Future Stars edge Force in eighth grade game

Before the Elite Junior Classic today at McEachern, the eighth graders took the field and put on a show. The Future Stars won the game 13-6 after taking a 13-0 lead in the first half. After a couple circus catches by the North Georgia Force, however, the lead narrowed to 13-6 midway through the fourth.

However, the Force did not retain possession until there were less than two minutes remaining after Rico Frye returned the ensuing kickoff to the Force 42. This time they took over inside their own 10. On their first play, the Force quarterback was intercepted and the game was essentially decided.

Frye was the player of the game for the Future Stars. He ran for the first score of the game on a spectacular 55-yard run with 3:08 in the first quarter. His kickoff return late in the fourth took the momentum back after the Force’s lone score.

The Stars’s second score came on a 25-yard pass to Matavion Brooks with 1:06 left in the second quarter. The Future Stars made the extra point this time to make the score 13-0.

Ferris drove the Force down the field in the fourth on the strength of a 25-yard pass to Andrew Thomas with six minutes left. Thomas caught the ball in quadruple coverage and fell to the one-yard line. After a false start penalty on the Stars, the Force set up on first and goal from inside the one. However, a four-yard loss on a running play out of the shotgun put the Force back on about the five. On the next play, Jamarcus Chatman penetrated the Force backfield and threw Thomas for a 10-yard loss. It looked like the Force would be shut out at that point, but on fourth down, Ferris lobbed a pass into the end zone towards Zachary Williams, who made a leaping catch over the defense.

The teams were chosen by local eight-grade coaches who the made their recommendations to McEachern AD Jimmy Dorsey, Brookwood legend Dave Hunter and Score President I.J. Rosenberg. All of the players are from the metro Atlanta area and each of them drove to McEachern during the week for four team practices.