The Drive to the GHSA State Title is setting up shop at West Forsyth High School this Friday night to broadcast the Wolverines’ home game against North Gwinnett in the Class 7A Sweet Sixteen. West Forsyth, which won the program’s second all-time region title this season sits one win away from reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 2012. These two teams last met in the second round of the 2018 playoffs—which marked the first-ever meeting between the schools. The game will kickoff at 8 p.m. and will be televised on PeachtreeTV.
NORTH GWINNETT BULLDOGS
North Gwinnett picked up its 11th playoff victory under four-year head coach Bill Stewart this past Friday in its 29-16 win over Cherokee. The Bulldogs—who last won the state title in 2017—showcased their defensive prowess and their emergent rushing attack in the victory. Two-way starter Barrett Carter turned in his most impressive overall performance of the season and his effort led to him getting upgraded to a five-star prospect on Monday. Carter’s postseason heroics saw him take a team-high 17 carries for 197 yards and four touchdowns, while also posting eight solo tackles, four tackles for loss, three sacks and a fumble recovery.
“I always expect that from Barrett because he’s a great player,” North Gwinnett coach Bill Stewart said. “He prepares himself. Barrett’s not only a special player on the field, he’s a special player off the field, which makes him a great talent. Some guys who are talented can’t connect those dots, but he does. So proud of what he did tonight. He was a warrior.”
Carter’s role on offense has increased significantly over North Gwinnett’s past three games—where he has tallied 13.6 yards per carry, 126.7 yards per game and eight total touchdowns. North Gwinnett’s program has historically featured more of a passing attack, but this year’s team has no problem relying on the run game. In the Bulldogs’ 59-14 win over Mountain View in the regular season finale, the team rushed for 400 yards. The previous week, sophomore quarterback Ethan Washington posted a team-high 111 rushing yards to lead them to a 27-0 win over Peachtree Ridge.
North Gwinnett’s defense has stepped up week in and week out this season and the program has also showcased proficiency with its special teams unit. Defensively, Kayden McDonald and Justin Watson have each racked up 12 sacks this season. This duo is just two of the 12 different North Gwinnett players that have contributed to the team’s 66 total sacks this season. Additionally, senior Aaron Brebnor has four of the team’s 10 interceptions.
WEST FORSYTH WOLVERINES
Dave Svehla took over the West Forsyth program this season and has led the Wolverines to the most wins the program has had in a season since it went 10-2 in 2012 under head coach Frank Hepler. The Wolverines are 8-3 entering their matchup with North Gwinnett and, for lack of better words, they are ready, but aware of the task ahead.
“I think our community is excited,” Svehla said. “When you get to this point in the playoffs, you are going to be playing quality competition. There’s a few teams I’d rather be playing than North Gwinnett, but we are excited to play and excited to play at home.”
Since losing to North Forsyth 24-10 in its 6-7A opener, the Wolverines have been steady with victories over South Forsyth (41-34), Forsyth Central (21-0), Gainesville (14-7), Lambert (42-27) and Denmark (20-10) which earned it the region title, Svehla’s first after an eight-year stint as the head coach of Etowah from 2012-19.
“It really is (a big deal),” Svehla said of the importance of the region title for West Forsyth. “West hadn’t won a region title in eight years. We played, what I would consider to be a pretty strong non-region schedule and thought that we were pretty well prepared for our region schedule. Then we played North Forsyth and they, frankly, just outplayed and outcoached us. It was a bad night all around. We started 0-1 and it was an eye-opener for our kids.”
West presents a relatively balanced offense with 1,770 passing yards to 1,408 rushing yards led by sophomore quarterback Keegan Stover, who is 91-of-159 passing for 1,287 yards and 18 touchdowns. Junior Ashton Van Horn is 27-of-70 passing for 483 yards and three touchdowns. West averages 160 passing and 130 rushing yards per game.
Junior Oscar Delp is a favorite target and leads the receiving corps with 43 receptions for 729 yards and nine touchdowns. Senior T.J. Jennings has 17 catches for 344 yards and four touchdowns. Five other West receivers have scored touchdowns on the season.
When the passing game stalls, West’s backfield can confuse opposing defenses and senior Daba Fofana is the anchor of the Wolverine run game with 128 carries for 708 yards and eight touchdowns. Fofana rushed for 147 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries in West’s 41-34 victory over South Forsyth.
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