The chances of lightning striking the same place twice are low, but the chances of the Poteet Pirates ending Friday’s game with a win against the Forney Jackrabbits were even lower. Statistics appeared to hold as a thunderstorm gradually made its way through the North Texas region over the weekend and led to the cancellation of the game only after the scoreboard read 53-0 before the fourth quarter in favor of the Jackrabbits. Playing on their home turf in the largest high school football stadium in the state, the Pirates had a chance to bring their community pride by beating an up-andcoming team with multiple nationally ranked players. However, the Jackrabbits were intent on continuing their winning streak and showing everyone that they were not the same school they were four years ago.
The game seemed to get off to a rocky start with a Jackrabbit player injury during the kickoff. But things seemed to immediately turn themselves around when Sophomore Running Back Javian Osborne got a touchdown from the 37-yard line with 10 minutes left in the first quarter. Not even 30 seconds later, senior Wide Receiver Kofi Eduful scored another Jackrabbit touchdown from the 10-yard line with 9:31 left on the clock. While the Pirates were able to score multiple presnap penalties, they failed to score a touchdown in the first quarter… or second, third, and likely the fourth. Meanwhile, the Jackrabbits got four touchdowns in the first quarter alone with Osborne being responsible for three of them.
In the second quarter, senior Linebacker Kellen Wolverton got his first touchdown of the season, immediately followed by Eduful going in for his third of the season putting the Jackrabbits at 39 points. With two more touchdowns in the third quarter by Senior Running Back Kevin Espinal and Junior Wide Receiver Orin Gee, the Jackrabbits ended the game with 8 touchdowns and 5 successful 1-point kicks by Senior Kicker Asher Wall (2 kicks) and Senior Kicker Braden Newell (3 kicks).
However, on the other side of the ball, the Jackrabbit defense also held their own with 6 passes defended by Senior Linebacker Easton McMillan (2 passes defended), Senior Defensive Back Seth Hyder, Sophomore Linebacker Xzavier Young, Sophomore Defensive Back Josiah Turner, and Sophomore Linebacker Landry Hopkins. Wolverton and Senior Defensive Back Aaron Flowers also snagged an interception each.
Nearing the end of the third quarter, lightning struck in the vicinity of the 19,400-seated stadium, forcing athletes, spectators, and halftime performers to seek shelter and evacuate the field. After about 20 minutes of waiting on confirmation, the game was announced to be over and the Jackrabbits were permitted to go home a bit earlier with another win under their belt.
Although Forney won by a wide margin, it wasn’t a fully perfect run. With some misfired balls thrown, fumbles, and yellow flags being thrown our way, there were spots where the Jackrabbits could have cleaned up their act for an even bigger win. Taking that into consideration, the fact that some could say that this wasn’t one of Forney’s strongest games of the season and the Jackrabbits still prevented Poteet from putting up any points on the board or even getting close to doing so speaks volumes to the known and to-be-known stars that make up the Jackrabbit roster. Forney’s consistency in terms of overall strength has attracted an admirable and excited crowd of stadium supporters regardless of the game location, making each ticket purchase worth every cent and each game an event not to miss.
This week, the Jackrabbits will be playing at home against West Mesquite for another projected win. The Jackrabbits currently stand at 66th in the state, and 9th in the state division, with only 10 points being put up against them across the span of three games. For longtime Forney football fans, this year may be the big break the Forney community has been searching for for a while. From being a school that was classed as 3A in the 90s and went to Area every year to being classed as 5A in the 2010s and being within the bottom of the district, the Jackrabbit football program has had its ups and downs. But, as previously mentioned, Head Coach Jeff Fleener has seemed to truly turn the program around and has produced multiple Division 1 recruits. While the heavily recruited players like Flowers, Junior Running Back Kelvion Riggins, and Osborne make waves with their names, they aren’t the only players on the team with big schools looking at them. With Eduful having an offer from both the Army and the Navy and Senior Cornerback Joshua Gatlin being looked at by schools such as Stephen F. Austin University, the Forney Jackrabbits are not the team of years before.
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