North Forsyth Edges Roswell Late in the Fourth, 24-21

Friday night's matchup between the North Forsyth Raiders and Roswell Hornets truly came down to the wire. But in the end, North Forsyth marched down the field to score the winning touchdown with 55.8 seconds remaining in the game, making the score 24-21.

The 98-yard drive lasted over five minutes and was fueled by the proficient Raiders running game. Throughout the game, the Raiders ran the ball 37 times, picking up 217 yards on the ground and three touchdowns.

After being held to no points in the first quarter, the Raiders’ running game exploded with a 68-yard touchdown carry to make the score 7-7. After a blocked Roswell punt, the Raiders scored again, scoring 14 points in just over two minutes. The Raiders’ were all about running the ball, only calling 14 passing plays throughout the game. An astounding 73 percent of the Raiders’ offensive calls were run plays.

While the Raiders may have had success running the ball, the Hornets offensive was super powered by the a massive effort from junior running back Corey Wilson. With the absence of Andrew Kwateng, Wilson carried the ball 27 times, rushed for 236 yards, averaged 8.7 yards per carry and scored three touchdowns.

Wilson showed great ability running in-between the tackles, fighting for extra yards, and running hard through the whole. However, what may be even more impressive is Wilson’s big play ability.

The majority of Wilson’s 236 yards came from two big touchdown runs. At the end of the first half, Wilson broke several tackles to score a 80-yard touchdown run with only 1.9 seconds remaining. Also, in the fourth quarter Wilson scored a 74-yard touchdown which would temporary give Roswell a four-point lead.

The strong ability to run the ball overshadowed the fact that Roswell had little success through the air Friday night. Junior quarterback Ryan Monty completed six of his 18 passes. The Raiders did an exceptional job in the secondary, holding Monty and the Roswell receivers to only 58 yards.

The Roswell defense was yet again disrupted by a powerful running game, giving up over 200 rushing yards for the fourth time this season. Though the Hornets may not have been able to stop the run, the Roswell secondary stopped the Raiders’ passing game completely. The Raiders only completed three of their 14 passes for only 25 yards. 

What really determined the game was Roswell’s amount of penalties.

Throughout the game Roswell had a total of 10 penalties for over 100 yards. In several crucial situations the Hornets stopped themselves, often getting penalized. On the first drive of the first quarter, the Hornets were penalized for a personal foul on a fourth down, which resulted in a first down.

The Raiders would then travel into the red zone and kick a field goal to make the score 17-14. It is easy to suggest that that personal foul penalty very well may have cost the Hornets the game. However, the Hornets also struggled with penalties on the most decisive drive of the game.

Roswell was penalized three times when inside its own red zone during the Raiders' game-winning drive. Penalties were also an issue for the Hornets Friday night, as they have been all season.

The Hornets continue to have woes on both sides of the ball this season.

The inability to find consistency, sustain drives and convert or stop teams on third down has haunted the team so far this season. This week's loss to North Forsyth will mark the Hornets' fifth straight loss of the season and first of region play. Hopefully next week's bye will provide the Hornets with time to improve and prepare for the last five games of the season.