MARSHVILLE — Even when Forest Hills High is smashing the competition, junior linebacker Aaron Sigmon competes on every play.

Sigmon had 15 tackles in the Yellow Jackets’ 47-0 home win over North Stanly last Friday, giving him a team-high 98 for the season.

Sigmon has averaged 15 tackles over the last three games, including a season-high 16 in a 48-13 win over West Stanly in Week 7.

A week earlier, in the Jackets’ 45-7 win at Piedmont, Sigmon made 14 tackles and returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown.

Sigmon is averaging 12.3 tackles per game.

“Aaron’s the quarterback of our defense,” said Forest Hills coach John Lowery. “He sees the field real good and he can run pretty good. No question he’s a playmaker. Our defense runs through him.”

The Jackets, who play at Central Academy (1-7) on Friday, haven’t been challenged of late. Lowery is trying to mix it up in practice in an effort to keep the team focused, so he held an intra-squad scrimmage on Wednesday.

“We went full bore, ones against ones,” Lowery said. “It was a good scrimmage. We wanted to create a game-type atmosphere and it was pretty intense.

“The biggest thing is the speed of the game, and when you play somebody that can’t match up, you worry about how that can hurt you down the road. Usually you have some games where you have to tie your hat on a little tighter.”

Forest Hills hosts 1-8 Cuthbertson in Week 11 before wrapping up the regular season at archrival Monroe — Union County’s only unbeaten team (8-0).

“We know Monroe has a really good football team and we do, too,” Lowery said. “A lot of people in the community already want to talk about that game, but we have two games between now and then. We’re working on trying to get better every day and becoming as sharp as we can.”

Pirates continue to defend

Porter Ridge (6-2) allowed just seven offensive points in last week’s 28-14 win at Parkwood (the other TD was on Andrew Jauch’s interception return).

The Pirates forced three turnovers against the Rebels, giving them 25 takeaways on the year.

Senior cornerback PJ Freeman had a fumble recovery and an interception in last week’s win. Freeman’s five interceptions in eight games leads Union County.

Junior linebacker Jon Bryant had three tackles for loss, a forced fumble and seven tackles for the Pirates. Junior defensive end Aaron Johnson was also productive, sharing the team lead with seven tackles while forcing a fumble and finishing with 1.5 tackles for loss.

Johnson is leading the Pirates in tackles for loss (8.5) and sacks (five) while Bryant has a team-best 50 tackles.

Cook leading Redhawks

Senior defensive end Miles Cook had 10 tackles, including three for loss, in last week’s 64-0 win over Union Academy.

Cook leads Monroe in tackles with 68 and his nine sacks lead the county.

Teammate Marcus Mosley, a senior linebacker, has 61 tackles and eight sacks.

Odds and ends ...

... Junior linebacker Zach Davis had a team-high 13 tackles for the Warriors (4-4) in last week’s 34-29 loss at Anson County and sophomore safety Cole Finch had an interception.

... In addition to rushing for two touchdowns in last week’s 17-16 loss to Cuthbertson, Central Academy sophomore Mitchell Blackburn also had a season-high 14 tackles. Blackburn has 60 tackles this season, which shares the team lead with senior safety Kacey Robinson.

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