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By Jay Spivey

For the Clemmons Courier

CLEMMONS — Thursday’s Central Piedmont 4-A football game at Jerry Peoples Stadium was about as sloppy as the rainy conditions.  

However, through the 33 combined penalties between the two teams, CJ Blevins rushed for 84 yards on 13 carries with two touchdowns as West Forsyth slipped past Parkland 22-19. 

“A win’s a win. That’s what I told the kids,” said Coach Kevin Wallace of the Titans (3-2, 1-1).  “Because we overcame a lot of stuff. Overcame a lot of things – weather.” 

But to get its first conference win after the loss last week at Mount Tabor, West Forsyth had to come from behind.  

The Mustangs (3-2, 1-1) took the lead after quarterback Ethan Bailey, a junior, scored on a 3-yard keeper with 6:09 left in the second quarter to make it 6-0. Anthony Rojas added the extra-point kick to push the lead to 7-0.  

“I’ve got an experienced football team,” Coach Derrick Sharpe of Parkland said. “I’ve got an experienced football team with seniors. They know this is probably their last time playing West Forsyth (because of NCHSAA realignment slated for the 2025-26 school year). And they wanted it. They wanted this win, but unfortunately, we came up short tonight.  

“But I’ll tell you, there’s a lot of lessons in losses, and I think we’ll go back on Monday. We’ll get to work, and we’ll keep our shoulders pushed back and our chins up high, and we’ll come back and work next week.” 

West Forsyth answered on the ensuing drive after scoring on a 16-yard run by Blevins with 4:41 left in the second quarter. Initially, place-kicker Kosta Dupuy was going to attempt an extra-point kick, but Parkland was penalized for offside, which put the ball on the 11/2-yard line. Wallace elected to go for two points, and quarter Riley Horton, who transferred from Parkland, scored on a keeper to give West Forsyth an 8-7 lead. 

“We shot ourselves in the foot the first half,” Wallace said. “We get inside the 15 twice and end up getting no points. And we get a big play on the first drive, get a big play and we fumbled. 

“Those were our first three possessions. We were able to move the ball on them. We’ve just got to be able to – I mean, we’ve got to do better in the red zone. I mean, that’s been a little bit of an Achilles’ heel the last two weeks.” 

With 2:41 left before halftime, senior Benjamin Furbee of West Forsyth was ejected for throwing a punch at a Parkland player. By NCHSAA rules, an ejection carries a two-game suspension. However, Wallace said he will look at the film to see if West Forsyth will appeal it. 

“We’ll have to watch the NFHS film and see,” Wallace said. “We couldn’t see it on the sideline film. I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.” 

The Titans extended the lead with 5:16 left in the third quarter after Horton scored on a 23-yard run to make it 14-7. Dupuy added the extra-point kick to make it 15-7.  

“I think (Horton) got a little jacked up (against his former team),” Wallace said. “I think he started jacked up. I think once he – I think he calmed down at half. And even in the second quarter, so it was good. It was OK.” 

The Mustangs answered on their ensuing drive after scoring after a 10-play, 68-yard drive on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Bailey to Jason Day with 21 seconds left in the third quarter to trim the lead to 15-13. However, the Mustangs went for two points, but were called for illegal motion. Rojas’ extra-point kick sailed wide left to keep the score 15-13.  

“My kids fought hard,” Sharpe said. “They played hard. They played as a team, and I can’t ask for anymore. It’s a great program over here at West Forsyth. Been a strong program for a long time, and that’s what we’re trying to build over on the southside at Parkland High School.” 

With 8:27 left in the fourth quarter, Parkland punted, but the snap to punter Leandre Thomas was low. Just as he caught the ball, his knee hit the ground, which meant the play was dead and West Forsyth took over on downs from the Parkland 5-yard line.  

“Key play of the game,” Sharpe said. “He said he just wanted to make sure he picked it up, and going down to get it. You know, it’s unfortunate for him. He feels really bad, but I told him that’s not on him. It’s the situation that dictated it. And we still had an opportunity on defense to bow our backs. West Forsyth’s good up front with a good running game, and a good quarterback.” 

West Forsyth was able to take advantage of the knee hitting the ground. Blevins scored on the first play of the drive from 5 yards, but West Forsyth was called for holding, which made it first-and-goal on the 16. Blevins scored on the next play on a 16-yard touchdown run to help extend the lead to 22-13 with 8:12 left.  

“He’s running well. He’s getting downhill,” Wallace said. “I think he could be a little cleaner on some stuff, but he’s hitting some stuff and he’s exploding through the line, which is good. I think he’s just got to work on that second-level move on the safety.” 

The Titans finished with 184 yards rushing on 32 carries. Horton was 6-of-14 passing for 66 yards. The Mustangs finished with 23 yards rushing on 23 carries, and Bailey was 8 for 21 with one interception and 101 yards.  

The Mustangs answered on the ensuing drive and scored on a 1-yard pass from Bailey to Kiwion Covert with 5:01 left to help slice the lead to 22-19.  

“My kids are resilient, man,” Sharpe said. “We don’t have a lot over there at Parkland, but we’re working to build a lot.” 

The Titans started the next possession after the Mustangs’ touchdown on their own 28, but they were able to run out the clock for the win.  

“I mean, it’s good to get the win after two losses (in a row), not playing very well,” Wallace said. “So, we’ll come back on Monday and come back at it again.” 

West Forsyth is scheduled to play at Glenn (2-2, 0-1) next week at Marty Stanley Stadium in Kernersville. Glenn’s scheduled home game on Friday against Reagan (2-2, 0-1) was pushed back to 2 p.m. on Saturday because Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools were closed on Friday because of the remnants of Hurricane Helene.  

Glenn, which is coached by Tommy Green, who is in his first season as head coach after Antwon Stevenson left to coach at Ragsdale, has outscored its opponents 87-54 this season. However, West Forsyth won last year’s game in Clemmons 45-13.  

Wallace also used to coach at Glenn as an offensive coordinator.  

“The kids (at Glenn) are going to know what to do and play hard,” Wallace said. “There are going to be assignments on, especially, just the way they coach and they hold those kids accountable.  

“So, you know, we’ll see. So, we’ve got to go over there to the Water Tower and see what’s going on.”