Bryson Taylor, Forbush’s quarterback, sprints away from North Surry defenders for a 21-yard gain in the second quarter of Forbush’s 42-41 win.
TOAST —Things looked grim for Forbush late in the third quarter of Thursday night’s football game. The Falcons had just lost their starting quarterback, turned the ball over on downs in the red zone and watched North Surry go up two scores on the ensuing drive. Then Regan Ramey took over. The senior put the Falcons on his back, with a big assist from his offensive line, to rally Forbush to a 42-41 win over the Greyhounds on homecoming at Charles A. Adkins Stadium.
“When they evaluated Bryson (Taylor) and said he couldn’t go back in the game, I’ve known all year that if somebody goes down, I’ve got to step up so I knew I had to fill that role,” said Ramey. On a night where the Foothills 2A Conference opponents combined for more than 800 yards of offense, a play on defense ultimately determined the eventual outcome.
Forbush (2-4, 2-0) held a one-point lead with just over two minutes to play, but North Surry’s Jahreece Lynch put his team in good shape to possibly win the game (as the Falcons were out of timeouts) after a 55-yard kickoff return to the Falcon 45. After a short gain from Lynch, North Surry quarterback Colton Allen couldn’t handle the snap on the next play and Forbush’s Dylan Spillman pounced on the live ball with 1:25 to play. The turnover essentially ended the game as the Greyhounds had to burn their last timeout Forbush went into its victory formation. “That was huge,” said Forbush head coach Jeremy Funderburk of Spillman’s recovery. “With a special athlete like they have, and they’ve got plenty of them, but a special athlete like Jahreece, anytime that he touches the ball, it’s scary; it could go a long way and we were fortunate to make one play there at the end.”
North Surry, which dropped to 0-3 in Foothills 2A Conference action, had things going its way late in the third quarter.
Jake Simmons, who finished with 164 yards rushing and three touchdowns, put North Surry up 27-20 with a 49-yard touchdown run.
Forbush (2-4, 2-0) looked to tie the game after an eight-yard gain from Taylor put his team in the red zone.
Lynch sacked Taylor on the next play and the Falcons were pushed back to fourth-and-nine from the Greyhound 24. Forbush tried a little trickery as Cristofur Martinez took the pitch from Taylor, looking for McKinley Reavis.
But Talan Vernon broke up the pass in the end zone for a turnover on downs.
North Surry used a 68-yard rush from Simmons and Allen found Lynch on a 22-yard touchdown pass to make it a two-possession game.
Ramey, who took over under center in the wildcat formation after Taylor left the game early in the third with an injury (and did not return), had a hand in all but three of Forbush’s offensive plays over the final 16 minutes of the game.
The senior finished with a game-high 219 yards and four touchdowns on 40 carries.
“We talked at halftime about what’s our next step if something happens and that’s kind of been our M.O. all year,” said Funderburk. “We already had a plan at halftime and unfortunately, we had to go to it but he just stepped right in.”
Ramey scored on a 7-yard run to make it a one-possession game. Then on the ensuing kick, Austin Choplin recovered the onside kick to put Forbush at North Surry’s 43.
Ramey responded with a 1-yard touchdown to put the Falcons up 34-33, but missed on the conversion — leaving the door open for North Surry (1-5, 0-3).
The Greyhounds capitalized with Lynch’s third touchdown of the night — a 45-yard reception from Allen. Fisher Leftwich added the conversion run to regain the lead with 9:32 to play.
Ramey and Forbush answered the call once more, this time with a clock-draining drive that saw them convert a pair of fourth downs.
After a hard-fought one-yard gain by Ramey on fourth-and-one put them in the red zone, the senior came out for a trio of plays.
Martinez stepped up and picked up a pair of first downs on the seven-plus minute drive to set up first-and goal from the Greyhound five. The junior also paced the Falcon defense with 10 tackles.
“We cross-train our guys like crazy for that very scenario and when you’re at a place like ours and numbers are at a premium, you have to do that,” said Funderburk. “But when kids can just step right in and make big plays like Cristofur and Austin did, it’s awesome.”
After a four-yard gain from Martinez, Ramey returned and finished off the drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone to cut the deficit to 41-40 with 2:14 to play.
Forbush then elected to go for two and the decision paid off as Ramey rushed, untouched, into the end zone.
“I was focused on getting my team the win and do whatever it takes,” said Ramey on the final two plays of the go-ahead drive.
Early on, the two teams traded scores and the Greyhounds got on the board its second offensive play when Lynch took the handoff from Allen and found a wide-open Leftwich for the 48-yard touchdown pass.
Forbush tied the game 14-14 early in the second behind touchdown runs from Ramey and Taylor of 4 and 1 yards, respectively. David Guadarrama tacked on a pair of extra points.
North Surry, which led 21-20 at halftime, will look for its first conference win when it travels to West Wilkes on Friday night.
The Falcons, who have now won two-straight homecoming games on the road, will return home for their own homecoming this coming Friday against Surry Central.
Notes: Taylor joined Martinez on the defensive side with six tackles and Wooten and Ethan Pipes finished with five and four, respectively. Ramey and Wooten each collected a sack while Spencer Johns blocked an extra point. North Surry was also flagged 11 times for 96 yards in the game.
Forbush 42, North Surry 41
Forbush 7 13 8 14 — 42
North Surry 14 7 12 8 — 41
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
NSU—Fisher Leftwich 48-yard pass from Jahreece Lynch (run fail) 11:14
FB — Regan Ramey 4-yard run (David Guadarrama kick) 6:58
NSU — Jake Simmons 24-yard run (Colton Allen run) 348:
Second Quarter
FB — Bryson Taylor 1-yard run (Guadarrama kick) 10:20
NSU — Simmons 2-yard run (Jimmy Burnett kick) 4:30
FB — Taylor 5-yard run (kick failed) 0:29
Third Quarter
NSU — Simmons 49-yard run (kick blocked) 7:16
NSU — Lynch 22-yard pass from Allen (run fail) 4:35
FB — Ramey 7-yard run (Ramey kick) 1:55
Fourth Quarter
FB — Ramey 1-yard run (run fail) 11:32
NSU — Lynch 45-yard pass from Allen (Leftwich run) 9:32
FB — Ramey 1-yard run (Ramey run) 2:11
Individual Statistics:
Forbush
Rushing: Regan Ramey 40-219 and 4 TD; Bryson Taylor 11-85 and 2 TD; Jesse Wooten 8-30; Cristofur Martinez 3-18.
Passing: Bryson Taylor 3-3-0 for 61 yards; Cristofur Martinez 0-1-0 for 0 yards.
Receiving: Mckinley Reavis 1-31; Cristofur Martinez 1-24; Regan Ramey 1-6.
North Surry
Rushing: Jake Simmons 12-164 and 3 TD; Jahreece Lynch 7-79; Makiyon Woodbury 1-7; Colton Allen 2-(-16).
Passing: Colton Allen 6-7-0 for 122 yards and 2 TD; Jahreece Lynch 1-1-0 for 48 yards and 1 TD.
Receiving: Jahreece Lynch 2-67 and 2 TD; Makiyon Woodbury 4-55; Fisher Leftwich 1-48 and 1 TD.