FORNEY, Texas — The Forney High School (4-3, 7-3) Jackrabbits remain undefeated in the Unity Bowl against cross-town rival North Forney High School (1-6, 2-8) after a 59-28 victory at City Bank Stadium on Friday night.
FORNEY, Texas — The Forney High School (4-3, 7-3) Jackrabbits remain undefeated in the Unity Bowl against cross-town rival North Forney High School (1-6, 2-8) after a 59-28 victory at City Bank Stadium on Friday night.
With the win, Forney has captured four-straight wins at the Unity Bowl matchup, three with Luke Skipper at the quarterback position.
“Skipper definitely makes our offense click,” Forney High School Head Coach Kevin Rush told inForney.com after the game. “We’ve had a good run with him and he’s probably the reason we won three of the last four [Unity Bowls].”
Skipper passed for 293 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another 135 yards and three more touchdowns — accounting for 428 of the Jackrabbit’s 602 total offensive yards on the night.
The Falcons won the toss and deferred to the second half — allowing the Jackrabbits to receive the kickoff. Less than a minute later, Skipper connected with Aaron Rideaux on a 55-yard touchdown pass and a failed two-point conversion.
Five plays later, North Forney scored with a 23-yard setup pass complete to Khari Dickinson and a 38-yard touchdown pass to Lorenzo Wright who would later prove to be North Forney’s offensive leader.
Forney would drive the ball for three minutes on their next possession — ending with a bullet pass to Cody Cook in the end zone. The touchdown was called back due to a holding flag on Forney. North Forney’s Dante Moss intercepted a Skipper pass on the next play but failed to capitalize on their possession despite an impressive effort by 215-pound running back Willie Thomas rushing on three plays and carrying five defenders on his back— opting for a failed punt fake.
With the short field advantage, and several failed conversions, Skipper kept the ball around the outside line and rushed for a seven-yard touchdown with 1:06 remaining in the first quarter with Forney leading 13-7.
Forney would score on their next two possessions with Skipper connecting with Mailk Woods on a 61-yard touchdown reception and a 28-yard touchdown reception — the second of which was tipped off a North Forney defender.
On North Forney’s next possession, Brent Taylor connected with Wright on a screen pass with Wright shaking several defenders and reversing across the field for 27 yards, setting up a Nathaniel Diaz 23-yard field goal.
Forney’s Michael Prox snagged one of many North Forney onside kick attempts and setting up an Aaron Rideaux 9-yard carry and eventual Skipper carry up the middle for 14 yards and another Jackrabbit touchdown. North Forney was intercepted other next possession with Aaron Rideaux following up with a double-reverse 40-yard rush to setup a Prox 9-yard touchdown run.
Forney also intercepted North Forney’s next possession with North Forney recovering a Forney fumble only to be intercepted again — bringing a messy end to the first half.
Forney led 40-10 going into halftime.
North Forney, as they’ve displayed all year, came out strong beginning the second half. North Forney drove the ball nearly four minutes on large gains with a diving 25-yard reception by Wright and another Suits pass to Wright for 29 yards. Willie Thomas would seal the touchdown on a 5-yard reception.
North Forney recovered an onside kick but failed to connect in the air and eventually punted their possession. Skipper capitalized on a quarterback keeper, opting for the outside line, shaking several defenders — one with a stiff arm — and nabbing a 49-yard rushing touchdown.
North Forney’s next possession resulted in a punt and Skipper connecting with Devon Rideaux for 17 yards and a 24-yard touchdown pass to Cook.
Wright made another impressive catch on the Falcon’s next possession — snatching a 26-yard reception over a Forney defender. North Forney turned over on downs and Forney’s Devon Rideaux relieved Skipper going into the fourth quarter.
North Forney intercepted that possession and would capitalize on the possession and very short field advantage with Wright snagging another diving reception for 10 yards and Charles Fuller trucking in an eight-yard touchdown pass.
On three plays, and a short field due to an onside kick attempt, Forney contested — Mylan Agent rushed for 12 yards and Devon Rideaux with a 25-yard touchdown rush up the middle of the field while at quarterback.
Wright impressed again on North Forney’s next possession — snagging a deep pass and ringing in a 60-yard touchdown. Wright caught 9 passes for 230 yards, an average of 25.6 per reception, and two touchdowns of the Falcon’s 344 total offensive yards.
The only play worth mentioning in the final seven minutes of the game was North Forney recovering another onside kick, neither team would score again on the night, and the fourth annual Unity Bowl went into the history books with Forney defeating North Forney, 59-28.
Last week, Forney clinched a playoff berth with a 44-27 win over West Mesquite. They will go on to play Bryan Adams High School on Thursday, November 12, 2015, at Allen’s $60-million Eagle Stadium at 7:30 p.m.