FORNEY, Texas — While not the rivalry game Forney (5-1, 2-1) fans have come to anticipate each year from cross-town opponent North Forney, the matchup against Poteet (5-1, 3-0), who is ranked No. 4 in area 5A rankings, certainly remains a district rivalry.
FORNEY, Texas — While not the rivalry game Forney (5-1, 2-1) fans have come to anticipate each year from cross-town opponent North Forney, the matchup against Poteet (5-1, 3-0), who is ranked No. 4 in area 5A rankings, certainly remains a district rivalry.
With both teams going into the matchup tied at the top of District 12-5A, the anticipation was higher than normal for this matchup. The Pirates were coming off two big wins against Rockwall-Heath and West Mesquite, while the Jackrabbits were riding the crest of a perfect 5-0 start.
Scoring started quick for both teams, only adding to the excitement and anticipation. The Jackrabbits got on the board first with Rhett Coleman’s first field goal of the year, a 27-yard field goal, which made the score 3-0.
Poteet answered very quickly with the first touchdown of the game, an 8-yard rush by Walter Dawn, Jr. that was setup by a big 33-yard pass from Kaleb Fletcher to Cha Cha Courbin. The teams traded touchdowns — a 4-yard run by AJ Atnip for Forney and a 58-yard pass from Fletcher to Walter Dawn for Poteet— before the first quarter ended, resulting in a 14-10 lead for Poteet as the second quarter began.
Poteet’s offense continued to be the story of the first half as Jaylon Smith continued to run the ball and Fletcher completed timely passes when asked. Smith put the next touchdown on the board with a 4-yard run giving Poteet a 21-10 lead.
It was time for the Jackrabbits to answer, and answer they did. Showing their balanced offense that has lead them to the 5-0 record, the Jackrabbit offense put together a balanced drive that was capped off by a 12-yard scramble Luke Skipper for the touchdown that brought the score to 21-17.
The next Poteet possession produced the most exciting play of the night with the score being so tight. The Forney defense, at times, put lots of pressure on Fletcher. With three Jackrabbits in his face, Fletcher was spun around by the arm deep in his own territory and lost the football. After a couple of fortunate bounces, Caleb Collins did his best JJ Watt-impersonation with a scoop-and-score of the fumble from 33 yards out. The massive crowd was on their feet witnessing a quick turn around that had the Jackrabbits on top by a score of 24-21 as halftime was approaching.
Unfortunately for the black and gold faithful, Poteet had an answer in the form of a Fletcher pass to Dawn for a 67-yard touchdown. Poteet had regained the lead, 28-24, with only 14 seconds left before halftime.
Poteet started the second half with a drive that threatened to put the Jackrabbits in a big hole. On the second biggest play of the night, the Forney defense stuffed Fletcher on fourth-and-one at the Forney 2-yard line on a quarterback sneak. The chains were brought on to the field and the Forney defense celebrated wildly when the referee indicated a Jackrabbit first down.
Forney didn’t do much offensively after the big stop and Poteet took advantage of the good field position and the strong leg of John Cummings who put up a 38-yard field goal making the score 31-24.
The next drive for the Jackrabbits was also unproductive and ended on a Luke Skipper fumble at the 20-yard line, giving Poteet another short field to work with. DeAndre McNeal capped the short drive with a 7-yard touchdown giving Poteet a 38-24 lead to close out the third quarter. The Forney offense came alive again in the fourth quarter. The first drive of the quarter ended up inside the Poteet 15-yard line, but resulted in a turnover on downs at the 11-yard line after two consecutive incomplete passes. Poteet was forced to punt on their next possession and the Jackrabbit offense came out moving the ball again. This time, Skipper took things into his own hands and finished the drive with a 2-yard, escape-artist touchdown run to once again make it a one-possession game at 38-31. Poteet finished the scoring with a field goal to make the final score 41-31.
The Jackrabbits need to shake off the emotional loss of their perfect record and turn their focus to the Terrell Tigers. The Jackrabbits have revenge on their mind after last year’s last second loss in Terrell. The matchup on Friday will likely determine one of the final playoff spots from District 12-5A for 2014.