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O'Brien runs, passes East past Smith 51-6
Journal Photo by Bruce Chapman
East Forsyth’s Christian Smith (17) leaves defender Brandon Carrington of Smith (1) on the ground.
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Published: October 18, 2008
KERNERSVILLE - The rain wasn't the only thing pelting down on Greensboro Smith last night.
An opportunistic East Forsyth defense and a crisp offense took advantage of six turnovers by Smith and ran away for a 51-6 win last night in a Metro 4-A Conference game.
East (7-1, 2-0) had its way with Smith after falling behind 6-0 in the first quarter. Smith took its opening possession 60 yards for a touchdown, scoring on a fumble recovery in the end zone by Truth Martin after a 2-yard run by B.J. Briley.
After that drive, Smith had minus-9 yards the rest of the first half and was held to 51 yards of total offense and five first downs for the game.
"Our defense came out and played well once again," Coach Todd Willert of East Forsyth said. "They've been a big factor for us all year. They seem to always be helping us out at the times our offense is struggling. But they came out, played hard, and had a really good game plan once again."
Willert said that the cold rain that fell for much of the game didn't really affect the offensive game plan. The Eagles finished with 189 yards on the ground and 154 through the air.
"We knew we would run the ball, and we threw the ball quite well," Willert said. "Our offensive line does a great job up front of opening holes, giving us running lanes and passing lanes. We can throw it and run it, and hopefully that can be something that can get us far in the playoffs, because we aren't just one dimensional."
Quarterback Danny O'Brien of East completed 6 of 12 passes for 154 yards and two touchdowns and added touchdown runs of 1 and 5 yards for the Eagles, who built a 21-6 at halftime.
O'Brien got East on the scoreboard with a 1-yard run late in the first quarter, and Zach Boyer, who made all seven extra points, added the point after as the Eagles went ahead 7-6 and ran away from there.
Running Back Christian Smith, who finished with 83 yards on 18 carries, had an 8-yard touchdown run that gave the Eagles a 14-6 lead. East added its third touchdown of the first half after a fumble recovery at the Smith 5-yard line.
O'Brien called his own number and scored on the next play for his second touchdown of the game.
Smith's misfortunes continued on the opening kickoff in the second half. Smith, pinned deep in its own territory after misplaying the kick, started from its own 3-yard line and promptly fumbled on the first play. Tyler Kloc jumped on the ball in the end zone and the lead jumped to 28-6.
O'Brien followed with touchdown passes of 14 yards to Ian Thompson and 5 yards to Spencer Warren for a 42-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
"We started out kind of slow when we gave up that long drive, but then we settled down," O'Brien said. "Our defense has been playing great all season, and our offensive line always gets after it. I know I sleep a lot better when you've got big Jeff Harris (6-2, 255) and David Collins (6-7, 295) up there looking out for us."
The Eagles added a safety early in the fourth quarter after Smith was called for a block in the back in the end zone, and then capitalized on another Smith turnover later in the quarter when backup quarterback Erick Smith ran in a score from 9 yards out for the final margin.
Smith 6 0 0 0 --- 6
East Forsyth 7 14 21 9 -- 51
S--Martin fumble recovery in end zone (pass failed)
EF--O'Brien 1-run (Boyer kick)
EF--Smith 8-run (Boyer kick)
EF--O'Brien 5 run (Boyer kick)
EF--Kloc fumble recovery in end zone (Boyer kick)
EF--Thompson 14 pass from O'Brien (Boyer kick)
EF--Warren 5 pass from O'Brien (Boyer kick)
EF--Safety, illegal block in end zone
EF--Smith 9-run (Boyer kick)
Records: Greensboro Smith 0-7 (0-2, Metro 4-A), East Forsyth 7-1 (2-0)
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