Forest football culture shift continues under John Brantley in Eastside win

GAINESVILLE — Halfway through the first quarter, Forest football totaled less than 10 yards of offense.

It didn’t matter.

Because the Wildcats had more points than yards, and the tone was set for the remainder of the game.

Forest began a season 2-0 for the first time in nine years Thursday with a dominant 39-15 win over Eastside at Citizens Field in Gainesville.

John Brantley III, who is in his second season at Forest after coming over from Trinity Catholic, acknowledged that work needs to be done, but he’s not complaining.

“I’ve started a lot of seasons worse than 2-0,” Brantley said after the game. “We were sloppy last week because we didn’t get a kickoff classic, but we got a lot better from Week 1 to Week 2.”

The Wildcats struggled initially under a Rams defense that ranked as one of Class 3A’s best in 2025 with an opening three-and-out. That was followed by a blocked punt that set the Rams up inside the 20.

On fourth down, though, Cade Sutherland threw an interception returning 95 yards from Christian Neal – a senior captain for the Wildcats.

When Eastside went three-and-out of their own, Forest blocked the punt on the other end. With just five yards to go, Keziyrehun Rivers ran it in.

Brantley expressed it as karma for what transpired last week, when Forest “worked their fannies off” but scored just 15 points for the game.

“We were in control the whole time,” Brantley said. “Anytime you got a good defense, you can take some chances on offense.”

After that touchdown, the Wildcat offense found more of a rhythm itself. Due to Eastside being a young team with multiple players going both ways, he wanted FHS to play with tempo.

“We wanted to keep them on the field and moving,” Brantley said. “That’s when your running game can take over. When you run the ball, that only helps your passing game.”

Rivers rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2025, and Brantley joked that if he could learn to run with his eyes open, he could push to 2,000 yards.

He carried much of the offense and added another touchdown on their way to a 26-9 halftime lead, but QB Caleb Sanford showed some prowess as well.

“Caleb’s my guy,” Rivers said. “I trust him. I know he’s going to make the right reads and put me in the right position.”

The project isn’t complete. The Wildcats still must play district foes Oakleaf and Buchholz, as well as rival Vanguard. Brantley openly said that Forest can’t compete with those teams yet, and that the team needs to begin winning Monday-Wednesday.

“We may win Tuesday, but we don’t win Monday and Wednesday,” Brantley said. “When you don’t practice hard and efficient, it shows up on Friday night, but if we can figure that out, we can be a good football team.”

Still, though, the perks of a full offseason for Brantley at Forest have shown themselves. He added that signals talk, and the squad understands his needs much better.

Above all, honor has been brought back to Forest, its current players and its former ones – like Brantley himself. The Wildcats had no winning seasons from 2017 to 2024.

The coach noted that Forest players had been told for so long around Ocala that they were bad. That took its toll – regardless of who has coaching.

“I noticed it last year when we faced adversity, you’d catch a comment in the back ‘it’s the same old Forest boys,”‘ Brantley said. “Well we’re not the same old boys, and now Forest kids can wear a Forest T-shirt around Ocala and feel proud again.”

The emotions of the cultural shift will reach a fever pitch next Friday when Forest welcomes in rival Trinity Catholic in a reunion for Brantley and vs. a Celtics team that won 16-10 in their meeting last season.

Noah Ram covers Florida Gators athletics and Gainesville-area high school sports for The Gainesville Sun, GatorSports.com and the USA TODAY Network. Contact him at nram@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @Noah_ram1, Instagram @Ramreporter and Facebook Noah Ram – Reporter.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Forest football culture shift continues under John Brantley in Eastside win