By Bobby Mathews, Sports Editor
MOODY — The 2021 season didn’t end the way the Moody Blue Devils wanted. After the team’s bye week at the midseason point, head coach Adam Wallace thought his team could go 4-1 in the second half of the season.
It didn’t quite happen that way. Star quarterback A.J. Wallace was hurt on a third quarter play against Alexandria, and that severely hampered the offensive output for the Blue Devils in the final two games, including a region loss against Lincoln that eliminated Moody from a playoff spot in Class 5A Region 6.
The Blue Devils traveled to Springville on Friday, October 29, 2021, with something left to prove. The team had won five games and lost four. A loss against their cross-county rivals would mean that Moody would finish the season no better than .500.
On a night when soft rain ceaselessly fell and the temperature kept dropping to turn the field into an ugly brown quagmire, Moody found a way to win.
It wasn’t easy. The Blue Devils were plagued with turnovers in the first half, including a fumble at the half-yard line that allowed Springville to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Springville defense was disguising its coverages by playing three down linemen and walking their linebackers to the line of scrimmage in an effort to seal off Moody’s running lanes and confuse third-string quarterback Kolby Seymour.
Moody caught a break when Seymour fumbled a snap in the second quarter. The ball bounced right back into his hands, and the half-second that the ball came free nearly froze everyone. Seymour took advantage and found a hole along the left side of the formation. Nearly 70 yards later, he crossed the goal line and tied the game after Cristian Sierra hit the PAT.
The Blue Devils would never trail again. Seymour scored again in the third quarter to make it 13-7, and Davion Dozier partially blocked an extra point after Springville’s Asa Morrison scored his second rushing touchdown. Logan Suggs sacked Morrison twice, and the Blue Devils hounded Morrison defensively.
Even when Morrison had time to throw, Chase Jackson killed the Tigers’ last best hope for a comeback by intercepting him.
Blaine Burke was more than effective for the Blue Devils, going for 163 yards on the ground and scoring in the fourth quarter, while Sierra added a field goal inside of one minute remaining in the game after Seymour hit Dozier with a pass to convert a fourth-and-long play.
The Blue Devils never gave up in a game where they could have mentally checked out. They didn’t, and came away with a season-defining win. They’re The Tribune’s Team of the Week. Team of the Week is sponsored by Courtesy GMC.