By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – The 3-1 Moody Blue Devils welcomed region foe Lincoln, who was also 3-1 heading into tonight’s matchup, to The Bill on Friday night and used a smothering defense and balanced offensive attack to beat the Golden Bears from a few miles East by a final of 28-3.
The game would start with Lincoln on offense but the Blue Devil defense would start their stellar night by holding the Golden Bears to a three-and-out, forcing them to punt. Moody did not take long to score as Charlie Johnston found Blaine Burke on a spectacular throw and catch from 31 yards out to put the Blue Devils up 7-0 and it looked like the route was on. Lincoln had different plans as they found some success both running and throwing the ball. Just after they crossed mid field, however, the Moody defense would tighten up. Ba’roc Willis and Gavin Baker would combine for a sack to push the Golden bears back across the 50 and hold them to a punt. The first quarter would end with a 7-0 Blue Devil lead.
The second quarter would see Johnston attempting to air it out but mostly unable to find his receivers. Junior Moreno, who hit his first field goal of his career last week, would miss a 30-yard attempt to end Moody’s first drive of the second quarter. Lincoln would take over and drive it down to Moody’s 14-yard line, where the defense would once again stiffen and hold the Golden Bears to a field goal to make it 7-3. Despite, once again, moving the ball a good bit, the Blue Devils could not find the end zone and the first half would end with Moody up 7-3.
Moody would come out of the locker room and you could tell Blaine Burke was ready to have a breakout half of football and he did just that. Johnston began to settle in and find his open receivers and this dangerous offense showed exactly what they have the potential to do. The first drive got down to the four-yard line, but penalties backed the Blue Devils up to the 22, where Moreno would miss another field goal. Moody would hold Lincoln to another punt and, after back-to-back personal foul penalties by the Golden Bears, Moody would set up shop at the ten-yard line. From there, Johnston would find KD Barnes on a fourth and goal for the Moody touchdown, putting them up 13-0.
The next drive consisted of a 26-yard blast by Burke and another Johnston to Barnes connection, this time from 21 yards out, making it 20-3. Another Lincoln punt and another quick scoring drive for the Blue Devils as Burke continued running with a purpose, gaining 46 yards on two runs with the last one of the drive, his last of the night, coming on a 17-yard run for the score. Johnston would find Burke for the two-point conversion to make it 28-3, which was the final.
Charlie Johnston finished the game 18 of 32 for 204 yards and three touchdowns. Barnes caught six of those passes for 71 yards and two scores. Blaine Burke, who has had a bit of a slow start this season, got back to his old ways, running the ball 16 times for 132 yards and a touchdown to go with two catches for 37 yards and another touchdown.
“I was proud of our effort,” said Moody’s Jake Ganus. “In the first half, we got the ball three times. I think we had almost 200 yards but only seven points. We’ve got to finish. We had the ball on the two, we scored one that got called back and we couldn’t get the field goal before the half. Third quarter, we had three drives and three touchdowns. That’s the standard. We need to score every time we touch it. I’m proud of the offense. They moved the ball. Charlie came out in the second half. He’s got poise. I can yell at him and tell him he missed something. But he has handled himself well the first five games. He’s just getting started.”
“The defense, man, they play phenomenal every week. They keep us in the games and as long as they do that, we will be in every game. If they don’t score, they don’t win. We held them to a field goal.”
Charlie Johnston was optimistic about his performance. “First quarter, we came out and had the big play. I got a lot of confidence from that and then the second drive, I got a little antsy and that caused me to struggle from there on. I’m really proud of our offense and how they performed in that second half. Had great protection from the line. It was great to see the team come back after the lull we had in the first half. I just take a deep breath when I get antsy like that. One deep breath. I reset and block everything out. When I start playing and having fun, everyone else sees it and starts playing better.”
The next game is a big one for Jake Ganus as he grew up in Shelby County and still resides there now. “It’s important because it’s the next one and because we are in it. It’s close to home to me. My address is Columbiana. That was my rival growing up. When I got the job, there was one game that we needed to schedule and I told Doc (Chris Walters, Moody’s principal) to schedule them. I’m really excited to host them after going there last year.”
The Blue Devils, now 4-1, will welcome the 1-3 Wildcats on Friday night.