Schools & Sports

It was a cold rainy day as the Pirates loaded the charter buses for Marshall, Texas. Crandall would be taking on the 6-4 Marshall Mavericks in an exciting first round playoff matchup. The Mavericks are a run heavy team and would test the Pirates defensive line all night. The weather would test both teams as a heavy mist came down the entire game.

The Forney Jackrabbits and some very dedicated fans made the four-hour road trip all the way to Mount Belvieu, Texas last Friday night for their firstround playoff matchup against the Barbers Hill Eagles. Forney entered the Houston area game after dismantling Tyler at home in their regular season finale the week before, 57-13. Barbers Hill came into the game led by their potent offense after a 28-20 win against the Porter Spartans from Porter, Texas the previous Friday.

Last Thursday night’s matchup with the Princeton Wildcats would be a game in which Coach Hardin could see his Pirates play at the level he expects. The Wildcats season had not been great with a 1-8 record coming into this game. Crandall just needed to execute their gameplan and come out with a victory. The Pirates would not know who they would get in the first round of the playoffs until the Friday night games had concluded.

The North Forney Falcons played their final game last Thursday night against the Rockwall Heath Hawks and lost 38 to 6. The defense played well most of the game, but the injury riddled offense just could not put it together against a stout Heath defense.

The Forney Jackrabbits hosted the Tyler Lions in the final game of the regular season at City Bank Stadium last Friday night. The Jackrabbits were celebrating Senior Night in front of another sellout crowd. This 57-13 victory cemented the Jackrabbits’ undefeated record at City Bank Stadium this season.

Lions Now in First Place!

.....But, FOOTBALL Did Begin in the 5TH GRADE!

The North Forney Falcons lost to the Tyler Legacy Raiders, 31 to 24, last Thursday night. The game was previous scheduled for Friday night but was rescheduled to Thursday due to a bad weather forecast. The game was also planned to be Senior Night, so moving the contest up a night ensured that the festivities could go on as planned.

Coach Hardin and the Pirates administration watched the weather closely throughout the week. Friday’s matchup with Denison would have big stakes in the district standings, but safety was of utmost importance for all involved. After an extra ninety minutes of lightning delays, the Pirates and Yellow Jackets took the field to warmup. Crandall sat at third place in district standings with a 3-2 record, and Denison was right behind them at 2-3. The Pirates were in a must-win situation in order to create some separation between the rest of the district. Senior kicker Brandon Perez would kickoff to start the game in the pouring cold rain.

The Forney Jackrabbits traveled to the luxurious McKinney ISD Stadium last Friday night for their ninth game of the year. A win would cement a playoff spot forForney.McKinneyNorth entered the game after getting pounded by Longview 49-7 the previous week. The Bulldogs entered the contest 6-2 on the season. The Jackrabbits entered the game after beating North Mesquite the week before for Homecoming. The Jackrabbits sought to punch their ticket to the playoffs for the second straight season under Coach Fleener’s direction.

All photos by BLANCA LESTER

All photos by JASON BOWIE

All photos by EDDY TAYLOR and LARRY GOLDEN