In a month associated with new lessons, West Forsyth learned a valuable one last Friday night.
Traveling to meet a talented East Forsyth football team that some consider to be the finest in Forsyth County, the emerging Titans made their presence known from the outset. But the fact that they couldn’t get into the end zone on the opening possession of the game, and then couldn’t get the Eagles offense off the field on the final possession, showed why non-conference game experience is so important.
“We have to do a better job of finishing. It’s as simple as that,” said West head coach Adrian Snow after the Titans fell to the Eagles 17-10. “Our kids are pretty down right now because they know this was a game we could have won.
“But that is part of the learning process. You can’t take any plays off against a good team. And you absolutely cannot make mistakes when you have a chance to get into the end zone.”
The defeat was the first of the season for West and creates added emphasis on playing well in this Friday’s home matchup against Statesville. The Greyhounds are 0-2 but have suffered both losses on the game’s final play.
“Don’t let their record fool you,” Snow cautioned. “They are the most athletic team we will have seen so far. Their quarterback is special, their running back is special and their receivers are extremely effective. We have to forget about last week and get our heads right for this one.”
West came out in the right frame of mind last week, driving the ball 67 yards and chewing nearly 10 minutes off the clock during the opening drive of the game. But poor execution in the red zone put a halt to the march and the resulting 23-yard field goal by Ben Esposito left West with just a 3-0 lead.
East attempted to answer quickly, driving inside of the West 10 on its opening march before a failed field goal attempt killed the rally.
On their next possession, however, the Eagles took the lead for good with a scoring drive that produced the first touchdown on the night.
East added another touchdown in the third quarter and then had a chance to nail down the win when a fourth-quarter pass interception gave them the ball deep in West territory. But a strong stand by the Titan defense limited the Eagles to a field goal and a 17-3 lead.
“That was a tremendous …