If Colonial Forge head coach John Brown had any doubts about the resilience of his football team entering this season, surely they’ve fallen by the wayside at this point.
The Eagles rallied from behind on three separate occasions, then held off visiting Patriot late for a 35-27 victory in a showdown of Region 6B contenders Friday night.
It marked the second time in four weeks that Forge (4-0) was forced to show its moxie. In Week 1, the Eagles snuffed out a late 2-point conversion attempt by Woodbridge to preserve a 22-21 road win.
“I’m still waiting for my heart rate to come down,” Brown said with a grin after Friday’s contest. “I think that tough first game with Woodbridge benefited us quite a bit, because our kids had their resilience tested right out of the gate. That showed in the second half tonight.”
A key factor in Forge’s ability to persevere was the all-around play of junior TaySean Jones.
Jones hauled in two critical touchdown receptions from his wide receiver slot. The first was a slick over-the-shoulder catch on a 7-yard fade route in the back right corner of the end zone, tying the score at 7 with 4:08 left in the first quarter. The second covered 52 yards over the middle and once again pulled the Eagles even with the Pioneers, 21-21, with 4:04 remaining in the third period.
Jones didn’t stop there. Just 43 seconds after his second receiving score, he scooped up a Patriot fumble and raced 17 yards to give Forge its first lead of the night, 28-21.
“It happened so fast,” said Jones, who plays free safety on defense. “I thought one of my teammates was going to pick the [ball] up, but it bounced outside to me and I knew I had a chance to scoop and score at that point.”
Jones’ opportunistic dash seemed to take some of the wind out of the Pioneers’ sails. They turned the ball over on downs on their next possession, and the Eagles responded with a 20-yard TD connection from Brock Brimhall to freshman Darion Majeed that gave the hosts a 35-21 advantage with 8:17 to play. Majeed shook off pass interference from a Patriot defender on the play, and reached over their back to make an impressive catch in mid-air.
Jones and Majeed formed a potent duo through the air, combining for 10 receptions for 158 yards. Brimhall, a junior who’s in his first year as Forge’s full-time starter at quarterback, completed 12 of 17 passes for 168 yards.
“One of the things I did before the game was challenge our receivers to make plays,” Brown said. “We knew our receivers had to show up if we were going to have a shot at winning this game, and they did that for sure.”
The Pioneers (2-1) managed to stay within striking distance after Jackson McCarter’s 82-yard scoring run with 7:53 remaining. But the Eagles salted away the final 7:46 thanks to senior running backs Josiah Bryson and Protus Nyuydze, who combined for 114 rushing yards on the night.
McCarter did all of the heavy lifting for Patriot’s running game. The Villanova commit ran for 275 yards and a pair of TDs on 21 carries—141 of which came after halftime.
“[Patriot’s] offense is great,” Brown said. “Their offensive line gets off the ball, and [McCarter] is a really good football player. He didn’t need much room to operate.”
McCarter’s 4-yard scoring scamper gave the Pioneers a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the contest, setting the stage for a seesaw affair.
With the score tied at 7 early in the second quarter, Patriot QB Tyler Knutson threw a 19-yard TD strike to Buddy Noakes to give his squad a 14-7 edge. Forge responded with an 11-play, 65-yard drive, capped by Bryson’s 5-yard scoring run on fourth-and-2, to even things back up at 14 apiece with 3:48 left in the first half.
But Knutson and Noakes hooked up again just over a minute later, this time from 50 yards out, to send the Pioneers to the locker room with a 21-14 lead.
Patriot had a chance to add to its advantage early in the third quarter after a pair of 11-yard runs by McCarter and a 10-yard catch by Noakes moved the ball to the Eagles’ 46-yard line. But the drive stalled, and Brimhall connected with Jones on the ensuing possession to tie the score at 21 and set off a run of 21 unanswered points.
“We knew coming in that this was going to be anybody’s game,” Brown said. “Our kids just fought hard until the end and were able to come out on top.”
Forge opens its Commonwealth District schedule with a road game at Stafford next Friday.
Patriot 7 14 0 6— 27
Colonial Forge 7 7 14 7 — 35
First quarter
Pa—Jackson McCarter 4 run (Emmanuel Opare kick).
CF—TaySean Jones 7 pass from Brock Brimhall (Landon Walker kick).
Second quarter
Pa—Buddy Noakes 19 pass from Tyler Knutson (Opare kick).
CF—Josiah Bryson 5 run (Walker kick).
Pa—Noakes 50 pass from Knutson (Opare kick)
Third quarter
CF—Jones 52 pass from Brimhall (Walker kick).
CF—Jones 17 fumble return (Walker kick).
Fourth quarter
CF—Darion Majeed 20 pass from Brimhall (Walker kick).
Pa—McCarter 82 run (kick failed).
