Willie Strickland

The Moody Blue Devils made the four mile trip up Highway 411 to take on rival St Clair County and left with a 35 – 14 loss to the Saints. The win ended a two game losing streak to the Blue Devils and ended a winless streak for them that went back to the 2018 football season.

Moody started the game off with the football. Four plays into the drive the Saints Jonte Ware picked off a Moody pass and St Clair was in business at their own 44 yard line. Back to back 17 yard plays by Jackson Lindsey and Josh Struggs put the Saints deep in Blue Devil territory. Struggs capped off the drive with a 19 yard touchdown pass to Jacoby Blanks. The extra point was good and the Saints led 7 – 0.

The Blue Devils struck back quickly to answer the Saints score. Cam Benefield broke free for a big 26 yard gain into Saints territory. Two plays later, AJ Wallace

Connected with Kolby Seymore for a 30 yard touchdown. Christian Sierra’s extra point was good and the game was tied at 7 after the first quarter.

The Moody defense started the second quarter with a sack by Gavyn Baker on Josh Struggs and an interception by Chase Jackson. Moody took over at their own 22 yard line. Wallace broke free for 20 yards and then connected with Logan Cole for a 26 yard pass play. Three plays later Wallace connected with Freshman Blaine Burke for an 11 yard touchdown. The extra point was good and Moody had the lead 14 – 7.

The Saints answered with an 11 play 70 yard drive that ended with a Ryan Parker 2 yard run into the end zone. Moody’s Logan Cole blocked the extra point to keep the Blue Devils ahead at halftime 14 – 13.

The second half was all St Clair. The Saints got the ball to start the second half and marched down the field 84 yards and Ryan Parker scored his second touchdown of the night, this time from 8 yards out. Struggs connected with Lindsey for the two point conversion to put the Saints up 21 – 14 with 6:53 left in the quarter.

The turning point in the game came when the Saints converted on an onside kick and got the football back in Moody territory. This Saints drive belonged to Jackson Lindsey. The Saints had the football first and 10 at the Moody 16. Lindsey closed out the drive with runs of 6 and a 10 yard touchdown run to put the Saints up 28 – 14 after three quarters.

St Clair started the fourth quarter facing 3rd and 7 at the 50 yard line. The Saints converted the first down and kept the drive alive. Ryan Parker closed out the drive with a 28 yard touchdown run to put the Saints up 35 – 14 and that would be your final score.

Jackson Lindsey helped power the Saints with 160 yards on 10 catches and 38 yard rushing and a touchdown. Also leading the Saints was Ryan Parker’s 24 carries for 160 yards and 3 touchdowns. Moody was led offensively by AJ Wallace going 9 of 14 for 158 yards passing and 2 touchdowns and 5 carries for 38 yards rushing. Logan Cole led the defense with 15 tackles, 1 sack and a blocked extra point.

The Moody Blue Devils fall to 0 – 5 on the season and will host the Corner Yellow Jackets for Homecoming tomorrow night. This will be the first meeting between these two schools since 2003. Moody won that meeting 27 – 10. Corner holds a 7 – 5 lead in the overall series.

The Saints will travel down highway 411 to take on their other rival The Leeds Green Wave. This will be the 24th meeting between the two schools with Leeds holding a 17 – 6 lead in the series. Kickoff for both games will be at 7 p.m. Moody will play at Bill Morris Stadium and St Clair will play at Homer Smiles field.