Forse hopes to make impact at WVU
Nathan Forse hopes to have an impact on West Virginia University’s football team this fall as a wide receiver. “I just want to play as much as I can and be a contributor there,” Forse said.
If he contributes anywhere near as much to the Mountaineers what he did to Laurel Highlands High School athletics, then WVU will be glad to have him on board.
Forse was one of the best tight ends in the state for the Mustangs, helped lead LH’s basketball team to back-to-back playoff appearances and also was a multi-dimensional track and field star.
In the classroom, Forse fashioned a 3.25 grade point average and was 77th in his class of 276.
Forse, the son of Ronald and Thekla Forse of Hopwood, was selected as the top male student/athlete at Laurel Highlands and will receive a $500 scholarship through the Davis & Davis Student/Athlete Scholarship Program.
The program, sponsored by Davis & Davis Law Firm and coordinated by the Herald-Standard, will culminate with a banquet to be held at 5 p.m. Sunday at Shady Side Inn.
The 18-year-old Forse intends to major in landscape architecture at West Virginia. He earned student-of-the-month honors in history at Laurel Highlands.
Forse, who has a 16-year-old sister, Rachel, and a 14-year-old brother, Greg, was a three-year letterman in football, basketball and track.
As a junior and senior, he earned All-County and All-Conference honors in football under coach Jack Buehner, and All-County and All-Section honors in basketball under coach Mark John.
In track, the multi-dimensional star competed in the long jump, triple jump, high jump, 200, 400, 1,600 relay and the hurdles during his career under coach Bob Costello.
One of Forse’s biggest fans is his father.
“My dad would come to all the games and we’d always talk about them afterwards,” Forse said.
Forse was an important cog for each of his teams. A late-season football injury as a junior illustrated how valuable Forse was to the basketball team, ironically.
“I suffered a high ankle sprain in our last football game and it took forever to heal,” Forse recalls. “I missed about eight games in basketball.”
The Mustangs struggled on the hardwood until Forse returned, then went on to record a stunning upset at Uniontown and reach the WPIAL playoffs.
Beating the Red Raiders – Uniontown hasn’t lost on its home floor since – was one of Forse’s most memorable games.
“Playing Uniontown is always one of the highlights of the year,” Forse said. “Practice goes to another level, there are pep rallies, and then the game. That night I remember the game was like a blur. The way we played, it was one of those games we knew we weren’t going to lose. Even when they tied it at the end and sent it to overtime, we had the confident feeling that we were going win.”
Forse played a key role in that game, just as he did in the Mustangs’ 50-35 shootout loss at Uniontown in football this past season. Forse caught three long touchdown passes in the first half against the Red Raiders, who went undefeated during the regular season.
Forse along with wide receivers Garret Brain and Santino Sloboda formed one of the deadliest trio of pass catchers in the state, with talented quarterback Matt Humbert getting the ball to each of them regularly.
Forse put together a monster game later that season against Albert Gallatin, pulling in 12 catches for well over 100 yards and two touchdowns.
It was evident Forse was a talented athlete back when he was a sophomore.
“I remember that year I caught the winning touchdown against Yough in overtime in football,” Forse said. “In basketball, we beat Peters Township at our place when I scored 27 points. It was one of those games where everything was clicking for the whole team.”
It would be the only section loss Peters Township would suffer that season. The Indians went on to be the top-seeded team in the WPIAL tournament.
Forse saw himself as a silent leader at Laurel Highlands.
“I’d like to think I led with my play, by example,” Forse said. “I was a confident player. In basketball, I always wanted the ball in my hands because I felt no one could really guard me one on one, and if they started double-teaming me, I had no problem giving the ball to whoever was left open.”
Forse will go on to play football in college, but he leaves behind a strong legacy in three different sports at Laurel Highlands.