After a big win last week against the North Forney Falcons, the Forney Jackrabbits couldn’t keep the momentum going in Friday night’s matchup against the West Mesquite Wranglers at Mesquite Memorial Stadium. While Forney was able to keep it close in the first half at 10-6, West Mesquite owned the second half and finished the game with a 37-13 victory.
After a big win last week against the North Forney Falcons, the Forney Jackrabbits couldn’t keep the momentum going in Friday night’s matchup against the West Mesquite Wranglers at Mesquite Memorial Stadium. While Forney was able to keep it close in the first half at 10-6, West Mesquite owned the second half and finished the game with a 37-13 victory.
Early, it looked as if the Jackrabbits may have a chance at the upset win. After receiving the ball for the opening kickoff and seeing AJ Atnip return the ball to the 31 yard line, the Jackrabbit offense started their first possession with decent field position. On the initial play from scrimmage, Luke Skipper hit David Burnett down the right sideline for a 69-yard touchdown pass. The missed extra point attempt was a sign of the good times ending for Forney.
The remainder of the first quarter saw a bunch of sloppy play from both sides and resulted in several punts for both teams, until Tyler Rodriguez booted a 21-yard field goal for West Mesquite with 5:24 to play in the first quarter. West Mesquite then put the only score on the board in the second quarter on a Le’Billie Hunter 1 yard run, making the score 10-6 at halftime in favor of the Wranglers.
West Mesquite must have had a heck of a halftime speech from someone. They came out and stepped on the throttle and the throat of the Jackrabbits with a quick and impressive scoring drive capped by a Chason Virgil 3-yard run to make the score 17-6. West Mesquite followed this up with three more touchdowns in the second half before Forney broke through on a beautiful Elijah Roberson 63-yard touchdown run around the left side at the 6:35 mark of the fourth quarter. It was too little too late, as this ended the scoring for both teams resulting in another disappointing loss for Forney in their 2013 campaign.
Game Notes: The game featured 23 penalties for over 200 yards. There was only one turnover, which was a West Mesquite fumble. There were 12 punts in the game. West Mesquite outgained Forney 425 to 263. Chason Virgil was 14-19 for 237 yards. Virgil completed passes to 8 different receivers.