Forrest boarded the yellow bus for a short ride to Page Friday night for a Homecoming match-up and spotted the Pats 10 points before storming back to take a fourth quarter lead, only to see a late TD pass by Patriot standout quarterback Zak Mizell spoil the upset bid in a 27-24 loss.

"That was a battle and I am very proud of the guys," said Forrest head coach Brian Coleman. "That was probably one of the worst first quarters of football we have played, but the guys didn't give up and fought really hard to get back in the game with an opportunity to win at the end."

Mizell, who went 21-41 for 201 yards in the air, tossed the game-winning touchdown pass to Matt Fornero with 2:58 remaining in the contest to hand Coleman's crew their second loss in a row.

Another close one

"I thought coach (Matt) Kriesky had a good game plan going in and the guys really rallied around him tonight," said Coleman. "We knew they were going to throw the ball and they threw it a lot. At first the run kind of put us on our heels, but once we settled in I thought the defense did an excellent job."

In Forrest's (3-3, 1-1) three losses this season, the losing margin has been two points, seven points, and three points.

On Friday, Forrest went three-and-out on the opening possession before Page caught the Rockets thinking pass, handing the ball to Michael Roberts on a first down draw play that went 28-yards for a touchdown.

Things got whacky for the Rockets as they coughed up the ball on their next two possessions, but escaped with just a 10-0 deficit after the first quarter.

On the board

The Rockets stopped Page on a fourth down play early in the second quarter and got things going in the running game as Tyler McClendon and Jacob Daughrity teamed up on an eight-play drive that culminated with a Tyler McClendon 2-yard touchdown run with 7:39 remaining in the first half.

Unfortunately, Mizell led the Pats right back when he completed two straight passes to Mason Smith before scoring on a 40-yard touchdown scamper, making it 17-7 after the successful extra point kick by Connor Morss.

Forrest fought back, moving the ball inside the Page 20-yard line before a questionable unsportsmanlike foul call on the Rockets stalled the drive and FHS settled for a 31-yard Chris Haggard field goal, making it a 17-10 ballgame with 1:16 to play in the first half.

A bad kickoff gave the Patriots good field position and Mizell made the Rockets pay, passing his way to the Forrest 25-yard line where Morss drilled a 35-yard field with three ticks remaining in the first half to put Page up 20-10.

Charging back

After halftime homecoming festivities, the Rockets bowed up on defense as Blake Leonard stopped Mizell cold, halting Page on a fourth down play to take over the football near the midfield stripe.

The Rockets drove just inside the Patriot 20-yard line before reaching into their bag tricks via a halfback option pass by Daughrity to Nolan Ferris that resulted in a 19-yard TD hookup, making it a 20-17 ballgame after the Haggard PAT.

The Rockets' came up huge once again on defense, stopping Mizell on another gang-tackling fourth down play to take over at their own 27-yard line late in the third quarter.

FHS faced had a first and ten at the Page 44-yard as the final period began and the Rockets pounded the ball all the way to the Patriot five yard line where Tyler McClendon smashed through for a touchdown.

Haggard's extra point was true as Forrest led for the first time in the game at 24-20 with 7:16 remaining in the contest.

To the air

The Patriots had 69 yards to go after the Forrest kickoff and Mizell went to work aerially, tossing the ball around the yard, leading the hometown squad to the go-ahead touchdown toss to Fornero with just under three minutes to go in the game.

"They are a quick strike offense," said Coleman. "They really had us

The Rockets hung in after the Page score and were the beneficiaries of a pass interference call that gave them the ball at the Pats' 47-line, but four consecutive incompletions ended the drive and the night for Forrest as the Patriots proceeded to run out the clock in the three-point win.

Coming up

The Rockets have four region games remaining on the schedule and will begin that stretch at "The Rock" on Friday as they entertain Huntland (2-3, 0-1) on Homecoming Night with game time set for 7 p.m.

Forrest will finish the campaign with three consecutive road games (Community, MTCS, Fayetteville City) plus a bye week on Oct. 18.

"We know what is in front of us now," said Coleman. "Every one of them are region games and all- important games and now is when you battle to get in the playoffs and the playoff seeding."

Stats

The Rockets accumulated 294 yards of total offense versus Page, rushing for 185 and passing for 109.

McClendon rushed for 54 yards, Austin Harmon had 28, Zach McClendon ran the ball for 26 yards, and Brandon Anderson toted the rock for 18 yards.

Daughrity had one of his all-purpose games, rushing for 48 yards, tossing a touchdown pass, and catching four balls for 32 yards.