For the first time since moving up to 4A, the Forney Jackrabbits wrapped up a perfect run leading up to district play with an incredibly entertaining 52-42 win over Sachse on Thursday night. For many reasons, this was an impressive win. Sachse was Forney’s first ever 5A opponent. Forney was not intimidated, even after getting down by 14 points early. In the end, the Forney offense put up 46 points (6 points came courtesy of the defense) to outscore Sachse with the help of a Jackrabbit defense that had a complete turn around in the second half.

On the first play of scrimmage, Jr. QB Blake Branton was intercepted by Sachse. Sachse took advantage of the short field and went ahead early 7-0 on a six yard touchdown run by QB Henry Hunter. The ensuing kickoff turned into a nightmare for Forney as Peter Smith fumbled while fighting through several tackles. The Mustangs picked up the ball at the twelve and scampered into the endzone for a very quick 14-0 lead.

Facing the biggest deficit of this promising season, the Jackrabbits were up to the challenge from that point going forward. Sr. RB Peter Smith tied the game with the next two touchdowns (10 and 17 yards), to make amends for his early mistake. Hunter and Smith traded touchdowns again, and early in the second quarter the score was tied at 21. The teams traded, this is not a misprint, two more touchdowns before the half finally came to a close. With an amazing 35 points for each team at halftime, folks began to settle in for a second half full of fireworks.

Forney managed to get off the next few volleys of fireworks, the first courtesy of a 37 yard interception return by Lesley Booker to break the halftime tie. Although unexpected by most in the stadium at this point, Forney never lost the lead the rest of the way. Tucker Burke added a key field goal (36 yards) for the second week in a row to give the Jackrabbits a 10 point lead. Smith added his fifth and final touchdown (12 yards) of the night to put the nail in the coffin of the Mustangs. Sachse mustered a late touchdown for their only score of the second half, but it was too late to mount a significant comeback. The Jackrabbit offense went into ball control mode and made three first downs to run the clock down to the final whistle and secure a huge win.

Branton had an amazing night on the ground, actually outgaining workhorse Peter Smith (201 to 190) for the first time this season. For Sachse, Hunter had four touchdowns himself, but only managed a total of 81 yards on the ground and 101 yards through the air. Coming into this match up, Hunter had averaged 230+ yards passing in the first two games. After giving up 28 points in the first half, the second half numbers for the Forney Defense were quite impressive. Coach Kevin Rush gave Defensive Coach Scott Cluiss a lot of credit after the game for making a halftime adjustment that absolutely bewildered the Mustang offense and allowed his defense to regain their early season form and hold Sachse to just the one late touchdown.

Needless to say, the Jackrabbits are on an early season roll and will now commence District 15-4A play against rival Mesquite Poteet at Mesquite Memorial Stadium on Friday night (7:30 pm Kickoff). Forney is the only district team with an undefeated record, but they know it gets tougher going forward. Poteet (1-3) has faced what many would consider a tougher pre-district schedule, so Friday will be an important early match up in district play. The Pirates have had trouble stopping the pass, but offers a very tough run defense. Considering the ground game (357 yards per game) is the strength of the Jackrabbit offense, the match up will be interesting.

This prediction sees Forney coming out on top, 26-14. This season is shaping up to be the one that enables the Jackrabbits to turn the corner at the 4A level. It starts for real on Friday and I expect to see a Jackrabbit team ready to prove the 4-0 record is no fluke.

Join Sportsgram on the internet at http://www.sportsgram.net if you can’t make the game in person. For those making the trip to Memorial Stadium, bring your radio and listen to myself, Nate White and Kyle Robinson bring you all the action on 92.9 FM in the stadium via StadiumCast.