GAINESVILLE, Ga. — Early September football in North Georgia always comes with a little unpredictability — and Friday night was no exception.
After a pair of lightning delays totaling 3 ½ hours, Chestatee outlasted East Forsyth, 26-20, at the Lynn Cottrell Complex.
The War Eagles (2-1) leaned on their ground game, with tailback Ben Plemons and quarterback Colton Steele combining for 239 rushing yards. Chestatee finished with 302 on the ground and 340 total yards. Plemons added two interceptions on defense, while Steele recovered a fumble and later electrified the home crowd with an 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second half.
East Forsyth (3-1), though, never quit behind quarterback Chase Rhoads, who threw for 209 yards and three scores. His 36-yard strike to Trent Polk with 3:18 remaining cut Chestatee’s lead to 26-20 and gave the Broncos a late shot at a comeback.
The story of the night, however, was Chestatee’s ball-control wing-T attack. The War Eagles limited East Forsyth to just three first-half possessions and carried a 7-0 lead into the first of two lightning delays.
When play finally resumed after a 2 ½-hour delay, East Forsyth's Brooks Smallwood had a massive kickoff return down to the War Eagles' 15-yard line, but had to settle for a Jony Aguilera 28-yard field goal with 10:28 left in the third.
Chestatee answered the field goal with a five-minute drive capped by Steele’s 27-yard touchdown run. Moments later, Plemons picked off Rhoads for the second time and returned it to the Broncos’ 30. But before Chestatee could cash in, lightning struck again, delaying the game another 70 minutes.
Once play resumed, Plemons finished the drive with a 23-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 20-3.
However, East Forsyth answered. Again, Smallwood ripped off another good kickoff return down to the Chestatee 45. Later in the drive, the Broncos found themselves with a fourth-down-and-eight situation. Rhoads converted the fourth down with a 17-yard pass to Jackson Norman, followed by an 11-yard TD pass to Jett Staley that made it 20-10 late in the third. A 37-yard field goal from Jony Aguilera cut it to 20-13 early in the fourth.
Steele’s 88-yard touchdown return on the ensuing kickoff stretched the lead to 26-13 with 9:55 left. Rhoads’ late touchdown to Polk closed the gap, but Chestatee recovered the onside kick and drained the clock.
Plemons finished with 126 yards on 19 carries and three tackles. Steele added 113 yards on nine carries, six tackles, and the back-breaking return. Defensively, Brody Burke tallied four tackles (one for loss), and Blake Migalla recorded three stops and a fumble recovery.
