On Friday night, a season of grit, hard-work, improvement, practice and games all culminate in one final showdown to determine the 2023 Central Piedmont Conference (CPC) football champions. The Titans will host the East Forsyth Eagles in a seemingly fated matchup of crosstown rivals vying for revenge, bragging rights and championship glory.
The Eagles are the defending conference champions, as they came into this season fresh off an impressive 2022 campaign where they blazed through the regular season undefeated en route to their first CPC championship since 2018. Ultimately, that East team would suffer defeat in the 3rd round of the state playoffs against Hough, unable to match their 2018 and 2019 state championship seasons. For the 2022 Titans, it was those very Eagles who ended their season with two blowout defeats at East (53-7 and 49-0) in back-to-back weeks in the final regular season game and first round of the state playoffs. The memory of those two games has certainly not faded for many of the returning players to this year’s team and serves as an additional motivating factor to make a vengeful statement on Friday.
“What happened in those games at East last year is definitely a motivator for this week, but we are also trying to approach it as just another week where we’re going to go out there, play our game and come out with a win,” senior running back TJ Fergus said.
Coming across town, East Forsyth boasts an 8-1 record this year with their sole defeat coming in a 41-28 loss at Davie, who West earned a crucial 50-42 win over in a road game just two weeks ago. Comparatively, the Titans head into the game with a 7-2 record, already a three win improvement from last year’s 4-7 final record. For first year head coach Kevin Wallace, the quick turnaround isn’t a surprise as his staff has worked to rebuild the program from the ground up.
“I knew when I was coming there was a lot of talent and players who were out there on the field last year. We worry more about what’s happening inside the walls, the culture and how kids are acting, and I think that plays a big factor in how we play on Friday nights. Just concentrating on those things and the process of each day and to keep moving forward worrying about one game at a time,” Wallace said.
The Titans’ two defeats have been a non-conference 44-22 loss at Weddington, the No. 5 ranked school in the state, and an upset 35-26 loss to hated archrival Reagan, who fell 29-21 at East in the first week of conference play.
“The two losses we’ve had this year we’ve kinda beaten ourselves. When we’ve worried about ourselves and doing the best we can we’ve had positive outcomes. When we’ve worried about what the other team is doing and getting into the talking after plays and all that stuff I think that’s when we’ve gone sideways,” Wallace said. “We can’t live in that world where we’re worried about what the other team is saying and doing and we’ve just gotta keep it focused on us. We gotta make sure that we’re the most disciplined team out there and that we’re executing, doing our stuff and playing our type of football.”
In conference play, each team holds a 5-1 record, sitting tied atop the CPC, and the winner of Friday night’s matchup will be crowned conference champions. The chance to win the first football conference championship in four years is not lost on this group, and they are eager for their chance to put West back on top of the CPC.
“It’s an amazing opportunity that we have sacrificed for throughout the past nine months of workouts and practices. It’s something West hasn’t had in a couple years, so we are hoping to bring the conference championship back to where it belongs,” senior wide receiver Hayden Magaha said.
Friday night is the final regular season football game this year.
Friday night is senior night for 25 of the players on the team.
Friday night is a game for revenge and bragging rights.
Friday night is yet another massive rivalry game.
Friday night is for the CPC championship.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and for any West Forsyth student, it is far and away the biggest and most important game since they’ve been here. Coach Wallace wants any and all Titan fans to come out for this game because it truly does make a difference, and for such an important game that difference is needed.
“Come on out. Come early and be loud. Especially when we’re on defense, be as loud as possible. We’ve had a couple games where that has really had an effect on the other team. This is a huge game and the more people there and the more noise they make the better we will be,” Wallace said.
SHOW OUT.
BE EARLY.
BE LOUD.
