Windsor Forest erased a 9-0 first half deficit and scored 20 unanswered points to beat Islands 20-9 in a non-region affair Thursday night at Memorial Stadium. It was a sloppy, penalty-filled game, but that didn’t make it any less entertaining for those in attendance.
Sophomore quarterback Amaree Bedgood found tight end Tavare Brewton for a 34 yard scoring strike giving the Sharks their first touchdown of the 2021 season and an early 6-0 advantage.
Langston Lewis, the star receiver committed to Central Michigan University, put on a show defensively in the first half. The senior picked off passes on consecutive possessions to end the first quarter and begin the second. Cooper Bachman nailed a 39-yard field goal early in the second stanza to push the IHS lead to 9-0.
From there, it was a one-team show as head coach Jeb Stewart and his Knights found another gear.
Windsor struggled to do much of anything in the first quarter and a half, routinely putting itself behind the chains with costly penalties and mismanaged snaps. But the Knights’ fortune changed midway through the second when senior Trayvon Savage caught an intermediate pass from Chris Glover and rumbled 73 yards for a touchdown.
The extra-point attempt was no-good and the Sharks maintained the 9-6 lead entering the locker rooms at the break. Brewton picked off a pass late in the first half to give the Islands defense three interceptions in the opening 24 minutes.
After Islands punted on its opening drive of the second half, Windsor Forest kept its momentum going despite having to replace Glover at quarterback due to an injury he sustained on the Savage TD pass. Donte Dorman, a junior transfer from Bethesda, took over at quarterback for WF in the second half and provided a boost with several nice runs on read-option plays but he made the biggest splash with his right arm.
Dorman found senior Abasi Scott -- the top WF target -- on a beautifully thrown corner route for another Knight touchdown.
The 2-point conversion attempt was no-good, but the defense of Windsor made good on that failure moments later when sophomore Jordon Scott sacked a rolling Islands quarterback in the endzone for a safety and a 14-9 advantage. Dorman’s quarterback sneak from 1-yard out with 25 seconds left in the third quarter made it 20-9 heading into the final stanza.
Windsor Forest is 4-2 against Islands all-time, including back-to-back wins in the 2020 season finale (10-7) and now in 2021.
Follow Travis Jaudon on Twitter/Instagram and contact him at travisLjaudon@gmail.com.
IHS -- 6 - 3 - 0 - 0 -- 9
WF -- 0 - 6 - 14 - 0 -- 20
HALFTIME -- IHS, 9-6.
RECORDS -- IHS 0-1; WF 1-1.
NEXT -- IHS at SCJ (MS, 9/4); WF vs HVJ (Islands Stadium, 9/4).
