The Athlete’s Connection has named Jhvaughn Forde, of Alief Hastings High School, the All-Star Athlete of the Week for his performance last Friday against the Katy Tigers. Although the Fighting Bears lost 24-13, Forde led his team in gaining 455 total yards of offense against the nationally-ranked Tigers.

In one of the biggest games of Hastings’ season, the Bears overpowered the Tigers in passing, first downs, and total yards to fall 24-13 to Katy. Before the game, Forde said his coach advised the team to "just play hard."

And that’s exactly what the Bears did. The quarterback threw 20 completions for 369 yards and one touchdown. Forde was quick on his feet, escaping the Tiger defense and finding his receivers and running backs down field.

“I’m just used to [being quick]. I’ve been playing quarterback for eight years," he said. "I can read the defense and get the passes.” 

Forde’s reasoning for the Rams’ loss?

“In the first half, our offense slacked off a bit," he said. "We made it to the red zone three times, and not scoring cost us.”

But with 8:35 left in the third, Forde connected with Imoru for a 39-yard pass, good for the Rams’ first touchdown. With the extra point good, Katy led 14-7. After five first downs in the fourth, at the 2-yard line, Imoru ran for the end zone and the second touchdown.

The senior quarterback has 815 passing yards with four touchdowns and 394 rushing yards with five touchdowns.

Those numbers have not come without hard work.  Along with his regular practice schedule, Forde puts in extra time after practice and works with the receivers. He gives a lot of credit to the guys who catch his passes.

“They work really hard, too,” he said.

In addition to football, Forde is also active on the baseball diamond.  He played his freshman and sophomore years for the Bears' baseball team but broke his thumb last year against Elsik in the first district football game. Now fully healed, he plans on playing baseball for his final year at Hastings.

Forde, who hopes to play football after high school, does not have any plans thus far, except to make the playoffs.

“Especially if we play like we did against Katy, we’ll make it.”

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