GAINESVILLE, Ga. — East Forsyth used a heavy dose of Tripp Morris and a stingy defense to roll past Cedar Shoals, 35-13, Friday night at Bronco Stadium.
The win puts the Broncos in the driver's seat atop the Region 8-4A standings.
"I think it's huge," East Forsyth coach Brian Allison. "I think being able to win the first region game puts yourself a little bit more in the driver's seat, and not having to battle from behind. I think it was a big win for our guys, and they did a fantastic job."
Indeed they did.
The Broncos (2-0, 1-0 Region 8-4A) came out with a fierce rushing attack behind Morris, who finished with 158 yards on 29 carries and two touchdowns. Morris also had the first eight carries of the game that set up the Broncos' first touchdown. Troy Hoover finished the scoring march with a three-yard run the Broncos ahead, 7-0.
"Man, he ran it hard tonight," Allison said about Morris. "I'm proud of him, but we've just got to keep him healthy."
The offensive line was a big part of the success of the running game. They led the way for a 223-yard night. It also gave the Broncos an opportunity to do what they wanted offensively.
Allison was happy with the overall performance of his offense and described the approach as old-school football.
"Our offensive line is pretty good," he said. "And, you know, I guess it's kind of some old school football a little bit ... we can rush the football and then throw it when we want to. I think that's the recipe for us being successful. And our guys did a fantastic job up front."
East Forsyth grabbed the momentum after Cedar Shoals's first series of the game ended up looking like a circus. After Devin Hester returned the kickoff to the EaFo 33-yard line, back-to-back bad snaps over the head of quarterback Anthony Hubbard and failure to reach the first down marker deflated the Jaguars.
EaFo cashed in the mistake on the next possession when Brock Szackacs hit Cannon Hunter on a 78-yard strike down the EaFo sideline for the touchdown and a 14-0 advantage.
"We had the play before, and we threw it flat," Allison said. "We came back to it and got it again. Cannon is a first-year player for us, so we're extremely happy to have him, and I know he's excited to get the score."
Defensively, the Broncos executed the game plan as Allison and his staff drew it up. The goal was the stop the big play, and Cedar Shoals only hit one big play pass, a 33-yarder late in the game that set up the Jaguars' second touchdown of the game. The Broncos also picked off Jaguars' quarterback Anthony Hubbard twice -- both of them hauled by Will Moffit and landed on two fumbles -- one a snatch and go by Cole Ferguson on Cedar Shoals' opening kickoff return to start the second half.
The Broncos converted Ferguson's grab-and-go fumble into paydirt three plays later on a 30-yard TD run from Morris with 11:15 left in the third quarter to go up 28-0.
"We did exactly what we wanted to do," Allison said about the defense. "We knew that they would get some yards rushing, and we were just trying to keep the safeties from staying too high and keep the safeties out of the box. And that's what we're able to do. I think the plan the defensive guys set was really good. I'm just really excited that we were able to do that."
The Broncos gave up less than 100 yards rushing and only 136 yards passing.
Szackacs finished the night 3-for-9 passing with 98 yards and a touchdown. Hunter led in receiving with one catch for 78 yards.
