Battling through Friday night’s cold temperatures, the East Forsyth Eagles locked in to defeat the West Forsyth Titans 56-19.
The No. 3 seed Eagles were not automatically assumed to beat the No. 14 Titans since their Week 10 matchup was nail-bitingly close.
Plus, the temperature on Friday was 30 degrees lower, and the playoff atmosphere added another variable to the game. Hand warmer packaging littered the sideline as the Eagles tried to keep their bodies warm and their focus sharp.
The opening minutes of the game felt uncertain — West recovered an East fumble, then East recovered one in return. But then, Bryce Baker threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Corey Blair, and it was smooth sailing from there.
UNC-commit Baker completed 21 of 24 passes for 334 yards and four touchdowns and ran a touchdown in on a quarterback keeper play. Running back Jaylin Murry scored four touchdowns total: two rushing touchdowns on top of 69 rushing yards and two receiving touchdowns to go with his 169 receiving yards.
The Eagle defense forced West to punt three times, blocked two extra point attempts, recorded four sacks, and Josiah Nicholson intercepted a pass and ran it back for a touchdown to end the game with an exclamation point.
East Forsyth is chasing its fourth championship title and first since 2019.
The Eagles face No. 6 seed Mooresville High School in the third round of the playoffs at home on Friday night.
Mooresville’s quarterback Brody Norman trails only East Forsyth’s Bryce Baker in passing yards this season on the Class 4A West stat leaderboard.
Check the updated playoff bracket here.
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