Luke Bennett (1) jumps over an East Surry player on Friday night.
JR Willoughby Photography
PILOT MOUNTAIN — East Surry punched its ticket to the Sweet 16 with a 37-20 win over Forbush on Friday.
The Cardinals and Falcons went back-and-forth during the first half, with the teams combining to score six times on the first seven possessions. Forbush made it a one-score game with a touchdown to start the second half, but then East Surry held the Falcons offense scoreless for the remainder of the game. Forbush’s final four possessions featured a punt, an interception and two turnovers on downs.
It was a clash of offensive styles as East Surry, who ranks in the top 10 of the state among all classifications with nearly 250 yards passing per game, faced off with Forbush’s primarily rushing offense. Forbush is one of only 10 teams in the state to have rushed at least 470 times entering the second round, and the Falcons averaged just under 300 yards rushing per game through 11 games.
East Surry (11-0) racked up 478 total yards to Forbush’s 364. The Cards had 358 yards passing and 120 yards rushing, while the Falcons rushed for 305 yards and passed for 59.
Following a week in which he was held below 175 yards passing, Cardinal quarterback Folger Boaz exploded for a season-high 358 yards against Forbush. The junior completed 20-of-29 passes, half of which went to Layton Allen. Allen led all receivers with a career-high 10 receptions for 165 yards and a touchdown.
Boaz’s other passing TD came during the game’s opening drive. The Cardinals went 72 yards in nine plays and capped the drive with a 21-yard pass from Boaz to Trey Armstrong. Stephen Brantley’s PAT made it 7-0.
The Falcons (8-4) looked to build of last week’s 523-yard rushing performance that helped Forbush secure its first playoff win since 2004. Derek Matthews and Luke Bennett alternated carries on Forbush’s first drive until Matthews broke free for a 47-yard touchdown run. East Surry maintained the lead after a missed PAT.
The teams traded touchdowns again as the game moved into the second quarter. Neither team converted the extra point, so East led 13-12.
Forbush seemed to have East’s passing game under control on the following drive, and the Falcons even sacked Boaz for the first time. Joe Hennings and Ayden Gardner brought the QB down for a 3-yard loss to set up third-and-18, but East converted on a 43-yard pass from Boaz to Luke Brown. East Surry failed to find the end zone after Brown’s reception, but Brantley did convert a 29-yard field goal.
Forbush had a chance to take the lead with a touchdown but instead had to punt for the first time. Matthews was dragged down for a loss by East’s Gavin Atkins after just crossing into Cardinal territory, then QB Andrew Hutchens was sacked by Kyle Zinn for an 11-yard loss. The Cardinals capitalized on that stop with a Boaz touchdown pass to Brown with just 18 seconds left in the half.
Forbush received the second-half kickoff and stayed true to its strategy. Matthews and Bennett took turns rushing and eventually found the end zone after a 10-play, 4:58 drive. Matthews attempted a pass for the 2-point conversion, but it was swatted by East’s Luke Bowman to leave the score at 23-18.
The Falcons had another chance to take the lead after forcing a three-and-out. Brantley placed a 59-yard punt on the Falcons’ 5-yard line, but the duo of Matthews and Bennett brought Forbush near midfield. However, a tackle for a loss by Armstrong and a swatted pass by Brett Clayton led to Forbush punting back to East.
Five plays later, Boaz punched in a 5-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 30-18.
Matthews opened the fourth quarter with his longest rush of the night. The senior plowed through defenders to gain 70 yards and get inside the red zone. He continued carrying until Forbush was on the Cardinal 5-yard line, then Nathan Hampton brought the Falcons to the 1-yard line.
Matthews got the ball on fourth-and-goal on the one, but was held up by the Cardinal defense. Forbush may not have got the touchdown, but it was able to force a safety to cut the lead to 30-20 with 7:32 left to play.
The Falcons used a 31-yard pass from Hutchens to Matthews to convert a fourth down on their next drive. Hutchens looked to pass again two plays later, but was picked off by Zinn. East Surry took advantage of the turnover when Boaz hit up Allen for a 74-yard touchdown with 3:20 to play.
Determined to go down swinging, Hutchens dropped back to pass on every play of the next drive after only attempting four passes all game. The quarterback was sacked twice: once by Clayton, who led the Cardinals with 20 total tackles, and then by Hatcher Hamm, who had 17 total tackles and a tackle for a loss to go with the sack.
Hamm’s sack of Hutchens forced a turnover on downs with less than a minute on the clock. After a short run from Eli Beck, East Surry went into victory formation to officially eliminate Forbush from the 2A State Playoffs.
Matthews led Forbush with 27 carries for 183 yards and two touchdowns. Bennett added 16 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown, and Hampton had one carry for four yards. The Falcons lost a total of 29 yards on the three Cardinal sacks.
The Cardinals 120 yards rushing was made up of: Boaz’s 68 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries, Armstrong’s 14 carries for 39 yards, Zinn’s two carries for 9 yards and Beck’s one carry for two yards.
Allen led the Cardinal receivers with 10 catches for 165 yards and a TD, followed by Brown with three receptions for 85 yards and a touchdown, Armstrong with four receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown, Brantley with two catches for 47 yards and Colby Johnson with one catch for a loss of 7 yards.
No. 2 East Surry advances to the third round of the playoffs and will host No. 7 Monroe (8-1) on Nov. 19. Monroe defeated No. 26 Lincolnton 57-13 in the first round, then topped No. 10 Robinson 60-29 in the second round.
Monroe has won eight-straight games after dropping its season-opener to 4A Marvin Ridge.
Scoring
Forbush – 6, 6, 6, 2 = 20
East Surry – 13, 10, 7, 7 = 37
1Q
8:43 ESHS 7-0 – Folger Boaz pass to Trey Armstrong 21-yard TD reception, Stephen Brantley PAT
6:33 FHS 7-6 – Derek Matthews 47-yard rushing TD, PAT no good
3:03 ESHS 13-6 – Folger Boaz 6-yard rushing TD, PAT no good
2Q
11:55 FHS 13-12 – Derek Matthews 1-yard rushing TD, 2-point conversion no good
7:11 ESHS 16-12 – Stephen Brantley 29-yard field goal
0:18 ESHS 23-12 – Folger Boaz pass to Luke Brown 33-yard TD reception, Stephen Brantley PAT
3Q
7:02 FHS 23-18 – Luke Bennett 7-yard rushing TD, 2-point conversion no good
0:53 ESHS 30-18 – Folger Boaz 5-yard rushing TD, Stephen Brantley PAT
4Q
7:32 FHS 30-20 – Safety forced by Baylee Ramey
3:20 ESHS 37-20 – Folger Boaz pass to Layton Allen 74-yard TD reception, Stephen Brantley PAT