The wonderful, historic season for the Moody Blue Devils came to an end last Friday night in Arab, and the Arabian Knights survived and advanced to the third round of the 5A State Playoffs.

At Arab

The Moody Blue Devils had accomplished a lot coming into Friday’s game against Arab. Moody made only their third appearance in the second round of the State Playoff in their history. Playing on the road is tough sometimes in the regular season, but it goes up a notch in the playoffs. Moody made the hour and a half trip to Arab and found out just how tough the playoff road was.

The two teams filled each other out on the first two drives of the game. Moody’s second drive found them at the Knights 14 yard line, first and 10. Cole McCarty hooked up with Davion Dozier for a 14 yard touchdown. The extra point was good. That was the score at the end of the first quarter.

Arab started the second quarter 2nd and 9 at their own 47 yard line. Drake Franklin, who was the bell cow for the Knights, broke free and scored from 13 yards out. With the extra point the game was tied at 7 with 10:47 left in the half.

The Blue Devils answered right back on their very next drive. The drive only took two plays, but the second play was a big one. McCarty and Dozier hooked up again, this time for a 60 yard touchdown. Moody retook the lead 14- 7. Arab once again answered back, and once again it was Franklin. The stout running back scored from 12 yards out to tie the game at 14.

The Knights finally got a stop on defense, forcing the Blue Devils to punt. They put together a long drive and took their first lead 21 — 14 to end the first half.

The Blue Devils got the ball to start the second half and took advantage of their opportunity. McCarty showed off his athletic ability with a dramatic run and superman-like dive into the front corner of the endzone for a touchdown. The extra point however failed and Moody still trailed by 1 point 21-20.

Moody finally got a stop on defense and forced the Knight to punt, but the punt was muffed and Arab took over at the Moody 7 yard line. A four yard slant pass into the endzone extended the Knight lead to 8 points 28-20 after three quarters.

Arab controlled the game the rest of the way and for the first time in their schools history they got win number 11 and advanced to the third round. Cole McCarty led the Blue Devils passing attack going 21 of 39 for 300 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. Davion Dozier had a game to remember for his last highschool game with 10 receptions for 231 yards and two touchdowns.

Moody made history with their first ever 10 win season, finishing the season 10-2. They will loose 12 seniors to graduation but have a lot coming back next season. The future is bright for Coach Jake Ganus and the Moody Blue Devil Football team. It’s on to basketball for the Blue Devils.