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| Titan lineman Don Maciel wraps up a Bobcat ball carrier. |
But in football, where games are few and intangibles such as momentum and confidence are of significant value, that is not the case.
Take, for instance, West Forsyth’s 30-22 nonconference win over the Glenn Bobcats in Kernersville last Friday night. Playing on the road against a team they had not beaten in nine years, the Titans were in desperate need of a victory. At stake were a two-game winning streak (the Titans knocked off Reagan the week before) and a quick boost in confidence going into this Friday night’s Central Piedmont Conference opener at Reynolds (1-3).
Thanks to the efforts of an opportunistic defense, a rapidly-improving offense and a momentum-shifting, 95-yard kickoff return by Ricky Finkley that tied the game at 7-7, the Titans claimed each of those prizes while delivering their finest performance to date. The resulting eight-point victory pushed their record above the .500 mark for the first time this season (they are now 3-2) and generated renewed optimism for a program that, for the first time in nearly three years, appears fully capable of reclaiming its past glory.
“Timing and development,” mentioned senior receiver Travaughn Long, when asked to describe the keys to West’s offensive success. “We knew we had the players to make things happen but it took us a few games to put everything together.
“For me personally, it was also about relaxing and enjoying myself. Going into the game, my confidence level had dropped because I’d been trying to do too much. But I talked with my cousin, Mike (Rucker, the star tailback at North Forsyth) and he said to just play and have some fun. So that’s what I did.”
Long’s enjoyment became Glenn’s nightmare as he hauled in six catches for 117 yards, including a 19-yarder for a TD. And when he wasn’t open, West quarterback Maurice Hughes was connecting with the other Titan deep threat, Andrew Bodenheimer. Bodenheimer finished with five receptions for 74 yards and one TD while Hughes, enjoying his finest game thus far, threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored on a quarterback sneak.
“Maurice had a terrific night, his best ever as far as I’m concerned,” said Titan coach Chip Petree. “Our line gave him great protection and he put the ball exactly where it needed to be.
“As for Travaughn and Andrew, I have yet to see two receivers on the same team who can do all of the things that they can do. They are possession receivers who also block extremely well and use their speed to get open on the deep routes.”
Equally vexing to the Bobcats was the defensive line play of Alex Cutler, Don Maciel and Ron Howell. The trio played pivotal roles in stopping Glenn quarterback Jamie DeGeare (who made his first start since suffering a knee injury in week one) and the vaunted Bobcat ground attack.
“Those guys were absolute monsters up front,” Petree added. “They kept a very good Glenn backfield in check.”