MVP Jake Barr threw three touchdown passes in the first half, and Rashaun Gaither rushed for two more scores, helping the Rams (3-3 overall) begin the Mountain Valley 2A season on the right foot. After losing two straight to Forbush, Starmount has now won two in a row against its county rival.
The Falcons are now 1-5 overall, 0-1 MVAC.
The Unifi game was moved to Saturday night due to heavy rains Thursday and Friday.
"We played overall a pretty good game," said Barr, a sophomore who inherited the starting quarterback job about this point last year. "The line was blocking well and I had time. The way the backs were running -- it just all worked out."
With both teams and their coaches knowing each other pretty well, each came out with a somewhat different game plan.
Forbush, which has used a no-huddle spread offense much of the season, actually huddled quite a bit in the early going and stuck to power runs, led by Jonathan Hauser, who was voted the Falcons game MVP (17 carries for 111 yards).
Starmount, sensing that Forbush was stacking up to stop its rushing attack, opted to mix in more passing. Enter Barr, who finished 6-of-9 for 151 yards through the air. His touchdowns went to Keith Bryant (33 yards), Caleb Pardue (36 yards) and Gaither (17 yards).
By the fourth quarter, Barr had worked himself out of a job, turning closer duties over to backup Nick Kimmer, who did not attempt a pass.
"We just felt like with them putting so many people on the line of scrimmage to try and stop us that we had to throw to get them off of us," Starmount coach Scott Johnson said. "Some things were open and Jake threw the ball well."
One of the few passes that Barr didn't complete drew praise from his head coach. Barr noticed that he and a receiver weren't on the same page on a drive inside Forbush territory, so he threw the ball well out of bounds rather than attempt something risky.
While fans wondered if the wobbly ball had slipped out of Barr's hands, Johnson smiled knowing his 10th-grade quarterback was showing a lot of maturity in a high intensity situation.
"He is doing great," Johnson said. "He makes good decisions. And defensively (at safety) he's getting back to where he was last year."
Barr's TD strike to Pardue, which came with 4:19 left in the second quarter with the Rams already up 14-0, was the product of a play-calling suggestion that Barr had for his coaches.
Pardue, a tight end, was able to sneak behind the Forbush defense and walked into the end zone after hauling in a perfect strike from his quarterback.
"I looked at coach and every time we ran the run play, everyone was all bunched up," Barr said. "I was like, if we run this play (and look for the pass to Pardue), it might be open. Coach said OK, and it was wide open."
While Barr took home the MVP trophy, the game overall was one of those "total team effort" type of performances for the Rams.
Gaither finished with 107 yards on seven carries, an average of 15.3 yards per attempt. His 62-yard touchdown dash with 4:02 left in the third quarter put the contest way out of reach at 41-0. He also scored on a 17-yard run early in the second period.
Matthew Walker led the defense with 12 tackles and was around the ball on a whole lot of other plays. Keith Bryant blocked a punt that set up a Starmount scoring drive at the Forbush 7.
Israel Murphy scored on a two-yard run with 8:50 left in the third period. That came one play after Murphy had bulldozed his way for 22 yards, taking Forbush defenders with him. He finished with 41 yards on the night.
Jonathan Cooper added a six-yard touchdown run for the final Starmount points with 1:31 left in the third. Gabriel Valdez booted five of seven PATs and knocked several kickoffs into -- or through -- the end zone, resulting in touchbacks.
Forbush got its lone touchdown with 10:10 left in the fourth quarter from lineman Josh Howard, who fell on a fumble in the end zone after quarterback Devin Sparks was stripped by Kyle Weatherman.
The Falcons did have their moments to shine, including getting the 111 hard-earned rushing yards from Hauser as well as a lengthy kickoff return from Ryan Doss and gutsy play from Sparks, who was under pressure much of the night.
But Forbush often seemed its worst enemy -- penalties, two interceptions, a fumble, a missed field goal right before the half, allowing a blocked punt deep in its own territory, etc.
On fourth and seven in the second quarter, punter Kurry Russell picked up a bobbled snap and ran it for a first down. But that play came back due to holding.
Forbush had four drives inside Starmount territory come away empty and nearly had a fifth, with Howard saving the fumble by falling on it in the end zone.
"Starmount did a great job," Forbush coach Pat Mitchell said. "We had some things go against us, and we didn't have any luck either. We just didn't get a break."
Sparks finished 4-of-9 passing for 80 yards. Kurry Russell hauled in Sparks' biggest throw of the night, covering 47 yards. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Kimmer intercepted a pass on the next snap.
Coach Mitchell said he opted more for the power attack at the game's outset as a different wrinkle. It resulted in an 11-play drive that crossed into Rams' territory but ended on downs.
Starmount took possession over at midfield and scored its first TD eight plays later.
"We just wanted to see if we could catch them off guard a little bit, just a little change of pace," Mitchell said. "We tried to set a tempo for our kids. Unfortunately, it gave them a short field pretty much all night. They did a great job. We were geared up against the run and they hit us with a couple of passes, and they've got athletes -- they've got good athletes."
Mitchell also would have voted differently on his team's MVP.
"I think they missed the player of the game. I thought our player of the game was DJ Cave," the coach said. "He never lets up. He plays every snap we play. He's on every special team. We took him off for one play tonight. He got a breath and went right back out there.
"He is just a remarkable kid. Not that Jon didn't do a fine job but I'm going to say No. 50 (Cave) won most of his battles tonight. When we go back and look at it, I'm going to say he had a winning performance for us."
While Starmount always wants to have the Battle of the Bridge and Unifi Bowl trophies residing in Boonville, the Rams have bigger ultimate goals for the 2008 season -- namely winning the conference championship.
A big game looms in that journey this Friday. Defending champion Wilkes Central (4-2) comes to town after winning its MVAC opener 28-6 at North Wilkes on a rainy Friday night.
Barr took the one-game-at-a-time approach when sizing up the magnitude of his team's upcoming contest. "It's too early to talk about (title implications)," he said. "Wilkes Central is a heck of a football team. They are tough. We've just got to go out and play."
Forbush will host North Wilkes, which fell to 1-5, 0-1.
Starmount 47, Forbush 8 Saturday * at Boonville
Forbush 0 0 0 8 -- 8
Starmount 7 20 20 0 -- 47
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
ST - Keith Bryant 33 yd pass from Jake Barr (Gabriel Valdez kick), 3:06
2nd Quarter
ST - Rashaun Gaither 17 yd run (Valdez kick), 9:34
ST - Caleb Pardue 36 yd pass from Barr (Valdez kick), 4:19
ST - Gaither 17 yd pass from Barr (kick failed), 1:35
3rd Quarter
ST - Israel Murphy 2 yd run (Valdez kick), 8:50
ST - Gaither 62 yd run (Valdez kick), 4:02
ST - Jonathan Cooper 6 yd run (kick failed), 1:31
4th Quarter
F - Josh Howard fumble recovery in the end zone (Ryan Doss run), 10:10
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