CLEMMONS
Two yards were all that separated Lake Norman from tying West Forsyth with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter in the first round of the Class 4-AA playoffs last night.
Dirqual Ellis of Lake Norman, all 225 pounds of him, took the handoff and trudged to his right in search of the end zone.
David Sapp, a 145-pound defensive back, read the play and darted into position to stop Ellis for no gain to preserve a 14-12 win and set up a second round game next Friday against top-ranked Matthews Butler.
"We saw that it was a heavy set," Sapp said of the play. "I just saw the guy try to bounce it out, and I just reacted to it. That felt really good. We're moving on, and it feels great."
Lake Norman's subsequent onside kick was recovered by Andrew Mitchell, and West was able to run out the clock.
Coach Adrian Snow of West, who called timeout when he saw the formation for the conversion attempt, thought that his defense really hunkered down when it needed to.
"It looked like they were going to try and run us over with that jumbo set, so we needed that timeout to get our guys set," Snow said. "I couldn't be prouder of our guys. We've been doing this all year, and they just keep fighting and grinding it out."
Lake Norman, which trailed 14-0 at halftime, scored two second-half touchdowns to make things interesting.
Chris Blanton connected with Matt Denyes on a 17-yard slant that trimmed the lead the 14-12 and set up the final conversion attempt, and James Cloud, who finished with 106 yards on 17 carries, got Lake Norman on the scoreboard with a 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
West held a 14-6 lead and was trying to put the game away in the fourth quarter.
But the Titans failed to convert a fourth and one with 1:57 left after quarterback Patrick Midkiff bobbled the snap and was tackled for a loss of one yard.
"Hindsight tells me that maybe we should have punted there, but I thought they were tired and if we get a yard, the game's over," Snow said.
Midkiff, who didn't play in a loss to Mount Tabor last week, had a hand in both touchdowns for West.
He scored on a 10-yard run in the second quarter, and then hooked up with Ric Thompson on a 34-yard fade for a 14-0 lead.
Thompson leaped between two defenders near the 10-yard line to make the catch, and then coasted into the end zone for the score.
"I was really proud of the offensive line for the job they did tonight," Snow said.
"They had two huge tackles on their line, and we really held our own. These guys deserve to advance in the playoffs and this is great for our team, but we aren't satisfied. We're excited to head down there next week and get after the (Butler) Bulldogs.
Lake Norman 0 0 6 6 -- 12
West Forsyth 0 14 0 0 -- 14
WF--Midkiff 10 run (Chris Price kick)
WF--Thompson 34 pass from Midkiff (Price kick)
LN--Cloud 4 run (kick failed)
LN--Denyes 17 pass from Blanton (run failed)
Records--West Forsyth 10-2, Lake Norman 8-4
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