The second-ranked Columbia Academy Bulldogs marched into Chapel Hill Friday night and shutout the Rockets at the Murrey E. Holton Memorial Field 38-0 to remain unbeaten on the season.

The Rockets (2-3, 1-2) suffered an early turnover that put them in a 7-0 hole less than two minutes into the contest and a late Columbia Academy score just before the first half ended made it 14-0.

“We were able to get some stops on defense by getting pressure on the quarterback,” Forrest coach Eli Stephenson said. “We have got to be able to put a drive together on offense by getting first downs.”

Bulldog senior Tre Davidson singlehandedly delivered the knockout in the third quarter, scoring his second touchdown of the game when he returned the second half kickoff 81 yards for a TD.

“The first drives of each half are the most important series of the game,” Stephenson said. “We’ve got to be able to come out and gain some momentum. We were not able to do that.”

Davidson added touchdowns runs of 16 and 8 yards in the third period to make it 35-0 and invoke the TSSAA 35-point mercy rule with a running clock for the remainder of the game.

A Drew Logsdon 32-yard fourth quarter field goal for CA finished the scoring in the game for the Bulldogs, who outgained Forrest 257-119 in the contest.

Forrest senior quarterback Josh Meglis completed 4-of-7 passes for 55 yards as Spencer McCown (31 yds.), Cole Villazon (10 yds.), Nick McClendon (8 yds.), and Wes McCoy (6 yds.) all caught one pass.

After scoring 51 points in Week Two at Fayetteville, the Rockets’ offense has sputtered, averaging 7.0 points over the last three games.

“Our offense has to be able to get first downs,” Stephenson said. “We didn’t do a good job of that against CA. Our defense has to get off the field on third down.”

Forrest faces another strong foe this week for homecoming when they entertain fifth-ranked, undefeated Watertown (5-0, 2-0) in a non-region contest.

The Purple Tigers handed Forrest a tough 8-7 loss last season at Watertown prior to losing four straight to the Rockets, dating back to 2002.

“We’ve got to get back to the fundamentals of blocking and tackling,” Stephenson said. “Watertown is a tough opponent. We know the task at hand, our kids will be ready to play.”

Forrest still sits in fourth place in Region 5-AA standings and controls its own destiny as they finish the season with three-out-four region contests with back-to-back away games at Lewis County and Loretto before a non-region game versus Cascade at home and the regular season finale in Chapel Hill versus Community.

The Rockets have a bye after the Loretto trip.

Columbia Academy 7 7 21 3-38

Forrest 0 0 0 0-0

Scoring Plays

First Quarter

Columbia Academy-Tre Davidson 33-yard run, Drew Logsdon PAT, 10:34.

Second Quarter

Columbia Academy-Joshua Cook 2-yard run, Logsdon PAT, 0:15.

Third Quarter

Columbia Academy-Davidson 91-yard kickoff return, Logsdon PAT, 11:48.

Columbia Academy-Davidson 16-yard run, Logsdon PAT, 6:53.

Columbia Academy-Davidson 8-yard run, Logsdon PAT, 0:08.

Fourth Quarter

Columbia Academy-Logsdon 32-yard FG, 2:46.

Total Offense: Columbia Academy 257, Forrest 119.

Penalties: Columbia Academy 6-60, Forrest 5-45.

Turnovers: Columbia Academy 0, Forrest 2.

Forrest Offense

Rushing: Nick McClendon 11-28, Wes McCoy 5-25, Blaize Sweeney 5-15, John Dippold 1-10, Joseph Whitaker 2-3, Aiden Freeman 1-0, Josh Meglis 2-(-17).

Passing: Josh Meglis 4-7-55.

Receiving: Spencer McCown 1-31, Cole Villazon 1-10, Nick McClendon 1-8, Wes McCoy 1-6.

Forrest Defense

Tackles: Blaize Sweeney 7, Noah Hill 7 (SACK), Max Kirby 3, Nick McClendon 3, Jayme Ozburn 3, Sammy Williams 3, Joel Burton 2 (SACK), Jeff Gross 2, Justin Leonard 2, Prior Haines (1.5 SACKS), Tate Garvin 1, Alex Patmore 1, Cole Villazon 1.

Punting: Wes McCoy 2-72.

Returns

Kickoffs: Wes McCoy 3-86, Blaize Sweeney 1-23, Cole Villazon 1-13.