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West Forsyth will play winless Parkland Friday night

By Jay Spivey
For the Clemmons Courier

West Forsyth was winless in the nonconference portion of its schedule, but as Central Piedmont 4-A play started last Friday night at Bob Sapp Field at unbeaten Mount Tabor, the Titans started with a clean slate.
It was Mount Tabor’s second-half surge that led to a 29-13 win and leaving West still searching for its first win.
“We were in the middle of it,” Coach Adrian Snow said. “We had a chance. We’re down one score with about 3 minutes to go, you’ve got a chance.”
Indeed, the Titans (0-4, 0-1) did have a chance against the Spartans (4-0, 1-0). And for a short period in the first quarter, the Titans led.
On its first drive, quarterback Samaj Reaves-Smith of Mount Tabor was sacked by Caleb David. Reaves-Smith fumbled it, and Anthony Reid scooped it and ran 10 yards for a touchdown with 9:46 left in the first quarter to help give West Forsyth a 7-0 lead.
“They (were) 3-0. We weren’t,” Snow said. “And guess what? We battled them. That’s all you can ask for.”
It didn’t take Mount Tabor long to respond. Quarterback Bert Rice of West Forsyth was intercepted by Shamarious Peterkin, who raced 78 yards for a touchdown with 4:11 left in the first quarter to tie the game at 7-7.
“We came out a little bit sluggish,” Coach Tiesuan Brown of Mount Tabor said. “Our quarterback did, too, also. It was just a combination of things. We just didn’t play well, but I told the kids all week that West is a good football team. Don’t sleep on these guys.
“And we didn’t sleep on them. Those guys just came out and played well in the first half.”
Peterkin caught an 85-yard touchdown pass from Reaves-Smith with 3:08 left in the second quarter to help the Spartans take a 14-7 lead.
The Titans bounced back again just before halftime after running back Caman Chaplin darted in for a 36-yard touchdown with 29 seconds left to help make it 14-13. However, David’s run for two points was stopped to keep the Spartans’ lead at halftime to 14-13.
Chaplin finished with 181 yards rushing on 29 carries and a touchdown.
“We always try to stop the run,” Brown said. “Anytime you play an Adrian Snow-coached team, they’re going to run the football. And if we get them in situations to pass that’s where we felt like we needed to be, making him pass. And we took advantage of that.”
Early in the second half Mount Tabor was the beneficiary of a crazy play. On the first play of scrimmage in the third quarter, Reaves-Smith dropped back to pass with just 7 seconds lapsed. Marcus Wilson intercepted it at the West Forsyth 43 and ran it back. However, Peterkin stripped it causing Wilson to fumble. Mount Tabor recovered the ball giving itself a fresh set of downs.
“Big momentum, big momentum,” Snow said. “You’re right there. We got it going. It’s just a part of it. But you know, plays happen.”
Mount Tabor took advantage of the fumble recovery and marched 81 yards on nine plays before Jamarien Peterkin, Shamarious’ brother, scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with 8:14 left in the third quarter. Wes Dunlap tacked on the extra point to help extend the lead to 21-13.
“Shamarious Peterkin again,” Brown said. “He stripped the ball out. That was a big play. And I felt like his long touchdown in the first half was a momentum deal. It gave us the lead.”
Any chance the Titans had of getting back in the game was thwarted after the Jamarien Peterkin took the ball on a reverse and dashed 34 yards for a touchdown with 2:14 left in the fourth quarter. Jaden Wallace tacked on a two-point run for the final margin.
“I told them in life you’re going to go through hard times,” Snow said. “The football season, we’re going through hard times. We’ve just got to keep working. We’ve got to keep going.
“If they praise you, you show up and go to work. If they criticize you, you show up and do the work. That’s all you’ve got to do. Show up and go to work. There’s nothing else you can do. That’s what we’re going to do. We won’t quit. We’re not doing that.”

W. Forsyth: 7-6-0-0 — 13
Mount Tabor: 7-7-7-8 — 29

WF — Anthony Reid 10 fumble recovery (Alejandro Morillon kick)
MT — Shamarious Peterkin 78 interception return (Wes Dunlap kick)
MT — Shamarious Peterkin 85 pass from Semaj Reaves-Smith (Dunlap kick)
WF — Caman Chaplin 36 run (rush failed)
MT — Jamarien Peterkin 5 run (Dunlap kick)
MT — Jamarien Peterkin 34 run (Jaden Wallace rush)
Records — West Forsyth 0-4 (0-1 Central Piedmont 4-A), Mount Tabor 4-0 (1-0)

Next up: Parkland

West Forsyth will try to bounce back in practice this week for a home game against Parkland (0-4, 0-1 CPC 4A).
“Hard times come and they go,” Snow said. “And at the end of the day, you’ve got to be ready to play. Right now (Parkland) is in the same boat we are, and we’ve got to go be ready to play, period.”
We are not looking for anything different on Monday (when practice starts). At the end of the day, we’ve got to line down and get better, and go from there. That’s what we’ve got to do.”
Parkland is in a similar situation as West Forsyth so far this season.
“I think there are a lot of lessons learned early on in the season, but the biggest thing is growth — being able to see the difference in our play.” Said Coach Derek Bryant of Parkland, who is in his third season with the program. “And a lot of the games we played last year, the scoreboard was a little different early in the games. And this year, being able to play with teams and be right there, especially when you’re as young as we are.
“Four out of five players up front (on the offensive line) are sophomores. The quarterback is a sophomore.
“We knew a lot of guys were lost and things of that nature. Luckily for me, our athletic director (Linwood Jerald) has been nothing but amazing. He’s a former football coach, and we both had this conversation. And he’s told me it’s been like this before and just keep doing what you’re doing — instilling the discipline and those winning ways, and the wins will come.”
Parkland has been much more competitive this season but lost its conference opener 38-8 against Glenn last week.
“We did some things to help (Glenn) pull away on the scoreboard,” Bryant said. “But I think it was situation where they saw the name and didn’t see the players, especially in the second half.”
When Parkland arrives at West Forsyth next Friday, both coaches know what to look for.
“First of all, (West Forsyth) is well coached,” Bryant said. “They have been for quite some time. Coach Snow does an amazing job of getting those guys to play every week.
“If you look at their film, I know the scoreboard and their record says a whole bunch of things, but when you turn on the film you see a hungry football team. You see a team that’s very disciplined. They know who they are. And each and every game they’ve played this year they’ve been right there at the end.”