By Marc Pruitt
For the Clemmons Courier

West Forsyth got back on track Friday night with a 26-13 nonconference win against High Point Central at Jerry Peoples Stadium.

After losing two straight games and suffering some key injuries, the Titans rebounded with a solid defensive performance that held the Bison scoreless in the first half and an explosive effort from G’Mone Wilson, who ran for 194 yards and two touchdowns to help key the win.

Quarterback Jalen Ferguson continued his steady development, completing 8 of 14 passes for 129 yards and one touchdown and rushing for 43 yards on seven carries.

Trae Archie continued to dazzle as a receiver with four receptions for 47 yards and a touchdown, and Thomas Laws had four catches for 81 yards.

Coach Adrian Snow said his team showed no residual effects from coming off two straight losses and that they were eager to get right the ship Friday.

“We talked all week about being together, being steady, and understanding that we are a whole lot better if our fist is closed than we are with our hand open,” Snow said. “That’s about being together and being tight, and that’s a big thing for us. Sometimes you can start to see cracks if you are faced with adversity like we have been the last few weeks, but that’s football. And I think our kids understood that. They battled.”

West (2-2) took command early and built a 16-0 lead at halftime.

Wilson got the scoring started with a 6-yard touchdown run in the first quarter for a 6-0 lead. Christian Kaplan added a 21-yard field goal in the second quarter, and Archie caught a screen pass from Ferguson for a 2-yard touchdown.

High Point Central cut into the lead with a touchdown in the third quarter to trim West’s margin to 16-6 but Wilson scored on a 13-yard run in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 23-6. Triston Hawkins added a 30-yard field goal for the Titans to extend the lead to 26-6 before Central scored on a late touchdown.

“We played well, but there is still plenty that we can clean up,” Snow said. “G’Mone played a great game and we were down two of our starting offensive linemen. And during the game, everyone was dropping like flies because of the heat. I think at one point, there were more kids sitting on the bench with ice packs than there were out there on the field. It was nuts. We even hard a quarterback in there for a series who I think has been a quarterback for about a week. But what that tells me is these kids stepped it and have that ‘hey, whatever I can do to help, coach, mentality,’ and that’s what you like to see. We had some kids jump in and make plays.”

The Titans will head into their bye week this week with an opportunity to regroup and get healthy.

“We’ve got a bunch of people who are just banged up right now,” Snow said. “We all have those nicks and bruises in life, but you have to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep going. Heal up keep going, and let’s go. That shows a lot of character.”

West will return to action on Sept. 21 at South Iredell.

HPC  0      0       6       7   —  13

West   6    10    0    10 – 26

WF—Wilson 6 run (conversion failed)

WF—Kaplan, 21 FG

WF—Archie 2 pass from Ferguson (Kaplan kick)

HPC—Godfrey 2 run (conversion failed)

WF – Wilson 13 run (Hawkins kick)

WF – Hawkins 30 FG

HPC – McDuffie 9 run (Cheek kick)