The Forrest Rockets opened the 2013 prep football season with a dominating performance, physically pounding Collinwood 42-2 Friday night in front of a packed house at "The Rock" in Chapel Hill.

"We challenged them this week to come out and play from the first series on offense, defense, special teams, no matter what and they did very well with that tonight," said first-year Forrest head coach Brian Coleman. "That is going to have to be our brand of football. Be physical on offense, control the clock, and play good defense."

Pounding it out

The Rockets stayed true to the game plan, pounding the Trojans in the run game as they amassed 280 yards on 48 carries with Tyler McClendon leading the way with 115 yards on 19 touches, including a pair of touchdowns.

McClendon had plenty of help from his partners in the backfield with Jacob Daughrity gaining 60 yards on 10 carries, and Zach McClendon toted the rock 8 times for 44 yards and one score.

Brandon Anderson had 25 yards on five carries, Alex Roheiler carried the ball three times for 20 yards, and Clay Watson had one touch that resulted in a six-yard touchdown that capped the Forrest scoring in the fourth quarter.

"I'll tell you what, our backs really block well for each other, they are just very unselfish," said Coleman. "And our offensive line has to be our strength of the team right now. You have to move the line of scrimmage forward and Coach Stacey has them working really hard; give him a lot of credit because they are working their butts off."

Solid QB

Thaddeus Reyes had a solid game at the quarterback position for Forrest, going 2-2 for 49 yards and 1 aerial TD toss, while rushing two times for 10 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Forrest defense stifled Collinwood's highly touted quarterback Logan Montgomery, holding the senior signal caller to just 78 total yards (12 rushes for 25 yards and 5 completions in 16 attempts passing for 53 yards and 2 interceptions).

The Rockets got the ball first, starting at their own 41-yard line, but a false start and a pair of sideline infractions put them in a first down and fifteen hole before the Trojans helped them out with a facemask penalty and an automatic first down.

First score

From there, it was all Rockets ground fire as Tyler McClendon rushed three times down to the Collinwood 32-yard line before Daughrity cut the distance to the end zone in half with a 16-yard scamper.

Zach McClendon finished the job via a pair of eight-yard runs with the second resulting in the Rockets' opening score of the year and a 7-0 lead after Chris Haggard drilled the extra point with 8:32 remaining in the first quarter.

The Forrest 'D' forced a Collinwood three-and-out, but six plays later; a fumble by the Rockets at midfield gave the ball back to the Trojans.

Collinwood took only two plays to reach the Forrest 20-yard line, but Zach McClendon followed a sack on Montgomery with a 70-yard pick six jaunt, putting the home team up 14-0 with 4:10 left in the first quarter.

Momentum

Forrest had all momentum and the defense held firm, forcing a Collinwood punt.

Starting at their 20-yard line, Forrest marched 80 yards on an 11-play drive that burned 7:39 off the clock, ending in style with a Tyler McClendon 11-yard bruising touchdown run.

The Haggard extra-point kick was good again, giving the Rockets a 21-0 lead with 6:37 remaining in the first half.

Collinwood tried to dig in as they put together a long 12-play drive, but the Trojans could not put any points on the board as a fourth down Montgomery pass fell incomplete on the Forrest turf with 1:44 remaining in the first half.

The Rockets took over at their own 35-yard line and Daughrity got them in scoring position with three runs down to the Trojans' 32-yard line where Reyes found a wide-open Nolan Ferris for touchdown with less than 25 seconds reaming in the first half.

Total control

The Ferris score essentially put the game out of reach and on Collinwood's first drive of the second half, Zach McClendon lit the finale of the opening day fireworks when he knocked the ball loose from Montgomery on a sack and Boone Sweeney fell on the pigskin at the Trojan 34-yard line.

Moments later, Reyes scored on a fourth down quarterback keeper at the 1-yard line and Haggard's EP kick was true, making it 35-0 with 7:10 Left in the third quarter.

Collinwood had no gas left at all on offense, going back to the sidelines thanks to another fourth down incompletion forced by the stingy Rocket defense.

Forrest took over and ran three times before lining up to punt, but the snap sailed over Haggard's head, whose only recourse was to kick the ball out of the end zone for a safety, making it 35-2.

Backups score

There was no letdown on the defensive side for the Rockets as they stopped Collinwood cold again with 9:35 remaining in the contest.

With 4:33 to play in the game, Clay Watson provided the second team offense with a score, leaping to pay dirt from 2-yards out, carving out the 42-2 final.

The Rockets host longtime district rival Cascade at "The Rock' Friday, but this time Forrest and the Champions will meet in a non-district contest for he first time ever.

"Cascade is a good football team, they have a lot of numbers and they play the same brand of football we do, that physical, hard style," said Coleman. "We told the kids, we have to go back to work and take another step forward. Even though they are out of the region, they are still a big rival, big rival. This will be a good football game."