September 14, 2013 10:40 pm •
MORAVIA | Missing one of the most important pieces to their
season's puzzle, the Moravia football team struggled against Dryden on
Saturday afternoon.
The mistakes didn't help much, either.
The Blue Devils turned the ball over three times and committed nine penalties in a 34-12 loss to the Lions, in Moravia's home opener.
While Jared Lyon and Bryant Hough ran for more than 200 yards collectively, it was apparent early that the Blue Devils were missing their biggest weapon. Senior tailback Cody Spaulding, in street clothes and crutches nearby, was on the bench. One of the team's biggest leaders, Spaulding suffered a torn ACL in the first quarter of last week's game against Unadilla Valley.
"He probably got 10 plays in and his season's over," said Blue Devils coach John Crossgrove. "There are some things, I can't even explain, that we were going to do this year that now we might not be able to do. Now we have to have a different look on things. We've been trying to figure out how to adapt the offense without that other option. We have good kids, we'll be fine, the guys have a lot of confidence in Bryant and Jared in the backfield, we know we have guys that run it. It would have been nice to have all three of those guys."
The Blue Devils were also without Spaulding's backup, junior Alex Dzikiewicz, who had an ankle injury. Lyon and Hough played well in their absence, though, with a score apiece. Lyon had 26 carries for 185 yards, while Hough carried 12 times for 51 yards.
Moravia played a close first quarter, tying the score with 56 seconds left on Lyon's 54-yard scamper. BUt one play after the ensuing kickoff, Lions quarterback Alan Davis found Stuart Stahlman for a 59-yard score to end the period.
The ball didn't bounce the Blue Devils' way for much of the contest. Whether it was an-almost big interception, a would-be stop that turned into a fourth-down conversion, or a Lyon fake punt on a fourth-and-13 that fell about a grass blade short.
"Not finishing drives and giving away the ball, but it was a close 22-point spread at the end," Crossgrove said. "We had a play where we almost deflected a ball that turned into a reception, a lot of tight, competitive plays, but that's football. Sometimes it comes down to just a couple of inches on any play, couple inches on a fake punt would have been a first down and we could've come right back."
Down 26-6 at the half, the Blue Devils marched down the field to begin the second half. A short kickoff because of a Dryden defensive penalty at the end of the first half put Moravia on the Dryden 29-yard line to start, and two Lyon runs set up Hough for a 4-yard score.
"I think most of the kids believed that we could drive on (Dryden) as long as we finished it and we did, we figured we'd get it back," Crossgrove said. "But some untimely penalties, when you're a run-first team, its kind of hard to be first and 15."
Two fumbles and an interception crushed Moravia, but Crossgrove was encouraged by some things. His rotating quarterbacks, Dylan Richards and Cole Johnson each did some things well. Richards carried the ball three times for 39 yards, while Johnson completed four passes for 42 yards.
"They both make mistakes and they both do a lot of things right, I guess its working out as it is right now," Crossgrove said of his first-year QBs. "They're both learning and getting better. I have a lot of confidence in both of them."
On the other sideline, the Lyons' signal-caller played great. Davis scored four times, three on the ground - while racking up 113 yards on nine carries. He also went 6-for-16 for 164 yards, one score and one interception. Eymel Deas led Dryden's running backs with 83 yards on 16 carries.
Moravia (1-1) heads to Watkins Glen Friday night, with an attitude of moving forward, despite the player that isn't in uniform with them.
"We still have a lot of confidence," Crossgrove said. "It's why the team was ticked off today, they feel that they could have beat this team and I feel that way too.
The mistakes didn't help much, either.
The Blue Devils turned the ball over three times and committed nine penalties in a 34-12 loss to the Lions, in Moravia's home opener.
While Jared Lyon and Bryant Hough ran for more than 200 yards collectively, it was apparent early that the Blue Devils were missing their biggest weapon. Senior tailback Cody Spaulding, in street clothes and crutches nearby, was on the bench. One of the team's biggest leaders, Spaulding suffered a torn ACL in the first quarter of last week's game against Unadilla Valley.
"He probably got 10 plays in and his season's over," said Blue Devils coach John Crossgrove. "There are some things, I can't even explain, that we were going to do this year that now we might not be able to do. Now we have to have a different look on things. We've been trying to figure out how to adapt the offense without that other option. We have good kids, we'll be fine, the guys have a lot of confidence in Bryant and Jared in the backfield, we know we have guys that run it. It would have been nice to have all three of those guys."
The Blue Devils were also without Spaulding's backup, junior Alex Dzikiewicz, who had an ankle injury. Lyon and Hough played well in their absence, though, with a score apiece. Lyon had 26 carries for 185 yards, while Hough carried 12 times for 51 yards.
Moravia played a close first quarter, tying the score with 56 seconds left on Lyon's 54-yard scamper. BUt one play after the ensuing kickoff, Lions quarterback Alan Davis found Stuart Stahlman for a 59-yard score to end the period.
The ball didn't bounce the Blue Devils' way for much of the contest. Whether it was an-almost big interception, a would-be stop that turned into a fourth-down conversion, or a Lyon fake punt on a fourth-and-13 that fell about a grass blade short.
"Not finishing drives and giving away the ball, but it was a close 22-point spread at the end," Crossgrove said. "We had a play where we almost deflected a ball that turned into a reception, a lot of tight, competitive plays, but that's football. Sometimes it comes down to just a couple of inches on any play, couple inches on a fake punt would have been a first down and we could've come right back."
Down 26-6 at the half, the Blue Devils marched down the field to begin the second half. A short kickoff because of a Dryden defensive penalty at the end of the first half put Moravia on the Dryden 29-yard line to start, and two Lyon runs set up Hough for a 4-yard score.
"I think most of the kids believed that we could drive on (Dryden) as long as we finished it and we did, we figured we'd get it back," Crossgrove said. "But some untimely penalties, when you're a run-first team, its kind of hard to be first and 15."
Two fumbles and an interception crushed Moravia, but Crossgrove was encouraged by some things. His rotating quarterbacks, Dylan Richards and Cole Johnson each did some things well. Richards carried the ball three times for 39 yards, while Johnson completed four passes for 42 yards.
"They both make mistakes and they both do a lot of things right, I guess its working out as it is right now," Crossgrove said of his first-year QBs. "They're both learning and getting better. I have a lot of confidence in both of them."
On the other sideline, the Lyons' signal-caller played great. Davis scored four times, three on the ground - while racking up 113 yards on nine carries. He also went 6-for-16 for 164 yards, one score and one interception. Eymel Deas led Dryden's running backs with 83 yards on 16 carries.
Moravia (1-1) heads to Watkins Glen Friday night, with an attitude of moving forward, despite the player that isn't in uniform with them.
"We still have a lot of confidence," Crossgrove said. "It's why the team was ticked off today, they feel that they could have beat this team and I feel that way too.
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