A superior defensive effort and a phenomenal performance by 2019 Class 2A Tennessee Titans Mr. Football semifinalist Nick McClendon was way too much for Eagleville as the fourth-ranked Forrest Rockets (12-0) remained undefeated after an impressive 32-6 second round playoff win at the Murrey E. Holton Memorial Field in Chapel Hill Friday night.

“This is the first time in school history Forrest is 12-0, that’s a huge accomplishment and this team is now in a league of their own, they came out fighting all night long,” Forrest coach Eli Stephenson said.

McClendon rushed the rock 30 times for 265 yards and scored all five touchdowns for the Rockets, who set a school record with the 12-win season and advanced to the third round of the playoffs for only the second time in school history.

“That was really fun, we knew it was going to be a big game and we knew we had to keep our heads and we did that and came out victorious,” McClendon said. “Our offensive line was driving them out all night, we ended up wearing them out and I was running through holes that were wide open.”

“Me and my brothers have dreamed about this since we were in flag football, it feels so good and we want to keep it going.”

McClendon, who will turn 18 years old on Friday, has ran for 4,480 yards on 561 carries (8.0 yards per carry) and scored 49 rushing touchdowns in his career at Forrest.

“We knew coming in to this game we had to keep our line going up front,” Forrest senior offensive and defense lineman Sammy Williams said. “We are just going to do our job, always in the trenches, never in the spotlight, and we take that with pride.”

“This means a lot to us, we have played together for 14 straight years, they are all my brothers.”

The Rockets entertain Decatur County Riverside (7-5) in Friday night’s quarterfinal matchup.

The Panthers shutout Waverley 34-0 on the road in Friday night’s second round and hold a 2-1 all-time advantage over the Rockets with the last win coming in a 2014 first round playoff game at Forrest.

“We are going to celebrate tonight, but in the morning it’s time to watch film and do what we always do,” Williams said. “Just like every week, our coaches will have something for us, so we will learn the game plan and come out and execute it.”

The Rockets beat Riverside 23-20 at Chapel Hill in the first round in 2013 and lost 14-10 in the second round on a last second touchdown at Decaturville in 2011.

“We will load the film up on them and get started,” Stephenson said. “We take one game at a time and that’s what we have been doing all year long.”

“The kids are focused right now, they don’t look ahead, we have a great group of seniors that keeps us focused, so it’s been a blessing all year coaching these kids.”

The Forrest defense just keeps getting stingier as the season wears on, giving up just 8.7 points per game and they threw a shutout blanket over the Eagles on Friday, especially in the first half where the Rockets forced six punts and recovered an Eagleville fumble in seven drives.

“Our defense played a heck of a game, they were flying around all night and didn’t let Eagleville in the end zone,” Stephenson said.

And the first six punts were bad, making things even worse for Eagleville as the Rockets took advantage of good field position with McClendon scoring from 24 yards out in Forrest’s second possession of the game.

Penalties were the only thing that could stop the Rockets, who made it a 12-0 contest when McClendon capped off a short 43-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run with 48 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Rockets were flagged seven times for 75 yards while Eagleville’s only penalty was one personal foul for 15 yards.

The Eagles took the second half kickoff and went nowhere as the Rockets’ defense forced a three-and-out, but the tough Eagleville defense plus a crucial holding penalty halted the ensuing Forrest drive, forcing a punt.

The kick was blocked by Trevor Griffin and Wyatt McLemore scooped it up and scored, cutting Forrest’s lead in half at 12-6 with 6:06 remaining in the third quarter.

The Eagles were whistled for a personal foul on the ensuing kickoff, giving the Rockets great field position at the Forrest 48-yard line and six plays later, McClendon rambled in to the end zone from 17 yards out to make it an 18-6 ballgame after a two-point conversion run was stopped.

On the next Eagleville offensive play after the kickoff, Spencer McCown came up with an interception and the Rockets went on a long, nine-minute drive that was concluded with a McClendon two-yard touchdown run and a Zoe Long PAT boot to boost Forrest’s lead to 25-6 with 6:17 remaining in the contest.

The Rockets’ defense stopped the Eagles on four straight plays to take over again and McClendon scored from 31-yards out on the next snap before Long booted another PAT through the uprights for a 32-6 Forrest lead.

The last of the McClendon brothers put the icing on the playoff win when freshman Micah McClendon fell on an Eagleville fumble with 1:49 remaining in the game, setting up victory formation for the Rockets.

A big shout out has to go to Eagleville linebacker Wyatt McLemore, who was all over the field, leading the Eagles with 12 tackles.

“We couldn’t block him, he was the only one tackling me all night,” McClendon said. “We knew coming in that we had to block 44 every play.”

Stephenson added, “McLemore was everywhere, if we didn’t get him blocked he was making the tackle, he is one of the best linebackers we have seen all year.”

Friday night’s quarterfinal kickoff is set for 7 p.m.

“Playing at home will definitely help us out, we just have to stay focused, come to work on Monday and keep doing the job like we have been doing,” McClendon said.

In the bottom half of Forrest’s bracket, top-ranked and undefeated Peabody (12-0) blanked McKenzie 48-0 and faces seventh-ranked Fairley (10-2), who beat Union City 34-6.

In the top bracket in 2A, Oneida (8-4) travels to third-ranked Meigs County (11-1) while second-ranked Trousdale County (11-1) travels to fifth-ranked Watertown (10-2).

Eagleville 0 0 6 0-6

Forrest 6 6 6 14-32

Scoring Plays

First Quarter

Forrest-Nick McClendon 24-yard run, PAT blocked, 5:18

Second Quarter

Forrest-Nick McClendon 2-yard run, 2-point pass INC, 0:48.

Third Quarter

Eagleville-Wyatt McLemore blocked punt return, PAT blocked, 6:06.

Forrest-Nick McClendon 17-yard run, 2-point run NG, 3:03.

Fourth Quarter

Forrest-Nick McClendon 2-yard run, Zoe Long PAT, 6:17.

Forrest-Nick McClendon 31-yard run, Zoe Long PAT, 2:47.

Total Offense: Eagleville 132, Forrest 330.

Rushing: Eagleville 123, Forrest 303.

Passing: Eagleville 9, Forrest 27.

First Downs: Eagleville 10, Forrest 16.

Penalties: Eagleville 1-15, Forrest 7-75.

Turnovers: Eagleville 2, Forrest 1.

Forrest Offense

Rushing: Nick McClendon 30-265-5TD, Cole Villazon 12-38, Blaize Sweeney 3-12, Joseph Whitaker 1-(-3), Max Kirby 7-(-9).

Passing: Max Kirby 2-6-27-0-0.

Receiving: Nick McClendon 2-27.

Defense

Tackles: Blaize Sweeney 9, Noah Hill 9, Nick McClendon 8 (2 SACKS), Layne Strasser 7, Tate Garvin 6 (2 SACKS), Spencer McCown 6 (INT), Cole Villazon 6, Max Kirby 5, Sammy Williams 5, Micah McClendon 2 (FUM REC).