Leeds tops Moody 36-13 in Battle of the Bridge

By John Goolsby, Prep Sports Editor

LEEDS — Leeds relied on a dominant rushing attack and a big night from quarterback Brennan Archer to get a 36-13 win over Moody in the Battle of the Bridge at Homer Smiles Stadium.

The region victory improved the Green Wave to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in region play. Moody entered the game on a three-game winning streak but fell to 3-4 overall and 2-2 in region play.

Archer scored three touchdowns and rushed for 197 yards on 23 carries as Leeds rushed for 317 yards and rolled up 410 yards of total offense.

Leeds struck first when Archer scored on a 3-yard run with 6:19 remaining in the first quarter. The extra point was no good, giving the Green Wave a 6-0 lead.

Leeds defeats Moody 36-13. Credit: Ron Burkett

21 seconds later Jake Lowery connected with Jalijah Rutledge on a 60-yard touchdown pass. Ryan McPherson added the extra point to give the Blue Devils a 7-6 advantage.

Leeds defeats Moody 36-13. Credit: Ron Burkett

Archer led the Greenies down the field and scored his second touchdown of the quarter on a 5-yard run with 3:28 remaining, and the extra point put Leeds back in front 13-7.

McPherson then made a 43-yard field goal to pull Moody within three at 13-10.

Leeds defeats Moody 36-13. Credit: Ron Burkett

Leeds extended its lead in the second quarter when Jacarious Davis scored on a 23-yard run with 9:09 remaining to make it a 20-10 game.

Leeds defeats Moody 36-13. Credit: Ron Burkett

The Green Wave defense got a safety with 1:56 remaining in the half to take a 22-10 lead

Leeds struck again with just 38 seconds remaining when Tylin Moultrie scored on a 1-yard run, extending the Green Wave lead to 29-10.

As Moody moved down the field quickly and McPherson drilled a 50-yard field goal just before halftime, sending the teams to the locker room with Leeds leading 29-13.

Neither team scored in the third quarter, and the 29-13 score held until late in the fourth.

Archer scored on a 10-yard touchdown run with a little more than three minutes remaining to make the score 36-13.

Archer completed all six of his passes for 50 yards.

Taylon Gaiter rushed twice for 51 yards and had seven receptions for 51 yards .

Lowery finished with 190 passing yards, but Moody rushed for only 32 yards.

Leeds head coach Jerry Hood praised both sides of the ball,

“I thought we blocked really, really well, and our defense played really well,” Hood said. “We gave up one big play early in the first quarter. After that, they settled down and held them to field goals. You do that against that type of offense, with the athletes they have, and I thought it was an outstanding job by both sides of the ball.

“Brennan’s a great athlete. He reads it well, and if we can get matched up hat-on-hat, we love to let that kid run. I thought Jacarious Davis ran tough tonight and had a great night running the ball.

“At the end of the day, what we want to be known for is being able to run the ball to win these games.”

Moody head coach Kyle Tatum was disappointed with his team’s performance.

“We just, quite frankly, didn’t play good enough to win the game,” Tatum said. “Defensively, we’ve got to address the issues with our fits, striking blocks. We didn’t get off blocks tonight. We didn’t tackle well enough. They moved the ball, controlled the clock and controlled the game, quite frankly.

“Offensively, we just didn’t execute. We got out of our game plan a little early, got behind, and it put us in a tough situation. Moving forward, when you play a team like that, you can’t make mistakes. You can’t do anything stupid.”

Leeds finished with a 410-222 advantage in total offense and recorded 24 first downs to Moody’s nine.