CUMMING, Ga. — It all came down to a 36-yard East Forsyth field goal try for the win.
Walnut Grove blocked it.
The Warriors (4-1, 2-1) walked out of Broncos Stadium with a 7-6 win in their back pockets that vaulted them to second in the Region 8-4A standings. It left the Broncos with a gut-wrenching feeling.
The Broncos (3-1, 1-1) final drive had all kinds of crazy -- an interception overturned by a roughing the passer penalty and a Walnut Grove pass interference penalty. Still, the eventual back breaker was back-to-back East Forsyth penalties after driving inside the Warriors' 10-yard line.
The Broncos were charged with holding and a personal foul penalty that pushed them from the 8-yard line to the 36 with a 1st and goal situation.
"I told them to get us in field goal rand and give us a chance," East Forsyth coach Brian Allison said about the penalties."
The Broncos did just that; after a couple of incomplete passes, Brock Szakacs hit Joey Hudson for a 10-yard pass to the 26-yard line that set up the Luke Droegemueller field goal try. Walnut Grove came off the left side of the line to block the try with 1 minute left in the game.
"We've got to figure out what happened on the field goal, whether we kicked it too low or we missed a block," Allison said.
Nevertheless, it was a defensive battle all night. Some might call it an old-fashioned slobber-knocker. That, indeed, is the correct description.
Both foes traded punches, driving inside each other's territory several times. East Forsyth was inside the Warriors' 30-yard line four times and only crossed the goal line once.
East Forsyth held Walnut Grove to 180 yards of offense, and Emadd Howard, averaging 140 yards per game, was held to just 67 and a TD.
"I thought we played really good on defense," Allison said. "They are a big physical team, and I was worried about them knocking us off the ball, but our defense stepped up. Our defensive front played their butts off."
The Broncos had trouble offensively in the first half with just 32 total yards but turned it around in the second, although they only broke the plane once.
Szakacs finished the night 11-of-24 for 107 yards, while Broncos' leading rusher Brandon Peoples had 72 yards on 19 carries. East Forsyth finished with 202 total yards.
"We struggled in the first half throwing the football, and we knew we were going to have to throw a little bit to be successful. In the second half, we got a little momentum; we started knocking them off the ball and drove in and scored. "
Earlier in the game, Walnut Grove cashed in an East Forsyth fumble. Landen Moss pounced on the loose ball and returned it to the 11-yard line. A few plays later, Issac Mulkey walked into the end zone with 6 minutes left in the third quarter.
As for the Broncos TD, Will Moffit capped the Broncos' 42-yard scoring drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. The 2-point try failed, leaving East Forsyth down, 7-6, with 10:49 to go in the fourth quarter.
"I feel really good about where we are out and what our kids have done," Allison said. "That's game 14 for us in our history, and we're battling like that. Walnut Grove was a pretty good football team."
