South Forsyth Edged by Rival Lambert...Again

Editor's Note: Article submitted by the Lambert Touchdown Club. Fans, add your comments about favorite moments of the game at the end of this article.

Two teams close enough to be a sibling rivalry came out to 'The Horn' Friday night bringing an audience of more than one thousand students and 11 Alive coverage to watch the Longhorns and War Eagles.

South Forsyth was looking to break a two game losing streak, yet showed little life on the field to achieve such aspirations. Longhorn’s Head Coach Sid Maxwell claimed earlier in the week that containing Jantzen Jeffery was the key to stopping South.

The game started with a redo on the kickoff due to Lambert being off sides and out of the gate. The War Eagles hoped this would be a sign of things to come from the Longhorns, however it was far from it after Jeffery is stopped for a minimal gain on first down. Things went from bad to worse for the blue and black, as senior defensive back Danny Edgeworth picked off a pass and fell to the ground. Lambert seemed to have all the momentum coming off a huge interception putting them in the enemy’s territory to start the drive, until the turnover bug bit again as the ball hit the ground on a run and was recovered by South. The Longhorns were then called off sides again, but came together to force two small runs and an incompletion to bring out the punter. Senior tail back Daniel Myers matched his defense’s energy as he blasts up the middle for a 64-yard run for a touchdown. The War Eagles offense was faced with the task of answering such an explosive play, but came up short on a drive of short runs and incompletions highlighted only by senior wide receiver Jordan Arnett’s sideline catch on third down. After the punt, a seven-yard run by senior Jake Vazquez was a promising start to the drive until quarterback Brock Maxwell [Coach Maxwell's son] was sacked twice for losses of 10 and 11 yards to bring up forth and very long. South thrived off of their defense’s stop as junior running back Sam Walker had a 13-yard run that quickly turned to a 28-yard gain due to a late hit penalty putting the War Eagles in Lambert territory for the first time of the night. The fortunate break was then followed up by three straight runs that went nowhere forcing kicker Brandon Mckee to attempt a 43-yard field goal, which he sent through the uprights. The Longhorns answer with a drive highlighted by Brock Maxwell running for a 21-yard gain, a short gain to convert on fourth down, a 15-yard run, and a two yard touchdown run to end the first quarter.

The War Eagles then start a drive that consumes nearly the entire second quarter started by Jeffery throwing an incompletion while looking for the deep pass. On second down, Sam Walker has another nice run for 12 yards but is called back on a holding penalty. He is then stopped for a four-yard loss to make things seem over, until Jeffery keeps the drive alive by escaping two Lambert defenders on the scramble finding Alex Winski for the 23-yard completion. Jantzen Jeffery then takes control with a five-yard pass and another for nine and shakes off two minimal runs to find Winski for seven yards on third down. The offense then fell apart in the red zone after a minimal run and two straight incompletions forced them to settle for the field goal once again. The Longhorns are left with little time on the clock to work with as they have six straight small runs to keep the chains moving. Maxwell breaks away on a nice run, but is called back on holding which seemed to stunt the drive to bring up fourth down. South is then forced to start inside their own five after an impressive punt, and go nowhere after a short run, deep incompletion, and quarterback kneel to end the half.

To start the half, South kicked to Lambert who seemed to have it all together on the upcoming drive. Seniors James Little and Brock Maxwell put up a running clinic as they run for a combined 84-yards on the drive finished by Maxwell on a three yard touchdown run. However, the two-point conversion was stopped due to an incomplete pass. The next drive was everything but what the War Eagles needed to get back into the game as Jeffery is stripped and recovered by junior corner Jordan Jean-Felix. Lambert then gets overwhelmed by the War Eagles defense for the 38-yard field goal. South hardly survives the next possession as a potential interception is dropped by Edgeworth twice and a fumble is recovered bringing about another punting situation. The defense has all the answers to Maxwell’s offense once again to make them punt back to the struggling South offense. Jantzen leaves the struggles behind and comes alive as he leads the War Eagles down the field with his arm and finally breaks the plain on a one-yard touchdown run. Just as it seemed South was finding their rhythm, Lambert once again drove with two head turning catches by senior receiver TJ Russell and an extremely athletic thirty two yard reception by Chandler Register to end the third quarter.

Maxwell then gets back into the action by opening up the fourth with a 14-yard touchdown run followed up by a missed point after. Jantzen answers Maxwell with a 15-yard pass then a huge 53-yard touchdown strike to Arnett. While the touchdown was impressive, it was too little to late as Lambert simply takes time off the clock with their running game and settle with the field goal to put the game on ice. South again finds little success as they turn the ball over on downs giving Lambert even more opportunity to run down clock. They do just that as they gladly give the War Eagles one more chance with the ball down big with no time to work with. That drive ended with an interception by TJ Russle, letting the Longhorns sit on the ball again to finally end the fourth quarter thrashing.

The game had great plays from both teams running a seemingly familiar offense. Yet after the entire week off trash talking and hopeful thinking, it was the War Eagles who head back to the locker room as losers for the third time since Lambert opened its doors.

Next up Homecoming - North Forsyth comes to Longhorn Stadium this Friday at 7:30 p.m.  The Share the Win Charity is Jesse’s House.