Foreman renews title hunt
FOREMAN, Ark.— The Foreman Gators are chasing one of the only goals they didn’t accomplish during last season’s state championship run: going undefeated and capturing the conference title.
The Gators are primed and poised for a deep playoff run, while starting the season 2-0.
“The first game we didn’t play very well,” head coach Mark King said. “We turned the ball over too many times. We played hard but we had too many mistakes. Last week against Parkers Chapel, we cleaned it up. Our kids were hungry and they wanted to set the tone early. We started playing Foreman ball last week, on both sides of the ball. We’re looking forward to this week.”
Foreman has outscored its opponents, 23-0 so far this season. Due to the Smackover forfeit, the Gators have yet to allow a point this season.
Senior Kyren Batey has led the Gator offense through the past two games with 24 carries for 212 yards and five scores. Senior Chase Boyd has amassed 84 yards on 19 totes this season.
“People are trying to make everybody else beat them except Kyren,” King said. “That’s the beauty of this offense. We do go as Kyren goes, but when people say he’s not going to run the ball, we have capable people to run the ball other than him. Somebody else will make them pay and that’s what happened last week.”
The emergence of junior Chase Boyd has lifted some of the weight from this year’s senior leaders.
“Chase had seven tackles in one quarter last week for us,” King said. “He also had 28 yards rushing on five carries and scored a touchdown for us.”
Horatio is the final stanza in Foreman’s grueling nonconference schedule.
“I’d like to have a few more quarters under our belt,” King said. “Our game was shortened last week, but I feel pretty good about where we’re at.”
“This week, we’ll play a feisty Horatio team. They’re coming off a loss. They’re going to be hungry to come in here and turn that around. It’s going to be a good battle here. I think if we take care of business, we’ll get a win and head into conference on a good note.”
Foreman hosts Horatio at 7:30 p.m. Friday.