By Marc Pruitt
For the Clemmons Courier

West Forsyth sent its seniors out in style last Friday night in their final home game of the regular season at Jerry Peoples Stadium.

The Titans’ defense dominated through the first three quarters and the special teams came up with a momentum-boosting play during a 30-13 win against Glenn, giving West its third-straight win in Central Piedmont 4-A Conference play.

“That’s just special for those 24 seniors, 23 players, and one manager, Charlie Kotofsky, and we’re all proud of them for what they have done for West Forsyth football during their careers,” Coach Adrian Snow said. “They have poured a lot into this program. I reminded them, though, that this isn’t the end of football season. It’s more like the beginning of it with the playoffs around the corner.”

The win against Glenn also sets up a showdown Friday night at Reagan with plenty on the line in terms of postseason ramifications.

West will enter the game 7-3 (3-1 CPC); Reagan 7-3 (2-2). The winner will finish in second place in the conference and host a home game in the first round of the NCHSAA 4-A playoffs.

“It’s a big deal for us, and I’m sure it’s a big deal for them,” Snow said. “It’s nice to be able to play at home in the playoffs, and we’ve been lucky enough to get to do that the last few years. It’s basically set up that you win, you are at home for the first round of the playoffs. You lose, you are on the road. There is definitely plenty to play for.”

The Titans struggled to get going on offense against the Bobcats last week. They grabbed an early 6-0 lead when Jalen Ferguson hooked up with C.J. Graham on a 47-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

The play of the game came from the special teams and gave West a shot of momentum late in the second quarter.

After forcing a Glenn punt with 2:38 left in the half, Ja’Quan McMillian signaled for a fair catch just inside the 50-yard line and was hit before the ball came to him. A flag was thrown, but the whistle was never blown.

Junior Kendall Williams saw the ball laying on the field and scooped it up before running 43 yards for a touchdown. Tristan Hawkins extra point gave the Titans a 13-0 lead and some breathing room heading into halftime.

“I saw Ja’Quan got hit, and I saw a flag got thrown, but I never heard a whistle,” Williams said. “All the coaches started yelling ‘pick the ball up and go’, so that’s what I did. I got a great block from Joseph Wassong and the rest was history.”

Snow had a big hug and some encouraging words for Williams after the game.

“That’s called being aware,” Snow said. “The play wasn’t dead because there was never a whistle. And credit to that young man for recognizing that. He picked it up and ran it. That’s what you are supposed to do. And that was a huge play for us.”

G’mone Wilson, who finished with 79 rushing yards on 27 carries, scored on a 19-yard run with 3:16 left in the third quarter that gave West a 20-0 lead.

Glenn’s only two scores of the game both came in the fourth quarter and were both touchdown passes from Malik Patrick to Christen Wilson. The first was a 25-yarder early in the fourth that trimmed the margin to 20-7.

On West’s next series, Hawkins drilled a 35-yard field goal that extended the lead to 23-7 with 6:42 left. James Gordon added a 7-yard scoring run on West’s next series for a 30-7 lead with 1:51 left.

And Wilson caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Patrick with 32.1 seconds left for the final scoring margin.

The Titans forced three turnovers during the game, all of which came in the first half. And the defense held the Bobcats scoreless through the first three quarters, allowing just 59 yards of offense until the fourth quarter. That continues a trend since conference play started, with the Titans allowing just under 14 points per game in CPC play. The most points West has allowed during conference play was 16 in a loss to East Forsyth — the fewest points the Eagles have scored all season while averaging nearly 48 points per game.

“We were flying around on defense all night, which is what they’ve been doing the last few weeks,” Snow said. “They’ve been getting better and better. I thought our offense played well at times, but we couldn’t string good plays together. That’s more a tribute to Glenn’s defense, though. They were tough. They loaded the box up and stuffed us most of the night. Those jokers are good.”

Reagan enters Friday’s game averaging almost 32 points a game this season with conference losses against East and Davie.

Josh McGee, Reagan’s coach, was an assistant under Snow at West before getting the job at Reagan. McGee was also a star quarterback for the Titans in his playing days.

“They have a prolific offense and are well-coached,” Snow said. “It should be a fun night in Pfafftown.”

Glenn  0      0      0       13 —  13

West   6      7      7       10 — 30

WF – Graham 47 pass from Ferguson (kick failed)

WF – Williams 43 punt return (Hawkins kick)

WF – Wilson 19 run (Hawkins kick)

G – Wilson 25 pass from Patrick (Potts kick)

WF – Hawkins 35 FG

WF – Gordon 11 run (Hawkins kick)

G – Wilson 22 pass from Patrick (kick failed)