The Poteet Pirates came to City Bank Stadium on Friday night to play the Forney Jackrabbits in what many in Forney have considered for several years their "rivalry" game. That will change in a couple of weeks when North Forney and Forney meet for the first time in the Unity Bowl, however, this game was still pretty important for both teams. Poteet came in with a perfect 4-0 record while Forney was recovering from a lopsided loss to Highland Park that took their record to 1-3 on the season.
The Poteet Pirates came to City Bank Stadium on Friday night to play the Forney Jackrabbits in what many in Forney have considered for several years their "rivalry" game. That will change in a couple of weeks when North Forney and Forney meet for the first time in the Unity Bowl, however, this game was still pretty important for both teams. Poteet came in with a perfect 4-0 record while Forney was recovering from a lopsided loss to Highland Park that took their record to 1-3 on the season.
Forney won the toss and started the game with their offense. After two first downs, their drive stalled and Poteet took the reigns from there. Poteet's no-huddle offense put the Jackrabbit's defense on its heels from the first snap and didn't let up. Junior running back James Swindle started the scoring with a 1 yard run to make it 7-0 Poteet.
The next Forney possession ended when Louis Fanning fumbled at the end of a 12 yard gain. The Poteet Pirates recovered the fumble and went on a second quick drive and scored on a 10 yard reverse by Verkedric Vaughns to make the score 14-0.
The next Jcakrabbit drive was a 3 and out. Poteet QB Tanner Ramsey then led his team on their third consecutive scoring drive capped by a Ramsey 18 yard pass over the middle to WR Kody Edwards. The score was 21-0 at this point and the second quarter was yet to start.
The Jackrabbits lost their first possession in the second quarter after fighting for a much needed first down. Forney punted the ball to the Poteet Pirates who downed it inside the 20 yard line. The Pirates drive ended after a holding penalty was called against them and they were forced to punt back to the Jackrabbits. Forney Jackrabbit's Junior Blake Canion then provided the lone highlight for the Jackrabbit faithful when he came off the left edge and blocked the punt. The ball took a very favorable bounce right into the hustling Canion's arms who then proceeded to scamper into the endzone to open the scoring for Forney.
The Poteet Pirates returned the favor when the Jackrabbits found themselves punting to the Pirates from deep in their own end of the field. The punt snap was bad and the Pirates recovered the ball on the Forney 5 yard line. One play later, Poteet's QB Ramsey passed to Senior WR Buck Rodges for a touchdown and made the score 28-7 in favor of Poteet. The Pirates added another score before halftime on a Rodney Douglas 69 yard run through the beleaguered Jackrabbit defense. At the half the score was 34 - 7 in favor of Poteet.
The second half opened with a flurry of turnovers at midfield by each team. Neither team could captilize on the mistakes and Forney ended up punting the ball to Poteet. Poteet fumbled the punt and a hustling Forney special teams recovered the ball and setup the Jackrabbit offense with a short field. It only took two plays for Jack King to find Lane Johnson for a 13 yard touchdown reception, making the score 34-14 in favor of the visitors.
Poteet managed to add one score late in the fourth quarter after two missed field goals by kicker Brett Rattan earlier in the second half. The Poteet Pirates scored one final run by Jaylon Smith for 9 yards and bringing the final score of the game to 41-14, Poteet Pirates won.
Special shout out to Senior defensive back Hunter Blair of Forney who was a human highlight film with two interceptions of Poteet's QB Ramsey in the second half. These turnovers weren't enough on the night as the Jackrabbit offense couldn't get things moving well enough despite the defense keeping the Pirates off the board for the majority of the second half.
The Forney Jackrabbits travels to Carollton next Friday to face Carollton Creekview in another District 10-4A matchup.
Pictures provided by Big Shots Photography.