By Carey Reeder
Tribune Sports
SPRINGVILLE— With senior night in the air, Springville beat Moody 23-14 Friday night for the first time since 2005.
Springville quarterback Austin Hutcheson had 275 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in the Tigers win including 120 yards on the ground.
“We know Austin can run it’s just our other games we’ve been overmatched,” Springville coach Michael Graben said. “That was a point of emphasis coming into tonight.”
Down 9-0 coming out of halftime, Moody got right back into the game with a long six minute and 48 second drive to cut the Tigers lead to 9-6.
The Springville offense would respond right back with a scoring drive of their own capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Bradlee Cole.
John Raby recovered a fumble inside the Moody 35-yard line to cease any comeback bid for the Blue Devils. Raby added a sack and three tackles to his total on the night.
With a 16-6 lead in the fourth quarter, Hutcheson led the Tiger offense on an 87-yard drive with Hutcheson taking it in from one-yard out to put the game out of reach 23-6 late in the fourth quarter.
Moody would add a late touchdown as Karson Buckner completed a 13-yard touchdown pass to Cyric Williams to bring the final score to 23-14.
Bradlee Cole led the Springville defense with six tackles. Cole also added an interception and a sack to his totals. Justin Bromley added an interception of his own. Pearson Baldwin recorded five tackles for the Tigers.
“Coach Crews, coach Preston and coach Woody all do a great job getting those guys ready throughout the week,” Graben said on his defense’s stout performance. “They worked so hard on Sunday till tonight to get them ready and they showed up big for us.”
In a fast paced first half that only took 53 minutes to complete, the Tigers defense shined early shutting out Moody in the first half. The Springville defense held the Blue Devils to just seven minutes and 53 seconds in time of possession and only 32 yards on offense in the first half.
On offense, Springville established they wanted to run the ball early. Hutcheson rushed for 88 yards on 13 carries in the first half to lead the Tigers offense. Hutcheson added a six-yard touchdown pass to Cole in the first quarter to put the Tigers up 6-0 at the end of the first quarter. Hutcheson finished the night 9/18 passing with 155 yards and one touchdown.
Hunter Ambrose converted a 35-yard field goal as time expired in the first half extending the Springville lead to 9-0 at halftime.
Springville improves to 3-5 on the season and with only two games remaining, the Tigers will look to finish the season with a .500 record.
“It would be phenomenal,” Graben said. “We have two tough games remaining but I’m really excited about the opportunity for us.”
Springville (3-5) will travel to Mortimer Jordan next Friday night.
Moody (2-6) will travel to Center Point on the same night.