West Forsyth Wins Defensive Showdown Against North Gwinnett 17-16

It was one of the biggest defensive battle across the state last Friday night in Cumming as the West Forsyth Wolverines upset the North Gwinnett Bulldogs 17-16 to move into the 3rd round of the 7A playoffs. The Bulldogs had won 5 of their last 6 games heading into round two and had one of the top defenses in the state led by linebacker [player_tooltip player_id="33661" first="Barrett" last="Carter"], a Clemson commit, and defensive back [player_tooltip player_id="33662" first="Jordan" last="Hancock"], an Ohio State commitment. The two All-Americans did their part on defense, leading the Bulldogs to an early 10-0 first quarter score after two interceptions from Wolverine quarterback Keegan Stover. The Bulldogs got up early, and for a minute it looked like they were on their way to a blowout win, but a missed field goal that would have put North Gwinnett up 13-0 gave the Wolverines life. West Forsyth came into the game banged up on offense and played against North Gwinnett’s outstanding defense without star tight end [player_tooltip player_id="33945" first="Oscar" last="Delp"] and senior running back Daba Fofana, a current Navy commitment. The Wolverines got back into a game with a touchdown right before the first half as Stover found senior athlete Drew Southern for a wide-open touchdown. Souther intercepted a pass on defense on the previous drive and returned it for big yardage to give the Wolverines offense a shorter field. He stayed in on offense and scored a touchdown a few plays later. Wolverine offense lineman [player_tooltip player_id="33668" first="Dylan" last="Fairchild"], a senior All-American and future Georgia Bulldog, was excellent the entire night. He was great in the run game, and paved the way for freshman running back Ryder Stewart to make plays out of the backfield. Fairchild consistently beat his man in the trenches and helped lead his team to a comeback win after being down double-digits in the first half. North Gwinnett would go up 16-7 later in the 2nd half, but a missed extra point kept it to a 9-point lead and gave West Forsyth some life. On the ensuing kickoff, Wolverine senior Dalton Tjong took the kick back 97-yards for a West Forsyth touchdown. Tjong showed great vision, burst, and acceleration as he out-ran some really fast Bulldog defenders on special teams. After the extra point, the Wolverines were just down two. The Bulldog offense would continue to struggle in the 4th quarter and just couldn’t get anything going through the air. They ran the ball successfully, but a punt back to West Forsyth in the 4th quarter gave the Wolverines a chance to take their first lead. After successfully getting into field goal range, Wolverine kicker Liam Badger would hit a go-ahead field goal to give West Forsyth a 17-16 lead with 9:02 left in the game. The Wolverines defense would take over from there, and a missed Bulldog field goal in the final few minutes sealed the Wolverine victory. North Gwinnett had enough talent to win the game, and their defense played exceptional, but their offense just couldn’t move the football through the air. The Wolverine defense played their best game of the season, and the senior-lead group came up with big stops in the entire second half to secure the win. To win this game without their two biggest weapons on offense just shows how far the West Forsyth program has come over the years. This is the second time in school history they’ve made it to the elite 8, and they’ll have their toughest game of the season on Friday night as they take on mighty Grayson, arguably the top team in the entire state.