By Johnny Sanders, For The Tribune
LINCOLN — “When the lights go down in the city.” Steve Perry made those words famous in the 80s and Friday night in Lincoln, Alabama, the folks there lived it. The red-hot Moody Blue Devils rode a four-game winning streak into Lincoln and took a 5-0 record (2-0 in region 6) back down I-20 after a 32-6 win against the Golden Bears.
“It was tough. We stalled out two drives because of penalties and then the lights went off,” Blue Devils head coach Jake Ganus said of the early adversity. “We’ve got a lot to clean up. We haven’t played a complete game yet.”
The Moody offense started the game with some explosive plays, but on a first and goal at the 9, Blaine Burke fumbled the ball into the end zone where Lincoln pounced on it and take over at their own 20. Moody held them to a punt, only to be held to a punt of their own. On the following drive, Kellen Talley intercepted a Lincoln pass and the first quarter ended with no points on the scoreboard.
With 8:32 to go in the second quarter, Cole McCarty found Davion Dozier on a 12-yard strike to put Moody up 6-0. Moody kicked off and then … darkness. Apparently, a tree had fallen on a power line nearby and caused a power outage. After about 30 minutes, the town regained power and the teams were back in action. The Moody defense continued to dominate and when they got the ball back, it only took one play for McCarty to find Kolby Seymour for a 22-yard touchdown. Lincoln then sustained a long drive that ended with a field goal to end the half.
Lincoln received the ball first in the third quarter and they meant business. The kickoff was returned almost to mid field and on the next play, Jaylon George scampered for a 52-yard run to the Moody 3-yard line. The Moody defense tightened up and didn’t allow Lincoln to get into the end zone, making them settle for another field goal. The teams traded punts again, and then McCarty took over. First, he found Blaine Burke out of the backfield for a 63-yard touchdown at the 1:25 mark in the third quarter.
McCarty continued his video game-like night with a 33-yard bomb to Seymour for their second connection of the night. At the 4:22 mark of the fourth quarter, McCarty threw the ball into the end zone where Dozier high-pointed the football and pulled down his second touchdown of the night. McCarty finished the night 13-of-18 for 320 yards and 5 touchdowns. His main targets were Dozier (three catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns) and Kolby Seymour (four catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns).
“Athletes make plays. Week in and week out, we keep doing it,” McCarty said.
The Moody defense kept Lincoln out of the end zone and held them to 135 total yards of offense, most of that coming on a couple of explosive plays.
“If you look at our defense, we have seven guys who either didn’t play defense (last season) or didn’t even play football at a varsity level,” said Ganus. “They are starting to settle in. By no means have they arrived. I am so proud of those coaches who have worked their butts off. It shows in how their kids play.”
Moody travels to Shelby County next Friday night.