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Penalties and turnovers are the bane of offensive football coaches at every level. They can spoil an otherwise solid performance for any offense.
The Green Forest Tigers got a reminder of that football fact of life in a 28-14 home loss to West Fork last Friday night.
Green Forest had one touchdown called back because of a penalty, committed multiple turnovers and twice had first-and-goal situations from the West Fork 6 but failed to score.
“We kept running out of toes to shoot off,” Green Forest coach Greg Tibbitt said. “I felt like we did some good things. We got plenty of stops defensively to win the game. We just couldn’t score when we needed to.”
The good news for Green Forest is that there were some bright spots on both sides of the ball. Senior defensive lineman Jaaz Pope made several big plays — none bigger than an interception early in the second quarter to set up Green Forest’s first touchdown — and senior quarterback Isaiah Fraga completed 18 of 30 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns.
“He played really well,” Tibbitt said of Pope. “He had five or six tackles, two for a loss. And the interception. So he played really well.”
Green Forest receiver Andre Tobar pulls away on a 45-yard catch and run. Robert Cox / Carroll County NewsPope’s interception came near midfield on a third-down play early in the second quarter. Two plays later, Fraga rolled to his right, then pulled up and threw deep to senior receiver Andre Tobar for a 45-yard gain to the West Fork 6. On the next play, Fraga started to his left, then tossed a backward lateral to senior running back Izaak Merida, who scooped the ball off the turf. Merida slipped between two defenders and pulled free from another tackler at the goal line for Green Forest’s first touchdown of the season. Fraga ran for the two-point conversion to put Green Forest ahead 8-7 with 8:44 left in the first half.
Momentum swung late in the first half, however.
After West Fork turned the ball over on downs deep inside Green Forest territory, Green Forest took possession with 2:40 left in the half and a chance to run out the clock. Instead, a second-down pass was intercepted and set up West Fork at the Green Forest 26.
West Fork scored six plays later to take a 13-8 lead with 9.2 seconds left in the first half.
West Fork exended its lead with a long touchdown pass midway through the third quarter. On its following possession, Green Forest drove 67 yards to a first-andgoal at the West Fork 6, but a holding penalty nullified what would have been a touchdown pass from Fraga to Tobar and Green Forest eventually was pushed back to the 39 before turning the ball over on downs.
“They called a blindside block,” Tibbitt said. “I don’t agree with the rule, but it was the right call.”
West Fork scored another TD just over four minutes into the fourth quarter before Green Forest got its second touchdown of the night on a 9-yard pass from Fraga to senior Joel Salgado on a crossing pattern with 29.8 seconds left in the game.
Green Forest will travel to Greenland on Friday. The Pirates lost their season opener to Lincoln last week by a score of 58-38.
Ridge Swofford (24) carries the ball with blocking from Joel Salgado (21). Robert Cox / Carroll County News
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