Wyatt Smith’s Game of the Week Preview: Week 6 -East Forsyth @ Page – Wyatt Smith Reporting

Two of the most high profile 4-AA schools in our state match-up on Friday night at Marion Kirby Stadium in Greensboro. The Pirates will be looking to avenge a heartbreaking 31-30 loss to the Eagles last season and build momentum heading into conference play.

Kevin Willert brings his Eagles to Greensboro with an unblemished record on the year and has done so against what appears to be a tougher schedule than Page has played. East Forsyth has beaten West Forsyth – 23-20 – and also beat a very good Mt. Tabor team to open the season – (22-7). The Eagles are coming off a big win at Jamieson Stadium last week when their quarterback was sidelined due to injury in a 46-6 victory over the Whirlies of Grimsley High School. East will need QB Brandon Bullins at full strength if they are to beat this Page team. Christian Beal will be arguably the second-best rusher on the field against Page, trying to become the most talked-about running back at the end of Friday night. The Eagles defense is allowing only 6.6 PPG, but it will have to stop Javon Leake, who is coming off his best performance this season, and Will Jones’ ability to hit his receivers when and where he chooses.

The Pirates will need to play mistake-free football for 48 minutes on Friday night. That’s asking a lot of any team. This Pirate team has key returning players from last season who didn’t put away their football cleats until mid-December, as they ran the East Region in the 4-AA class to the state championship where they eventually lost to Mallard Creek (49-6). The decisive wins that led them to the state championship last year will give confidence to the Pirates, who dropped their only game to the Eagles of East. If the Pirates win, it will be due in large part to their powerhouse offense. University of Maryland commit, Javon Leake, rushed for four touchdowns by way of 196 yards against Reagan last week, in his best performance of the year. The Western Carolina-bound Will Jones has improved in every game so far for the Pirates, and doesn’t seem to be hurt by the loss of Diondre Overton at receiver. He has frequently targeted Ronald Polite but it has been a case of receiver-by-committee for Page this year, and so far it is working. Can the Pirates focus on one play at a time, and flawlessly execute the game-plan?


Prediction:

East Forsyth- 38

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