Early in the fourth quarter last night, East Forsyth was close enough to smell the end zone against Mount Tabor on third down. But with backup quarterback Erick Smith holding down the offense, and with the Eagles easily in field-goal range, Coach Todd Willert of East decided to go for broke.
And the Eagles broke Mount Tabor's spirit.
Instead of calling a safe running play, Smith rolled to his right and completed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ian Thompson on a play "drawn up in the grass," putting East ahead by nine points and well on the way to a convincing 28-19 win over the Spartans, who are ranked No. 5 in The Associated Press Class 4-A poll.
It was program-turning win for East, which brandished a run-stuffing defense and big plays to improve to 5-0.
"This is the first time I have beaten Mount Tabor and there is a lot of pride at East and it's been a while since we have had this," Willert said. "It's huge for the program and the school and these kids deserve it."
Danny O'Brien, East's standout quarterback, was injured late in the third quarter on a hit by Parker Thomas of Mount Tabor. Smith took over with the Eagles at the Spartans 35, and the slow drive continued, kept alive several plays later when Mount Tabor was called for roughing the punter.
On third and goal from the 5, Willert called a timeout.
"What can you say about Erick Smith coming in there?" Willert said. "We had to call a timeout and draw that play up in the grass because he didn't know what the waggle was. We drew the play up and I'll be darned if he didn't throw that touchdown pass.
"The kids said they wanted to go for it, and we wanted to get up by two touchdowns because (Mount Tabor) can score from any place at any time."
East's defense rose to the occasion to stop Hunter Furr, Mount Tabor's 6-1, 205-pound running back who came in averaging 175 yards rushing a game. Last night, Furr was limited to 87 yards on 19 carries. The Eagles also sacked quarterback Brad Morton of Mount Tabor five times.
"We knew this was going to be our turning point in our season," O'Brien, who injured his hip, said. "Beating a good team like Mount Tabor and being undefeated; we knew it was going to be a real big game and it just sends a message out to the whole state."
East got ahead early when Edwin McRay ran 58 yards for a touchdown on a fake punt, but Mount Tabor came back later in the first quarter by forcing an O'Brien fumble that Matt Turner recovered at the East 22. On first down, Morton connected with Payton McCollum on a touchdown pass to help tie the score at 7.
The Spartans took the lead on a 14-yard touchdown run from Robert Willis, but East came back to tie when O'Brien scored on a 2-yard keeper early in the second quarter. Lawson Furr kicked a 22-yard field goal to put Mount Tabor ahead 17-14, and that appeared the likely halftime score until the Eagles found another big play in their arsenal.
On first and 10 from its own 42 with less than 20 seconds left, O'Brien connected deep over the middle with Tyler Kloc, who got between two Mount Tabor defenders and hauled in the 58-yard touchdown with seven seconds left in the half for a 21-17 lead.
Mount Tabor got its final points when East conceded a safety with 35 seconds left.
"We have to decide how we will respond to the loss and what kind of character we have, and we have to become a better practice team," Coach Laymarr Marshall of Mount Tabor said. "To be honest, we didn't have a great week of practice and it carried over."
■ Mason Linker can be reached at 727-7324 or at mlinker@wsjournal.com.
Mount Tabor 14 3 0 2 -- 19
East Forsyth 7 14 0 7 -- 28
EF -- McCray 58 run (Boyer kick)
MT -- McCollum 22 pass from Morton (L. Furr kick)
MT -- Willis 14 run (L. Furr kick)
EF -- O'Brien 2 run (Boyer kick)
MT -- L. Furr 22 FG
EF -- Kloc 58 pass from O'Brien (Boyer kick)
EF -- Thompson 5 pass from Smith (Boyer kick)
MT -- safety; Elliott tackled Smith in end zone
Records -- East Forsyth 5-0, Mount Tabor 4-1
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