Football: Forreston bounces back from Week 2 loss to beat Amboy-LaMoille

AMBOY – When it comes to the Forreston Cardinals’ abundant offense, they aren’t balanced in the way they push the football down the field – the three-time state champions just run, run and run.

Balance, though, was what the Cardinals did best Friday in utilizing eight ballcarriers in the first half to throw Amboy-LaMoille off-balance, as the Cardinals beat the Clippers 38-6 at The Harbor.

Not only did the Cardinals’ wide array of offensive weapons make it difficult for the Clippers to defend, but the way the Cardinals triggered their plays kept the Clippers guessing – quite the quick trigger, indeed. Usually no longer than 7 or 8 seconds after most of the Cardinals’ short-yard plays were downed, the line of scrimmage was rampant with movement once again.

Matthew Beltran, the fourth Cardinal to touch the ball in the game, gave Forreston (1-1, 1-1 NUIC South) its first score with a 10-yard run through the middle, and Devonte King-Black’s 2-point run put the Cardinals up 8-0.

Jordan Neuschwander, the second Cardinal to carry the ball in the game, later scored Forreston’s second touchdown on a 3-yard breakthrough for a 16-0 lead after Noah Johnson’s 2-point run.

Forreston outgained Amboy 246-91 in the first half, and amassed 14 first downs in the process – a far cry from a slow start in last week’s loss to Milledgevile.

“It felt great, and it was about time we get this win,” Neuschwander said. “I felt like we should have won last week, but this feels so great to finally get back winning, after corona and all of that. It’s so good to get back and get a win.”

Neuschwander wasn’t done yet. On the Cardinals’ first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, he blazed through right end and down his team’s sideline for a 60-yard TD run and a 24-0 lead after King-Black’s second conversion run. Less than 3 minutes later, Neuschwander added his third score with a 13-yard sweep around right end and a 32-0 lead after Johnson’s second conversion run.

Ashton Schramm capped the Cardinals’ scoring on an 11-yard run run with 9 minutes to play in the game.

“Our energy was a little bit low in the first half, but I felt we came out in the second half with everything clicking,” Neuschwander said. “This gives us real good energy going forward. As long as we can keep this rolling – keep this train rolling – it will be so good.”

Amboy’s first score came with just 7 seconds left in the third quarter. Clippers quarterback Lane Boehle dove in for a 1-yard plunge after he, Sean Fitzpatrick and Joe Quest each pushed forward for 1-yard gains in successive plays.

“We had a pretty good first half,” Amboy coach Scott Payne said. “We were only down 16-0, then Forreston came out in the second half and took control of the line of scrimmage. When you go against a team like Forreston, they only run about six plays at you and you’ve got to be able to control the line of scrimmage to stop them.”

Fitzpatrick was the main go-to ballcarrier for the Clippers, rushing for 120 yards on 27 runs; Quest added 36 yards on 15 rushes.

“Sean Fitzpatrick and Joe Quest both ran the football pretty well for us,” Payne said. “Our line in the first half played pretty good, we just got bogged down in the red zone a couple of times, so there were some positives.”

The game’s entire offense yardage total came on the ground; all nine pass attempts failed.

Football

Forreston 38, Amboy-LaMoille 6

Star of the game: Jordan Neuschwander, Forreston, 175 rushing yards on 12 carries, 3 rushing TDs.

Key performers: Braden Politsch, Forreston, 101 rushing yards on 9 carries; Sean Fitzpatrick, Amboy, 120 rushing yards on 27 carries

Up next: West Carroll at Amboy, Forreston at Rockford Christian; both 7 p.m. Friday