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Tigers hit road, advance

Forte leads Mount Pleasant past North Surry

James Nix / jnix@independenttribune.com

Mount Pleasant’s Haywood Forte carries the ball against North Surry on Friday in Mount Airy.

By Paul Hershey | Independent Tribune

Published: November 14, 2008

MOUNT AIRY - Some teams may dread long road trips to open postseason play.
Not Mount Pleasant.
The Tigers seem to enjoy it — as they proved once again in their NCHSAA 2AA first-round showdown against North Surry.
Running back Haywood Forte amassed 205 all-purpose yards with three touchdowns, Michael Furr scored twice and the Tigers' defense dominated from start to finish in a 32-14 dismantling of the Greyhounds on Friday night.
"That's a testament to the kids," Tigers coach Mike Johns said. "They expected to win this game.We didn't mind the long ride. We like these long rides. We treat it as an adventure."
No kidding.
Mount's win over North Surry marked the third time in four years that it had overcome long bus rides to win playoff openers — in 2005, it was Salisbury, and Ashe County followed in 2006.
"The boys love to travel," Johns said.
This one wasn't much in doubt, thanks to a spectacular start that saw 10th-seeded Mount take control with touchdown drives on its first two possessions.
Forte scored on a 1-yard plunge on the Tigers' first series, capping an impressive nine-play, 67-yard march.
Forte, who rushed for a game-high 140 yards on 21 carries, was the catalyst of the drive, ripping off runs of 20 and 17 yards.
Quarterback Matt Barrier also contributed, connecting with Dalton Brandon for a 27-yard gain.
After forcing seventh-seeded North to a three-and-out, the Tigers widened the gap to 12-0 on a perfectly-executed screen pass from Barrier to Forte covering 30 yards just seven minutes in.
"We felt like it would be there, especially with the way they come up field," Johns said. "We saw that in the film, and we executed it well."
It stayed 12-0 until Forte's bruising 44-yard run with 57 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Brogan Meadows' point after kick made it 19-0.
The Greyhounds tried to make it interesting, getting a 52-yard TD run and 80-yard kickoff return by John Hughes, but the Tigers answered each time with scores of their own — with Furr scoring on runs of 15 and 3 yards.
"North Surry played hard and stayed in the game," Johns said. "Every time they got close we answered and that was important. We stepped it up."
In addition to his rushing total, Forte added 65 yards receiving for the Tigers, who improved to 8-4 and will play the winner of East Henderson and South Iredell in next week's second round.
"Haywood had a phenomenal game," Johns said. "Haywood is a mudder. He loves these types of conditions. He took us over the top."
Jacob Hunt had seven catches for 104 yards, while Barrier completed 9 of 16 passes for 156 yards.
North Surry finished the season at 4-8.