In 2009, to the chagrin of many long-time residents of Forney, a new high school was built on the north side of town, outside of city limits. Three years later, as North Forney High School grew, the two Forney ISD high schools found themselves in the same Class 4A football district and the Unity Bowl, an annual game between the two high schools located just miles apart was born.
Jackrabbits had their way with the Falcons. In the five games between 2012 and 2016, the Rabbits outscored the Falcons by an average score of 39-15, while rolling to a 5-0 Unity Bowl record. Although Forney won by scores 48-0 and 59-28 in 2014 and 2015, respectively, the games were not always blowouts.
The first game, played in 2012 after North jumped from 3A to 4A, saw Forney win by just 10 points, 24-14. The next year, the Armani Watts-led Falcons used their strong running game to control the clock in the first half. After taking a 17-12 lead into halftime, North inexplicably abandoned their run game in the second half and did not score again. The Rabbits walked away with a 27-17 victory.
Although the Falcons were loaded with talent, they suffered a 12-38 record in five seasons under then head coach, Lance Gary. The 2016 Unity Bowl, a 37-19 loss for the Falcons, spelled the end for Gary.
In stepped Randy Jackson. Jackson, the one-time head coach at Mesquite Poteet, immediately went to work to change the culture at North Forney and within the football program. He demanded more from his players. He expected them to be leaders in the classroom and on the field. He expected them to play with discipline, and to put forth a “blue-collar” effort. Jackson looked at the Falcons’ talent and demanded his players walk on the field expecting to win.
In his first season as head coach, Jackson led the Falcons to a 10-3 record (5-2 in district) and the third round of the UIL Football playoffs. He also led the Falcons to their first Unity Bowl win in six tries, a 49-19 triumph over Forney. After being upset 39-35 in the 2018 game, the Falcons defeated Forney 57-10 last season for their second win in three years against the Jackrabbits. Still, Coach Jackson downplays the significance of the North vs. South rivalry.
“I know it’s a big game for the parents and the district because it’s a rivalry,” said Jackson. “To the coaches and players, this really is a big game because it’s a district game. Playing Forney, especially in week one, means we have a chance to go 1-0 in district. It would be that way regardless of who we were playing.”
If the mission was to begin the 2020 district season at 1-0, it was mission accomplished. North Forney outmatched the Jackrabbits in every phase of this game. The Falcons raced out to a 21-0 lead, with just over four minutes left in the first quarter, then allowed two quick scores to the Rabbits before reeling off 40 straight points on their way to a 61-21 win last Friday night at City Bank Stadium.
“It is always a physical game against Forney,” Coach Jackson said after the game. “They always play hard and we had to stay the course to come out with a win.”
The Falcons did stay the course, finishing with an advantage of 256 total yards, outgaining the Jackrabbits 485 to 229.
After missing part of last week’s game due to injury, quarterback Jacob Acuna returned to the starting lineup for the Falcons going 19-of-36 for 229 yards and three TD, with one interception. Acuna also contributed with 34-yards on the ground, adding an 8-yard scramble that saw him run over a Forney defender on the first scoring drive.
The Falcons took the opening kickoff and drove 78 yards in just under three minutes for their first score, a wide receiver screen from Acuna to LeMarcus Kirk from 14 yards out, with Tyler Tucker providing the block that sprung Kirk.
The Falcons’ second scoring drive, on their second possession, was considerably shorter. In fact, seven seconds is all it took for the Falcons to push the score to 14-0.
Forney was held to negative four yards and forced a punt on their first possession. The punt rolled dead on the Falcons’ 39-yard line, however, a facemask penalty against the Jackrabbits gave North an extra 15 yards, moving the ball across midfield to Forney’s 49-yard line.
On the first play from scrimmage, facing zone coverage and seeing the safety bite on the underneath route, Acuna found LeMarcus Kirk running free down the sideline. He hit him in stride and Kirk walked in for his second TD of the game.
“LK had a great game with those two touchdowns but just as important is what our receivers do when they don’t have the ball,” explained Offensive Coordinator Mike Ludlow. “Those guys work hard. Tucker (2 catches, 33 yards) may not have the stats every game, but he and the other receivers do so much off the ball to help this team.”
A week after North Forney rolled up 365 yards on the ground against Fort Worth Brewer, the Falcons came out throwing the ball against Forney. It was 21 plays and nearly eight minutes into the contest before Ty Collins (6 carries, 38 yards), the DFW area’s leading rusher coming into the game, got his first touch. Collins made the most of that touch, however, dancing his way 12 yards through the Forney defense and into the end zone. That score gave the Falcons a 21-0 lead.
Collins looked to be on his way toward another big game before an awkward tackle in the middle of the second quarter forced him from the game. Collins was tackled high and bent back on the play. After lying on the ground and being checked out by the trainers, Collins bounced up and ran off the field. He was seen warming up after halftime but did not play the rest of the way.
“Ty is a tough kid. He just got folded up awkwardly on that tackle,” said Coach Ludlow. “The trainer told us he was good to go back in but, in that situation, we decided to keep him out.”
In his place, Jermaine Oakley filled in admirably, gaining 96 yards on 17 carries, and scoring twice. Akanimo “Nimo” Asuquo and DeMarcus Kirk also saw time in the backfield, gaining 63 and 23 yards, respectively. Both also had scoring runs.
The Falcons were forced to punt on their fourth drive and an errant snap led to Forney’s first points of the game. Taking possession at the Falcons’ 9-yard line, it took the Forney two plays to put the ball in the end zone, a one-yard run by Jon’Richard Washington.
The Jackrabbits scored again, just 2-1/2 minutes later, to pull within seven points. Braden Benjamin, who had motioned out of the backfield, caught the swing pass, and raced untouched for the 62-yard touchdown catch and run.
Undeterred, the Falcons scored the next 40 points before the Jackrabbits would score again.
Asuquo, who starts defensively at linebacker, entered the game following the Collins injury and took his first carry of the game 59 yards for a touchdown that gave the Falcons a 27-14 cushion with 5:39 left in the half. Demarcus Kirk, who also starts on defense scored on a 14-yard run with 2:06 remaining before halftime.
Kirk’s interception on the ensuing drive led to a 21-yard field goal by kicker Ricky Cortez and the Falcons took a 38-14 lead into the half.
Coach Jackson was pleased with the play of the backs that replaced Collins. “I was proud of (all three backs) for the way they filled in for Collins after he got banged up.”
The Falcons’ defense forced a turnover on downs to start the second half and the offense went back to work. A 53-yard drive that lasted almost three minutes ended with Collyn Shipley contorting his body to make an acrobatic catch in the end zone giving the Falcons a 45-14 lead.
Shipley finished with 93 yards on eight catches, leading the Falcons in receiving yards for the second straight week.
The next two points, increasing the Falcons’ lead to 47-14, came from the defense.
A Cortez punt pinned the Jackrabbits at the 1-yard before defensive lineman Rod Brown blew through the offensive line to smother the Rabbits’ running back four yards deep in the end zone for a safety.
Oakley, the Falcons’ leading rusher on the night, scored from nine yards out nearing the end of the third quarter and again from two yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter, to make the score 61-14, before the Jackrabbits’ final scoring drive to close out the game.
The Falcons’ defense was dominant against the Jackrabbits. North forced four punts, three turnovers on downs, and intercepted quarterback Noah Garcia, starting in place of injured Jake White, three times. The defense held Garcia to 112 yards on 9 of 17 attempts. Taking away the two big scoring plays, the second of which occurred as time was winding down in the game, the Falcons gave up only 25 yards through the air. The Jackrabbits did manage to gain 117 yards on 25 carries on the ground.
Echoing what Coach Jackson said about playing their cross-town rivals, Defensive Coordinator Ryan Porter added, “I am really proud of the effort of our guys. Forney gave us their best. We knew if we kept playing, kept doing our job (after Forney scored), the offense would take care of us.”
Along with the DeMarcus Kirk interception, Trey Jones and Xavier Elder also ended Forney drives with interceptions, the latter being a ball that Elder tipped and regained control of as he rolled onto the City Bank turf.
Defensive lineman Noah Monroe led the defense with 7 tackles, including three solo, and had one quarterback hurry. Asuquo and Brown followed closely behind with six tackles apiece, while Brown and Antorius Hambric both had two tackles for loss. Donovan Holt had five tackles and a near interception on Forney’s first drive.
With the 2020 Unity Bowl win, the Falcons find themselves 4-0 and at the top of the District 8-5A, DII standings. However, Coach Jackson believes the Falcons still have room for improvement.
“In my pre-game speech, I challenged our guys to play a complete, fourquarter game,” said Coach Jackson. “We improved in some areas, but still have some things to fix this week if we are going to defeat Crandall.”
The Falcons will look to improve to 5-0 as the 2-1 Crandall Pirates come to town Friday night. The Pirates took down the Joshua Owls 46-30, in a nonconference game last week.
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