrow Wilson 29.
Next week the Falcons travel to Little Elm to take on the Little Elm Lobos. Kickoff is at 7 pm. All of North Forney’s regular season games can be seen on Sportsgram with the following link: https://www.meridix.com/channel/?liveid=sportsgram7#/schedule
