By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MOODY – It was homecoming night at Bill Morris Stadium and the Moody Blue Devils welcomed in the Shelby County Wildcats in a game that looked to be over before the buses stopped rocking in the parking lot before the players exited and walked onto the field. The Blue Devils put up 28 points before the first quarter was over and held a 41-6 lead heading into the halftime break, leading to a final of 49-6 over the Wildcats.
Moody got the scoring started early after some razzle dazzle on the game’s opening kickoff got the ball into enemy territory. A few plays later, the Blue Devils set up shop on a first and 10 from the 20-yard line where Charlie Johnston would find Blaine Burke on a jet sweep that would see Burke juke and run over defenders to put the first score on the board with less than 40 seconds gone in the game. Moody would then hold the Wildcats to a punt and then be held to a punt themselves. But Zane Smith would take the snap on a fake and they would get the first down. A few plays later, Johnston would find Burke again, this time from 12 yards away to put Moody up 14-0 with five minutes to go in the first. On the next Wildcat drive, Caleb Goff would pick off a Shelby County pass and take it to the house from 24 yards out to make it 21-0 at the 2:59 mark. After another three-and-out for Shelby County, Johnston would find KD Barnes from 23 yards out and Barnes would plow over a defender to get the ball to the pay window and put Moody up 28-0 in the closing moments of the opening period of the game.
The second quarter would be much the same as the first as Moody would continue to dominate on both sides of the ball. It all started with Johnston throwing his third touchdown of the half, this time on a third and seven from the 12-yard line where Burke would slip out of the backfield to catch the pass from his quarterback to make it 35-0 Blue Devils. Moody would let Shelby County get their only points of the game on the next drive and it would be 35-6 with 24 seconds to go in the half. Mr. Excitement, Blaine Burke was not finished for the half. On the kickoff, Burke would break it wide open and return it 75 yards to the house to make it 41-6 Moody headed into the locker room.
Moody would tack another touchdown on the board in the fourth quarter on a 76-yard run by Sophomore running back Kevin James and then the two-point conversion to make it a final of 49-6.
Charlie Johnston finished the game 11 of 17 for 132 yards and three touchdowns, all of them going to Blaine Burke. Burke finished the night with four touchdowns (three receiving and one on a kickoff return).
Coach Ganus had the following to say after Moody’s dominant homecoming performance, “I’m glad we got the win. We probably couldn’t have played worse on offense. We have a lot we have to fix. We had 41 at half and KJ broke a long one or else we got shut out in the second half. Don’t be fooled by the score. We didn’t play well on offense. We have got to get better heading into region play. We are going to come up against a team coming up where we are going to have to score points to win. Defense got some turnovers and a pick six.”
Moody takes on their cross-town rivals, Springville next week. “They are playing good ball right now. They have a new offense. We are really excited. We will have our hands full. They are in every game that they played in. If they didn’t win, they’ve been right there in it.”
Moody improves to 5-1 on the season and sits at 2-0 in region 6 of 5A. Springville, who fell to Oneonta Friday night, is 2-4 and 1-2 in region play. Springville will host the Blue Devils Friday night.