Focused Wake Forest Cougars trample football rival Heritage
“Focus” was the word of the day for Wake Forest. The No. 1-ranked Cougars remain undefeated with a convincing 63-6 win over rival Heritage.
Coach Reggie Lucas raved about his team’s ability to stay focused after playing two games last week and moving to No. 1 in the state 4A polls.
Wake Forest (8-0, 4-0 Cap-8 4A) dominated right from the jump. Ki’mon Small blocked a Heritage punt on the first possession and Wake Forest recovered on the 6-yard line. Two plays later, Shy’heem Mitchell (5-21) scored and the rout was on.
On the next Heritage possession, Tyler Thomas stepped in front of a Gunnar Holmberg pass. That pick lit a fire under Wake Forest, who converted the turnover into points when Chris James found Will Jones (two catches, 34 yards) for a 24-yard score on the first play after the pick.
“I like to get my defense fired up,” Thomas said. “To set the tone. Coach Lucas keeps us focused during the week and we just have to execute.”
Three who mattered
Devon Lawrence, Wake Forest: He finished with 92 yards on seven carries and three rushing scores covering 3, 2, and 58 yards. Just for good measure, he added an 80-yard kickoff return.
“Devon has a great determination,” Lucas said. “He works hard in the weight room. But I think when you go back and look at it, you have to give credit to those guys up front.”
Chris James, Wake Forest: The sophomore finished 4 of 7 with 58 yards and two scores, all in the first half. When Wake needed to throw, which wasn’t often, James was accurate and made good decisions with the ball.
Tyler Thomas, Wake Forest: The senior cornerback’s first-quarter interception proved the Cougars were going to be stingy against the Huskies passing attack.
“It’s all about making plays,” Thomas said.
By the numbers
10: Number of ball carriers who got at least one touch for Wake Forest.
296: Number of rushing yards by the Cougars and those 10 ball carriers.
4: Number of turnovers forced by Wake Forest, including two fumble recoveries and two interceptions, one by Thomas, another by John Jiles.
They said it
“I let it get to me, all the talk and all that,” Devon Lawrence said. “I just let it go on the field and tried my best to score for my team.”
This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 10:28 PM with the headline "Focused Wake Forest Cougars trample football rival Heritage."