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Northwest Guilford has become so good at "close, but no cigar" the last two years, you might think the Vikings have enacted a smoking ban.

The latest installment in their snakebitten saga was an 18-16 loss to East Forsyth on Friday, a game they led for much of the second half but lost on Zach Boyer's 26-yard field goal with five minutes remaining.

"A play here, a play there," said Vikings head coach Joe Woodruff, chuckling at the absurdity of his luck.

All four of Northwest's losses this season have come by a touchdown or less, and eight of its past 11 defeats have been by single digits.

"I'd much rather be drilled 49-0 by somebody and be 6-1," said Woodruff, whose team sits at 3-4 after missing a chance to get an early leg up in the Metro 4-A.

That privilege instead goes to East Forsyth, which overcame a sluggish night from quarterback Danny O'Brien to improve to 6-1 overall.

"Good teams have got to win ugly," said O'Brien, who went 13-of-20 for 153 yards. "We did tonight."

After a scoreless first quarter, East Forsyth's Drew Tiernan put the heat on Northwest when he drilled a 42-yard punt that pinned the Vikings inside their own 1. The Eagles forced a safety three plays later, and on the ensuing kick, Edwin McCray, who Woodruff said might be the fastest player in the conference, sprinted right up the middle of the field for a 66-yard touchdown.

That made it 9-0 East, a lead that stood until Sean Pless scored from 11 yards out just before halftime to make it 9-8. Pless finished with 104 of Northwest's 245 yards on the ground.

The Eagles got 121 rushing yards from Christian Smith, who scored on the opening possession of the second half to give East a 15-8 lead. Boyer missed the extra point, and Northwest took a one-point lead later in the quarter on John Cruz's 4-yard touchdown and Carlos Gagliardo's 2-point conversion run.

"I was nervous at that point," O'Brien said.

The tension mounted early in the fourth when the Eagles faced 4th-and-inches near midfield, but the Vikings jumped offside and East picked up three more first downs to set up Boyer's atonement.

Northwest's homecoming crowd sat in silence, sensing the familiar shoe about to drop.

The Vikings fumbled away their next possession, and their last-ditch drive stalled at midfield after a holding penalty and a pair of sacks. One Northwest player ripped off his helmet in the final moments and slammed it on the field.

"You saw some frustration," Woodruff said. "They're looking at the teams that are 7-1 and saying, 'We were a play away from them.'"

Contact Tom Keller at 373-7062 or tom.keller@news-record.com

EF - Safety

EF - Edwin McCray 65 kickoff return (Zach Boyer kick)

NWG - Sean Pless 11 run (Carlos Gagliardo pass to Jordan Browning)

EF - Christian Smith 7 runs (kick failed)

NWG - John Cruz 4 run (Gagliardo run)

EF - Zach Boyer 26 FG