Foreman gets Red Devils’ eye after Mount Ida loss
MOUNTAIN PINE — A week after losing its bid for the Class 2A-7 championship, Mountain Pine gets no reprieve on the schedule to close the regular season.
Fresh off a 49-22 loss at defending Class 2A champion Mount Ida, the Red Devils (7-2, 5-1) host Foreman (7-1, 5-1) tonight at Staney May Field with a No. 2 seed and home playoff game up for grabs.
“For us, back-to-back games like that, it gets us up and gets us ready to play hard two weeks in a row,” Mountain Pine coach Sam Counce said. “You play a big game and then you come back and have another big game, and then you’re looking at the playoffs. When you get to the postseason, everything is hard, so this is the kind of playing that you want to do.”
Behind two touchdown runs from Fay Haywood, Mountain Pine stayed within 21-14 at halftime be- fore Mount Ida pulled away with two third-quarter scores from Jonathan Lagrange.
Despite the loss, Counce was pleased with his team’s first-half performance and saw positives from competing against Class 2A’s top-ranked team.
“We made some mistakes, but from that, you’ve got to learn that in a big game you can’t do that,” said Counce. “We hadn’t experienced that before. We have to step it up a little bit and the bigger the games get, the bigger we have to get. I think that was a positive for us to learn that we can’t make those kinds of mistakes.”
Foreman bounced back from a Week 7 loss at Mount Ida with victories over Mineral Springs and Murfreesboro by a combined 97-14.
Foreman’s diverse offensive firepower was on full display in last week’s 69-0 romp at Murfreesboro. Led by sophomore Isaac Carver with 11 carries for 149 yards and three touchdowns, the Gators rushed for 376 total with 8.7 per carry.
The Gators average 336 yards per game on the ground. Junior quarterback Kyren Batey leads with 952 yards rushing and 16 touchdowns while Chase Boyd (362 yards, 8 touchdowns), Isaac Carver (458 yards, 7 touchdowns) and CJ Green (468 yards, 5 touchdowns) provide a deep stable of weapons.
“We want to keep (Batey) inside the tackles, because he’s one of the fastest kids in the state,” Counce said. “He can really run and we want to stop him before he gets to the edge. That’s going to be the key for us; if he gets outside, we’re going to have a long night.”
Playing a team that outscores opponents 44-11, Counce knows the Red Devils will need a better finish than in the second half of their last two games when outscored 50-29.
“We need to play big for four quarters,” he said. “We need to understand that it’s a complete game and to be a championship team, you’ve got to play four quarters. We’ve still got a step or two to take in the progression of getting there and that’s the difference in us and the number one team in the state.”
A rare Thursday game provides an opportunity for the Red Devils to put last week’s loss in the rearview without dwelling on it.
“If you’re not careful, the kids will get distracted late in the year and I feel like a short week is a good thing,” said Counce. “You don’t linger on a loss and have a lot of down time. We turn right around and get back on the field, and that’s a positive in my book.”
Surpassing its win total for the last six years combined, Mountain Pine can secure a home playoff game with a win tonight.
“As coaches, it would be a second seed and a home playoff game and for the kids, it’s big for them to have a banner on the wall,” Counce said. “You’ve got to find your way to get yourself up for a game. For us, it’s coming in second and playing at home but for those kids, having a banner on the wall with their names on it would mean a lot.”