By Johnny Sanders, For The Tribune
MOODY — Under the Thursday Night Lights at The Bill, Moody closed out a 3-game home stand with a dominating 62-7 win over the visiting Cleburne County Tigers to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Stifling defense was the name of the game tonight for Moody, holding the Tigers’ offense to only 119 yards of total offense, 61 on a late scoring drive.
“Coming into the week, coach challenged us,” Defensive leader Carson Dillashaw said. “We came out, and we didn’t give up a first down except penalties. Every error we made is very fixable. I feel like we did our job tonight.”
Moody got the ball to start the game and didn’t do much, giving it to the visiting team after a failed fourth and one attempt. However, Cleburne County was unable to do anything with the opportunity and gave it right back. Cole McCarty would find Davion Dozier on a jet sweep pass from one yard out to get on the board.
The Moody defense wouldn’t allow any yards on the next drive, turning it back over to the offense. This one would be capped off by a Blaine Burke 22-yard scamper for the touchdown, putting the home team up 14-0.
The second quarter would be much of the same. After a big punt return by Kolby Seymour, McCarty would reward him on the very next play by throwing to him from 25 yards out and scoring another Blue Devils touchdown. The Tigers would fumble the ensuing kickoff, giving Moody another short field to work with.
The Blue Devils’ offense would take advantage, with McCarty finding Dozier from 5 yards out for their second touchdown connection of the night. Moody’s defense held again and, again, Blaine Burke would put points on the board with a tough run from the 2-yard line, putting Moody up 35-0, and that is how the half would end.
Cleburne County would start the half with the ball, and on the second play from scrimmage, they would fumble the ball, and Zane Smith recovered it at the 21. McCarty would then find Burke out of the backfield for a 20-yard touchdown.
“I could have played better. I was glad to get my first receiving touchdown. Me and Cole we’ve been talking about that since the beginning of the year, since 7 on 7. We had a bunch of them then,” said Burke, who finished with 10 carries for 145 yards and 3 touchdowns on the ground to go with the 20-yard receiving touchdown.
Burke would add a 44-yard touchdown at the 7:43 mark in the third before he gave way to backup Abram Jackson, who in the fourth quarter scored a 22-yard touchdown. Koby Seymour would end the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run with 3:36 to go in the game.
Cole McCarty finished the night 13 of 16 for 188 yards and 4 touchdowns.
“Cole is a stud. It’s a shame that more bigger schools are on him because of his height,” Coach Jake Ganus said. “You can’t measure what’s in that kid’s heart. He’s a gamer. He’s a leader, and that grows every week.”
Next week Moody travels to 5A Region 6 rival Lincoln, who is currently 2-1.
“It’s a region game. It’s on the road. Playoff implications,” Ganus said. “We have to buy into the thought process that this is important because it’s the next game. We don’t need to change practice, and we don’t need to do something we wouldn’t have already done based on who we are playing.”