Game of the Week: Forest at Vanguard

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Posted November 4, 2021 | By James Blevins
james@ocalagazette.com

As any prep football fan in Marion County can attest, the football rivalry between these two inter-city teams runs deep.

And tonight, another chapter in this cross-town saga will be written on the gridiron as the Vanguard Knights host the Forest Wildcats at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 4.

Vanguard remains unbeaten entering tonight’s non-district contest with a perfect 9-0 record.

To reach this summit, the Knights first had to beat Gainesville (30-8) on Aug. 27; West Port (21-0) on Sept. 3; Dunnellon (13-6) on Sept. 10; North Marion (36-19) on Sept. 24; Jefferson (26-0) on Oct. 8; Lecanto (40-6) on Oct. 15; Belleview (42-7) on Oct. 22; and Springstead (33-0) last Friday.

Pasco forfeited its game against Vanguard on Oct. 1.

Forest currently sits at 3-6 overall. The Wildcats lost their first two games against North Marion (36-8) and Seabreeze (43-8) on Aug. 27 and Sept. 3, respectively, winning their first game against West Port (15-12) in week three on Sept. 17.

After dropping its next two games against Dunnellon (20-0) and Chiles (45-14) on Sept. 24 and Oct. 1, respectively, Forest would next go on a two-game winning streak, beating Leesburg (29-6) on Oct. 8 and Leon (26-16) on Oct. 15.

Hawthorne and Buchholz contributed to the Wildcat’s current two-game losing streak as they enter Booster Stadium tonight, beating them on Oct. 22 (27-6) and Oct. 29 (75-7), respectively.

Last season, Vanguard beat Forest 20-14 on the road. This year, the Knights would very much like to do that again, but this time at home.

Meanwhile, Forest, which has struggled to string wins together where Vanguard has not, would love to finish the 2021 season on the highest of notes: a victory against its rival on their own turf. Not a bad way to tie a bow on a season if it’s the last thing the Wildcats can do.

With a win, Vanguard could finish its 2021 regular season schedule a perfect 10-0, a position it hasn’t been in since the 2016-17 season.

As any prep football fan in Marion County can surely attest, anything could and would happen in a cross-town rivalry game, especially when it’s the Wildcats versus the Knights. It’s can’t-miss prep football at its best.

The decades-long saga is scheduled to continue at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Booster Stadium.

Other prep football games scheduled for Nov. 5

Weeki Wachee at Belleview (7-2) 7:30 p.m.

Dunnellon (7-2) at West Port (1-8) 7 p.m.

Lake Weir (1-7) at Mount Dora 7 p.m.

North Marion (6-3) at Hawthorne 7:30 p.m.

IMG Academy Blue at Trinity Catholic (6-2) 6 p.m.