Undefeated Forrest hosted 4A Lawrence County Friday night at the Murrey E. Holton Memorial Field in Chapel Hill and the Rockets kept their unblemished record intact as they routed the Wildcats 37-7.

Forrest’s success this season is due to the return of a potent running attack and the bulwark behind the 245-yard night once again was senior Nick McClendon, who rushed for 190 yards on just 15 carries, eclipsing the 1,000 yard mark for the second time in his career.

McClendon has rushed for 1,065 yards with 13 touchdowns for the season as he chases his older brother Zach’s single season record of 1,948 yards and 25 touchdowns set in 2014.

Nick is right on pace to break the record as Zach had 1,093 yards and 13 touchdowns at this point of the season in 2014.

“Nick does a great job, he runs that ball hard and it is hard for one person to take him down,” Forrest coach Eli Stephenson said. “Nick gets stronger as the game goes on and that says a lot to him.”

“It takes two people to tackle him and he punishes people with his running and they don’t want to tackle him late in the game, he is an old school runner and is doing an awesome job.”

Max Kirby had another big night behind center for the Rockets as the junior quarterback went 3-for-5 for 36 yards in the passing game and rushed the rock three times for 38 yards and two touchdowns.

“Max is doing a good job, we are getting a little more freedom and he is making plays for us in the pass game and the run game now,” Stephenson said. “That just says a lot to how smart he is as a football player and we believe in him and he makes us look good as coaches.”

The fifth-ranked Rockets turned in a clean game as they were penalized just twice for 25 yards and they did not turn the ball over in the contest.

Lawrence County turned it over three times with the first turnover coming on their first offensive series of the game when Noah Hill stole the ball from the Wildcat running back and raced in for the first touchdown of the game with 8:08 remaining in the first quarter.

“He (Hill) set the tone for us with that scoop and score, he really picked his pocket,” Stephenson said. “Our defense played awesome all night long, they played tremendous.”

“They were flying to the ball and came in against a 4A team and stone-cold them all night long.”

Lawrence County had to punt after its next series and after a one-yard gain on first down, McClendon ripped off a long run to the Wildcats’ 28-yard line and four plays later he was in the end zone for a touchdown.

Zoe Long booted the PAT and the Rockets led 13-0 with 3:43 remaining in the first quarter.

The Forrest defense forced a three-and-out and the ensuing punt snap sailed over the Lawrence County’s punters head and Joel Burton recovered at the Wildcats’ 29-yard line.

The first quarter ended with the Rockets facing a fourth-and-three and the second quarter began with Kirby tossing a 13-yard pass to Charlie Edmondson for a first down at the Lawrence County 8-yard line.

Three snaps later, Kirby scored on a quarterback keeper and Long booted the extra point to make it a 20-0 ballgame with 9:55 remaining in the first half.

The Wildcats burned over six minutes off the clock without scoring and the Rockets punted on its final offensive series of the first half that ended with Forrest in front 20-0.

The Wildcats got the ball to begin the second half and on a third-and-seven play from their own 37-yard line, disaster struck as Cole Villazon stepped in front of a pass and weaved his way down the field and in to the end zone for a touchdown.

Long drilled the PAT and the Rockets led 27-0 with 9:39 remaining in the third quarter.

The Forrest defense was fired up and forced a three-and-out as the Wildcats were forced to punt again and Chapel Hill took over at their own 19-yard line.

The Rockets needed just two plays to score as McClendon took a first down handoff and ran all the way to Lawrence County’s 37-yard line.

On second down, Kirby faked and then kept the ball, racing to the outside and down the home sideline for a touchdown and Long booted the PAT to make it 34-0 to essentially put the game away.

The Wildcats tried to put some points on the board as they mounted a drive that went to the Forrest 38-yard line, but they coughed it up and Layne Strasser recovered the loose ball with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.

Stephenson went to the second string on offense and they marched inside the red zone where Cody Sisk booted a 35-yard field goal to make it 37-0 with 6:22 remaining in the game.

The Wildcats managed to bust up the shutout as they drove 70 yards with JD Bedford capping off the scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown run and Ayden Luffman added the PAT for the 37-7 final.

Forrest (6-0, 2-0) travels to Summertown Friday night for a 7 p.m. showdown with the Eagles in a game that could decide the Region 5-AA title.

The Eagles (5-1, 2-1) beat Loretto 31-30 in a double overtime thriller last week at Summertown and took the Rockets to the limit last season in a tough 7-0 Forrest victory.

“They have a real good football team, they are physical up front and have a good quarterback,” Stephenson said. “It’s very tough going down there and playing them, it’s just a different atmosphere down there, but we know what is at stake and our goal is to win the region championship and that’s just the next step we have to take.”

Lawrence County 0 0 0 7-7

Forrest 13 7 14 3-37

Scoring

First Quarter

Forrest-Noah Hill 22-yard fumble return, PAT blocked, 8:08.

Forrest: Nick McClendon 17-yard run, Zoe Long PAT, 3:43.

Second Quarter

Forrest-Max Kirby 3-yard run, Zoe Long PAT, 10:02.

Third quarter

Forrest-Cole Villazon 65-yard interception return, Zoe Long PAT, 9:38.

Forrest-Max Kirby 37-yard run, Zoe Long PAT.

Fourth Quarter

Forrest-Cody Sisk 35-yard field goal, 6:22.

Lawrence County-JD Bedford 9-yard run, Ayden Luffman PAT, 0:31.

Total Yards: Lawrence County 234, Forrest 293.

Rushing: Lawrence County 174, Forrest 245.

Passing: Lawrence County 60, Forrest 48.

First Downs: Lawrence County 10, Forrest 15.

Penalties: Lawrence County 2-20, Forrest 2-25.

Turnovers: Lawrence County 3, Forrest 0.

Forrest Offense

Rushing: Nick McClendon 15-190-TD, Max Kirby 3-38, Joseph Whittaker 3-15, Tayton Swift 3-5, Aiden Freeman 2-2, Cole Villazon 3-(-2), Blaize Sweeney 1-(-3), Hunter Pendley 2-(-6).

Passing: Max Kirby 3-5-36.

Receiving: Joel Burton 1-22, Charlie Edmonson 1-13, Nick McClendon 1-1, Spencer McCown 1-0.

Kicking

PAT: Zoe Long 4-5.

FG: Cody Sisk 1-1-35 yards.

Defense

Tackles: Nick McClendon 10, Sammy Williams 10 (SACK), Noah Hill 9 (SACK, FUM REC TD), Blaize Sweeney 9, Layne Bowman 8, Aiden Freeman 8, Braden Boyer 8, Tate Garvin 8, Joel Burton 7, Cole Villazon 7 (INT TD), Max Kirby 6, Lane Strasser 6 (FUM REC), Spencer McCown 5.

Region 5-AA Standings

Forrest 6-0, 2-0

Summertown 5-1, 2-0

Eagleville 5-1, 1-1

Lewis County 4-1, 1-1

Loretto 2-3, 0-2

Community 1-5, 0-2