FORNEY, Texas — The Lovejoy Leopards (2-4, 1-2) set an early pace Thursday night against the Forney High School Jackrabbits (3-3, 1-2) after returning the opening kickoff for 99 yards.
FORNEY, Texas — The Lovejoy Leopards (2-4, 1-2) set an early pace Thursday night against the Forney High School Jackrabbits (3-3, 1-2) after returning the opening kickoff for 99 yards.
The kickoff return, by Chase Van Wagoner, gave the Leopards an early 7-0 lead over the Jackrabbits — a lead they wouldn’t lose.
The Jackrabbits contested the drive near the end of the first quarter with a 26-yard Huffman Matthew field foal followed by a failed Lovejoy punt attempt brought down with a safety which ended the first quarter 7-5 in favor of the Leopards.
Wagoner scored the lone touchdown for either team in the second quarter on a 21-yard pass from Carson Collins with 4:42 remaining in the half. The touchdown took the Leopards into the locker rooms with a 14-5 lead.
Forney’s Jaylon Hutchings traded off scoring drives with Wagoner in the third quarter with Hutchings on a 31-yard touchdown run with 10:06 on the clock, Wagoner with a 22-yard touchdown catch with 7:06 on the clock, and Hutchings again scoring on a 27-yard touchdown run with 2:28 remaining in the quarter. The scoring at the end of the third quarter was 21-18 in the Leopards favor.
Wagoner scored his fourth and final touchdown on the night on a 13-yard pass from Collins early in the fourth quarter.
Forney’s final points on the board came off a 30-yard Matthew field goal.
Collins would go on to rush for a 29-yard touchdown of his own with approximately 6 minutes remaining in the game bringing the final score to 35-21.
Forney accumulated more total yards on the night despite the loss with 334 total yards compared to Lovejoys 276. Forney, however, had 9 penalties for 87 yards compared to Lovejoys 2 for 10.
Forney quarterback Devon Rideaux passed for 111 yards on 8 completion and 24 attempts. Rideaux also rushed for an additional 55 yards on 14 carries. Hutchins would end the night with 129 total rushing yards, 2 touchdowns, and another 8 receiving yards.
Forney will again play on Thursday night next week against West Mesquite High School (3-2, 2-0) at Memorial Stadium at 7 p.m.