The Forrest Rockets embarked on their second long trip in row Friday night, travelling to 4-A Lawrence County High School where they came up with a gut-wrenching 21-20 win when the Wildcats were stopped on a two-point conversion try with 29 seconds remaining in the contest.

“We had two long trips and two big wins,” Forrest coach Eli Stephenson said. “Our boys played hard from the first whistle to the last whistle, our defense flowed to the ball and our offense got some movement, we just have to finish our drives in the second half.”

“I’m very proud of this group, we are not going to win by a lot, we are not going to win pretty, but it’s great to get that win.”

For the second week in a row, Forrest did not turn the ball over and the lone Lawrence County miscue turned in to seven second quarter points for the Rockets.

“Our boys are playing hard and focusing on ball security,” Stephenson said. “I also thought our offensive line played much better tonight and they opened some big holes for our running game.”

Forrest stayed mainly on the ground, rushing the ball 34 times for a 142 yards with sophomore Brenton Burchell (wearing Micah’s #11) leading the way with 10 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown.

Tayton Swift had 34 yards on nine carries and Joseph Whitaker had seven touches for 23 yards and a touchdown.

Max Kirby had a quarterback keeper for a touchdown and went 4-for-10 in the air for 35 yards with Whitaker coming up with two catches while Cole Perryman and Burchell had one reception apiece.

Junior quarterback Alex Carr was a one-man wrecking crew for the Wildcats, passing for 92 yards and rushing for 95 yards before being knocked out of the game with just over 10 minutes to go in the contest.

Carr went 12-for-24 with Hayden Dale having a big night receiving for Lawrence County, hauling down six receptions for 49 yards and after Carr got hurt, Dale came in at quarterback and ended up with 10 carries for 32 yards.

“Our defense was flying around and hitting their receivers,” Stephenson said. “We gave up some short routes, but that was ok with us because we were coming up and punishing them.”

Lawrence County won the opening coin toss and dominated the action, going 73 yards on 15 plays with Luke Nichols capping off the eight and half minute drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Ben Craig booted the extra point through the uprights and the Wildcats led 7-0 with 3:28 remaining in the first quarter.

The Rockets took over and faced a third-and-11 play when Kirby found Perryman for a nice catch on the sidelines for a first down.

The Perryman catch boosted the Rockets as they marched down the field and faced a first-and-goal at the 4-yard line as time ran out in the first quarter.

Burchell took a handoff on the first snap of the second quarter and scored a touchdown before Gavin Grissom’s successful PAT kick tied the game at 7-7.

On the next play from scrimmage, the Wildcats fumbled the ball and Hunter Pendley recovered at the Lawrence County 29-yard line.

Burchell ripped off a first-down 14-yard run and then caught a six-yard swing pass and after an offsides call on the Wildcats, Forrest called timeout with 9:17 remaining in the second quarter with the ball on the 3-yard line.

After the stoppage, Whitaker took the handoff and ran almost untouched in to the end zone for a touchdown.

Grissom’s kick was good again and the Rockets led 14-7.

The Rockets’ defense bowed up, forcing a Lawrence County punt, but Forrest went three-and-out to give the ball back to the home team with 4:16 remaining in the first half.

The Wildcats, behind the legs and arm of Carr, marched all the way to the Forrest 19-yard line when a fourth down incompletion ended the drive.

The first half ended after a couple of Forrest plays and the Rockets were forced to punt after a three-and-out on their first offensive series of the second half.

The Forrest defense forced a Lawrence County three-and-out, but once again were stopped on offense after four plays and had to punt gain with 6:15 remaining in the third quarter.

Carr orchestrated the Wildcats down the field to the Forrest 1-yard line where Lawrence County tied the game at 14-14 on a Samuel Bradley touchdown run and a Craig extra point with 3:59 remaining in the third quarter.

The Rockets’ offense stalled again and turned the ball over on downs, but Forrest returned the favor on defense and took over on downs with 14 seconds left in the period at their own 35-yard line.

Forrest punted after three plays and the Wildcats were in a third-and-long after an illegal forward pass penalty on their next drive when Carr took off and was hammered on the sidelines by Forrest senior linebacker Noah Hill.

The Wildcats punted the ball away with 10:13 remaining in the fourth quarter and Carr never returned to the game.

A bad snap on the punt gave the Rockets great field position at the Lawrence County 36-yard line and Kirby ran for five yards on first down.

Swift picked up a Forrest first down on a run to the 10 and Burchell ripped off another run to the Lawrence County 1-yard line where Kirby scored on the quarterback keeper.

Grissom’s extra point boot was true and Forrest led 21-14 with 8:41 left in the contest.

Both teams were forced to punt on their next drives and the Wildcats got the ball back at their own 45-yard line with 5:11 remaining in the contest.

Dale and Bradley split 10 running plays with Dale scoring a touchdown with 29 second left in the game.

Lawrence County took the bold move of going for the two-point conversion, but Burchell and Pendley burst through the line and Pendley came up with the sack to seal the win for the Rockets.

“Coach (Jeremy) Austin (defensive coordinator) made that call there, he is doing a heck of a job, he is getting the boys ready and they have been playing hard for him,” Stephenson said. “I knew they were going for it there, I would have too and Pendley came up with a huge play and the sack for us.”

Kirby took the victory formation and Forrest got their second emotional win in a row for fallen Rocket Micah McClendon.

“Micah stay strong, we are here for you, we are praying for you and these boys are out here playing hard for you,” Stephenson said.

The Rockets (4-2, 2-0) return to the Murrey E. Holton Memorial Field in Chapel Hill on Friday night as they entertain Summertown in a key Region 5-AA battle.

The Eagles (3-3, 0-2) lost 12-7 at Loretto (3-2, 1-1) and have played the Rockets tough two out of the three years they have met.

Forrest won by seven points in 2017 and 2018 at Summertown before blowing out the Eagles 49-0 at Chapel Hill last season.

“We are expecting a packed house this week for Micah,” Stephenson said. “It’s a region game and they are the ones that count, Summertown has a good ball club this year, so we have to have a great week of practice and get after it.”

A Forrest win guarantees a first-round home playoff game.

Forrest 0 14 0 7-21

Lawrence County 7 0 7 6-20

First Quarter

Lawrence County-Luke Nichols 2-yard run (Ben Craig kick), 3:28.

Second Quarter

Forrest-Brenton Burchell 4-yard run (Gavin Grissom kick), 11:03.

Forrest-Joseph Whitaker 3-yard run, (Gavin Grissom kick), 8:35.

Third Quarter

Lawrence County-Samuel Bradley 1-yard run (Ben Craig kick), 3:59.

Fourth Quarter

Forrest-Max Kirby 1-yard run (Gavin Grissom kick), 8:41.

Lawrence County-Hayden Dale 1-yard run (2-pt. try failed), 29.0.

Total Yards: Forrest 177, Lawrence County 243.

Rushing: Forrest 142, Lawrence County 151.

Passing: Forrest 35, Lawrence County 92.

First Downs: Forrest 15, Lawrence County 20.

Turnovers: Forrest 0, Lawrence County 1.

Penalties: Forrest 6-65, Lawrence County 3-25.

Forrest Offense

Rushing: Brenton Burchell 10-74-TD, Tayton Swift 9-34, Joseph Whittaker 7-23-TD, Chris Davis 2-6, Hunter Pendley 2-1, Max Kirby 5-(-6)-TD.

Passing: Max Kirby 4-10-35-0-0.

Receiving: Joseph Whitaker 2-17, Cole Perryman 1-12, Brenton Burchell 1-6.