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West crushes East: Anderson races through Eagles' defense
Journal Photo by Bruce Chapman
B.J. McKeever of East Forsyth (center) tries to break a first-quarter tackle by Kersey Anthony of West Forsyth.
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Published: September 27, 2008
Before one of the smallest crowds in recent West Forsyth football history, the Titans landed their biggest win of the season last night.
In a game played mostly under steady to heavy rain, West struck fast and eased away from stunned East Forsyth for a 35-13 nonconference win.
Dedrick Anderson, whose nickname is "Waterbug" gashed East's defense for 169 rushing yards and three touchdowns, and the Titans' defense did a number on East's Forsyth's powerful offense.
Coach Adrian Snow of West said that the decision to play while most area teams postponed games last night was simple.
"People think you are trying to nullify this or you are trying to nullify that," Snow said. "Let me tell you what we were doing -- we're playing football. Because this is the way football was supposed to be played."
East Forsyth came into the game flying high with an unbeaten record, a No. 10 ranking in the Associated Press Class 4-A poll and coming off a resounding win against Mount Tabor the previous week.
But the Eagles' offense could never get going, as the Titans intercepted East quarterback Danny O'Brien three times. East avoided a shutout with two late touchdown drives led by Erick Smith, the backup quarterback.
A.J. Perea, a senior linebacker for East, said he wasn't sure if his team suffered a letdown coming off the win against Mount Tabor.
"We didn't really think we were going to play today because of the rain," Perea said. "I just guess we came out and we weren't ready to play. We were flat. We thought had a shot at coming back, but they came out to play and they were ready."
O'Brien was sufficiently healed from a hip injury to make the start, but things didn't start well for East when Bobby Clark of West intercepted O'Brien on the first play from scrimmage, tearing the ball away from tight end Tyler Kloc.
Taking over at the East 47, it took West all of three plays -- each of them runs from Anderson -- to reach the end zone. Anderson scored on a 43-yard run in which he accelerated through a gaping hole in the left side and had a direct sprint to the end zone, helping the Titans to a 7-0 lead 1:30 into the game.
The Titans got a break late in the first half when Matt McConnell of West pounced on a Christian Smith fumble at the East 39 with 3:40 left. And the Titans slowly marched to the East 8 before calling a timeout with 34 seconds left, during which the steady rain became a downpour.
Four plays and two timeouts later, on third and goal from the 11, Midkiff took a Shotgun snap and lofted a pass to the left side of the end zone. Ric Thompson was able to turn and shield defensive back Quinta Thompson to make a leaping catch in the end zone with 7.3 seconds left in the half.
The touchdown catch and Landen Thayer's extra point made the score 14-0 at the half.
"I was proud of the kid who caught the ball. He made a great play and this is the first time he has gotten out there and really had a chance to get it done," Snow said. "He will add something to us because he can make plays."
East moved into West territory two times in the first half but never went beyond the 37, and O'Brien completed 1 of 4 passes for minus-3 yards. Anderson rushed for 93 yards on 16 carries in the first half, and the Titans rushed for 145 yards as a team.
On the third play of the second half, Anderson burst through another big hole and outran the Eagles 68 yards to the goal line to make the score 21-0. He later scored on a 1-yard run, and Josh Coston added a 4-yard touchdown run as the Titans led 35-0 with 11 minutes left.
Smith scored on a 2-yard run and B.J. McKeever scored from the 8 on East's two late scores.
"First of all I am so proud of my defense," Snow said. "They have been taking some hits, and I am proud of our staff. We do what we do, we just have to do it better and that's the bottom line. I think that's what we have done."
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
East Forsyth 0 0 0 13 -- 13
West Forsyth 7 7 14 7 -- 35
WF -- Anderson 43 run (Thayer kick)
WF -- Thompson 11 pass frfom Midkiff (Thayer kick)
WF -- Anderson 68 run (Thayer kick)
WF -- Anderson 1 run (Thayer kick)
WF -- Coston 4 run (Thayer kick)
EF -- Smith 2 run (kick blocked)
EF -- McKeever 8 run (Boyer kick)
Records -- East Forsyth 5-1, West Forsyth 5-1
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