In two of its first four wins this season, the Colonial Forge High School football team broke open a close game after halftime.
After the way the Eagles played down the stretch in Friday night’s Commonwealth District opener against rival North Stafford, Forge head coach John Brown may just have to accept that they’re a second-half team.
Brock Brimhall’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Wise on the final play of the contest lifted the host Eagles to a thrilling 27-26 victory over the shellshocked Wolverines.
Forge (5-0, 1-0 Commonwealth) trailed 13-0 at intermission.
“It certainly feels like we’re a [second-half team] right now,” Brown said. “I’d rather not be, but our guys certainly know how to finish.”
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While the Eagles turned a 21-14 halftime edge into a 42-14 blowout over Oakton a week ago and a 6-0 lead at the midway point into a 32-7 win over Patriot on Sept. 5, this momentum swing required some heavy lifting. Fortunately for them, Wise, Brimhall, and the rest of Forge’s wide array of playmakers took turns carrying the load.
The Eagles started the second half with a methodical 14-play, 58-yard drive, capped by a 3-yard scoring run from Darion Majeed that cut North’s lead to 13-7 with 4:37 remaining in the third quarter.
Majeed, who finished the evening with nine receptions for 112 yards, made a 19-yard catch on third-and-14 to keep the drive alive.
The Wolverines (3-2, 0-1) took just five plays to move the ball from their own 12-yard-line to the Forge 14. But on second-and-5, the Eagles’ Jaylen Carter blasted North quarterback Chase Sullivan with a blindside blitz, forcing a fumble that teammate TaySean Jones recovered at the Forge 25.
Three plays later, a wide-open Jones hauled in a 34-yard touchdown pass from Brimhall, and the Eagles led for the first time all night, 14-13.
“We were a little bit discombobulated at [halftime],” Brown said. “And we talked about just getting back on track and sticking together. We weren’t down 300-0. … We were down 13-0, and we knew we could come back because we have come back [in the past].”
The Wolverines reclaimed the advantage, 20-14, on a 2-yard scoring scamper by Kenaz Sullivan with 11:43 left to play. But Forge was on a roll.
On the first play of the ensuing possession, Majeed outmuscled a North defender for a 42-yard reception down the right sideline. Brimhall’s 3-yard keeper ultimately served as the exclamation point on a seven-play, 92-yard march that put the Eagles back in front, 21-20, with 8:34 to go.
The Wolverines regained the edge, 26-21, courtesy of Alon Lester’s 62-yard touchdown run on the first play of the next drive. But Kenaz Sullivan was stopped short of the goal line on a 2-point conversion attempt that would’ve given them a 7-point lead, which proved crucial in the end.
After both squads traded punts, Forge took over at its own 11 with 2:23 remaining. On the fourth play of the possession, Wise caught an out route and raced 67 yards for the apparent go-ahead score. But an illegal block in the back penalty moved the ball back to the Eagles’ 45.
Six plays later, Forge faced a fourth-and-2 at the North 37. Wise came through again, this time with a 20-yard reception.
The Eagles were able to pick up one more first down on a 3-yard scramble by Brimhall with six seconds to go, setting up his game-winning connection with Wise.
Forge’s students flooded out of the home stands in jubilation, and Wise was mobbed by his teammates.
“Normally I’d be on the defensive side of the ball, so I don’t really get opportunities like that,” said Wise, who lined up on the right side and beat his defender inside on a slant route. “So when I caught the ball, I mean, man, that was a great feeling. … And I’m gonna remember that for a very long time.”
Brimhall completed 24 of 45 passes for 332 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. Wise had four receptions for 56 yards, all of which came on the final drive.
The end result was devastating for the Wolverines, who suffered their second one-point loss of the year. They fell 14-13 at Battlefield on Aug. 28 in eerily similar fashion, having once led that contest 13-0 before falling on a pass play at the final buzzer.
“We’ve just gotta learn how to finish,” North head coach Marquez Hall said. “We had [Forge] in the position we wanted, but we’ve gotta finish.”
The Wolverines’ athletic defensive front gave Brimhall fits early on, often not allowing him any time to get set in the pocket. He completed just 9 of his first 20 passes and was picked off twice by North linebacker King Antoine.
Chase Sullivan’s 14-yard swing pass to Kenaz Sullivan put the Wolverines ahead 6-0 with 2:02 to play in the opening period. However, Andrew Webb’s extra-point attempt was blocked, which loomed large later on.
With the Eagles keying on Kenaz Sullivan, a junior who has scholarship offers from the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Penn State and defending national champion Ohio State, Antwan Barnes stepped up. The senior caught a 75-yard touchdown pass to put his team ahead 13-0 early in the second quarter, and finished the evening with five receptions for 139 yards.
Chase Sullivan completed 12 of 19 passes for 215 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. But he went just 3 for 5 in the second half and played sparingly after Carter’s strip sack of him late in the third period.
North will return home for a Commonwealth clash with Brooke Point next Friday, while Forge will hit the road to face district rival Stafford.
