Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Night of firsts as Moody beats Highlands, 21-13

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Saturday, November 13, 1999

Night of firsts as Moody beats Highlands, 21-13

By Javier Becerra
Caller-Times

It was a time for firsts at Cabaniss Field's Multipurpose Stadium Friday night.
   For the San Antonio Highlands Owls, it was their first defeat in what had been a perfect season.
   For the Moody Trojans, their first victory in playoff history.
   The Trojans outlasted a feisty Highlands team to post a 21-13 win over the Owls in a Class 5A Division II bi-district playoff matchup - Moody's first-ever win in the Texas high school playoffs.
   The Trojans improved to 8-3 and will advance to the area round against San Antonio Marshall next Friday or Saturday at Gustafson Stadium in San Antonio. Highlands, the only undefeated team in Region IV entering Friday's game, ended its season at 10-1.
   "It's a great accomplishment for these kids," said Moody head coach Jim Elam, whose Trojans have advanced to the postseason three of the last four years. "They set a goal to get in the playoffs. They accomplished that and reset their goals, and in process created a little bit of history. But we don't want to stop now."
   Moody trailed, 13-6, entering the second half, but the Trojans immediately changed the momentum of the game when they recovered a fumble by Highlands Karl Hampton on the opening kickoff of the third quarter.
   The Trojans took possession at the Owls' 27-yard line, and moved down to the 3 on three powerful runs by backs Robert Cristan and Paul Gilmore. The speedy and agile Gilmore weaved his way into the end zone on the drive's fourth play. Moody quarterback Gene Flores took the snap on the extra-point attempt and bootlegged to the right before finding an open Cristan 3 yards deep for the two-point pass.
   The successful conversion gave Moody a 14-13 lead with 10:17 left in the third quarter.
   The Trojans scored again just 37 seconds into the fourth quarter on a 53-yard run Gilmore straight up the middle. Gutierrez's extra point gave the Trojans a 21-13 advantage.
   Moody linebacker Alfonso Lopez intercepted a pass by Highlands' backup quarterback Matthew Jones at the Trojans' six-yard line with four minutes left to play to seal the victory.
   "We knew we had to step it up tonight because we were sure they would see our weakness with the passing game from when we played Stroman last week," Lopez said. "We worked hard to try to put everything together. We came out and we stopped the run. We practiced against their wishbone every day, all day at practice. Tonight we got it right and it worked perfectly."
   A swarming Moody defense prevented Highlands from establishing its wishbone offense, and held the Owls to 18 yards on six plays before forcing them to punt.
   Moody's offense quickly established a rhythm behind the running of Cristan, Flores and Gilmore, and marched 55 yards to the Highlands 15-yard line in 11 plays. Flores threw two incomplete passes on first and second down, and the Trojans settled for a 32-yard field goal by Tim Gutierrez, which gave Moody a 3-0 lead with 10:56 left in the second quarter.
   Then Highlands' offense took over.
   The Owls needed just two plays on the ensuing possession to answer Moody's field goal, scoring on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Edwin Walker to Steven Llanes. Andrew Salazar added the extra point to give the Owls a 7-3 lead with 9:44 left in the first half.
   Moody was then forced to punt after just three plays from its own 41-yard line. The Owls gained three straight first downs during an eight-play drive that culminated with a 28-yard field goal by Salazar. The kick extended the Owls' lead to 10-3 with 6:19 left in the second quarter.
   The Trojans countered with a 31-yard field goal by Gutierrez on their next possession, an eight-play drive that cut Highlands' lead to 10-6.
   With 2:36 left in the first half, the Owls engineered an 11-play drive that took them to the Moody 6-yard line. Salazar kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired to increase the Owls' lead to 13-6.

  Moody 21, S.A. Highlands 13
   S.A. Highlands Moody
   First Downs 13 16
   Yards Rushing 42-143 44-230
   Passes 4-14-2 5-12-1
   Yards Passing 112 48
   Punts 3-33 3-30
   Fumble-lost 3-1 2-2
   Penalties 2-10 3-20
   S.A. Highlands 0 13 0 0-13
   Moody 0 6 8 7-21

   SCORING SUMMARY
   M - Tim Gutierrez 32 FG
   H - Steven Llanes 46 pass from Edwin Walker (Andrew Salazar kick)
   H - Salazar 28 FG
   M - Gutierrez 31 FG
   H - Salazar 24 FG
   M - Paul Gilmore 3 run (Robert Cristan pass from Gene Flores)
   M - Gilmore 53 run (Gutierrez kick)

   INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
   RUSHING - Highlands, Karl Hampton 16-77, Llanes 8-55, Bobby Flores 4-15, Michael Hymes 1-(-1), Walker 13-(-3); Moody, Gilmore 20-147, Cristan 11-45, Flores 13-38.
   PASSING - Highlands, Walker 3-11-0-112, Matthew Jones 0-2-1-0, Llanes 0-1-1-0; Moody, Flores 5-12-1-48.
   RECEIVING - Highlands, Llanes 1-46, Clarence Cook 1-35, Flores 1-20, Currie 1-14; Moody, Cristan 3-20, Jared Cooper 1-20, Gilmore 1-8.



Staff writer Javier Becerra can be reached at 886-3734 or by e-mail at becerraj@caller.com

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