Blue Devils Defeat AL Brown, advance to round 2

On a cold night in Mooresville, the Mooresville Blue Devils prevailed in a hard-fought battle versus conference rival AL Brown.  Playing a conference rival in the first round of the playoffs is a difficult task. Having been around the team a lot due to the media, I can assure you nobody came into this game taking the Wonders from Kannapolis lightly.  Even though many in the media picked Mooresville to win easily, it was nothing of the sort.  It is always difficult to beat a team twice in football during one season.  This is not only true for football but many other sports as well.  One of the teams is going to learn more than the other and adjust.  The loser genuinely always plays better, and the previous winner must be up for the challenge.  AL Brown has an excellent coach and prepares his team for each game.

Mooresville moved the ball on the first drive for about 40 yards with a few good runs and a great catch by Randy Fulmore.  It stalled at midfield and the Blue Devils were forced to punt.

Kannapolis quarterback CJ Gray (junior) played well all night against the tenacious Mooresville defense.  Gray opened the game for the Wonders with a long touchdown drive that had Mooresville off guard.  He was able to pick apart the defense and easily move down the field.   He had a 40-yard run on his own that set up the Wonder’s first touchdown of the game.

On the sidelines of Mooresville, we could hear a lot of anger about the drive.  “This is not us” explained a defensive player along with other shouts of not playing up to par.   From our standpoint, the AL Brown offense was completely different from the one that ran only weeks ago on Mooresville Senior night.  This was evident with the misdirection plays and allowing Gray more time to find open receivers.  We found ourselves chasing an empty-handed running back from Kannapolis regarding photography.

On Mooresville’s second offensive drive, they went 3 and out on a few missed passes and a mistake on 3^rd down which forced them to punt.  While the Wonders had some momentum at this point and tried to back up their first drive, big plays were made by Jamari Farmer.  Farmer had two tackles for loss, along with assists by Edstrom and Skyz Carr.  Carr had a big tackle for a loss of his own, as well as Edstrom.  KJ Gillepsie got in on a tackle for loss on AL Browns speedster Mekhi Herron. The electric Jay Wilson also stepped up big on a few plays from the Mooresville secondary. Both Gray and Herron are Juniors for Kannapolis so look for them to be even better next year and a major threat.

This forced the Wonders to punt and allow Mooresville to start near their 20-yard line.  They had a few first downs with great catches by Randy Fulmore and some good runs.  However, late in the drive Norman had his arm hit and threw a ball that came up short allowing AL Browns Ethan Garmon to leap into the air and intercept it.  It was a blessing in disguise however because AJ Baker of Mooresville immediately grabbed Garmon and dragged him down on the Wonders’s 2-yard line.

Trouble ahead.  This set up AL Brown first and ten on their own 2.  They managed to get two running plays off with little to no gain.  This was strictly due to Caleb Edstrom making a diving tackle to undercut Herron and pull him down at the one.  On the next play Jamari Farmer got a shot on Herron in the end zone but Edstrom was there knocking him down at the 2-yard line.   Then came the trouble.  Often asked about KJ Gillepsie’s amazing speed and size, well KJ is the trouble.  For sure a passing down it was almost like you could feel it in the air and knew it was coming.  Right on the snap Gillepsie was there in Gray’s face with little for Gray to do.  He grabbed his arm, and it was over, Carr, Landon Young, and DJ Turner came in late to swallow him in the end zone forcing the safety.  This was a large swing of momentum for Mooresville and the first points of the game.

Both teams went three and out on the subsequent drives before Mooresville finally broke it open with a big play to Dominic Morin.  Morin got free on the sidelines and made a spectacular over-the-shoulder catch for 40-plus yards setting the Blue Devils up.  Brody Norman also had racked up many yards on the ground along with Jadarius McCombs.  The drive almost stalled on 4^th and 18 when Norman juked his way left and ran and picked up 18.1 yards.  The measurement assured a Mooresville first down with time ticking down in the second quarter.

Norman threw a corner route pass to Dominic Morin and AL Brown defensive back KJ Boyd for AL Brown made a great play to break the pass up.  Finally, after not being able to get in the end zone all night, Norman found Jalen Wright, Tight End position, over the middle who leaped in the air and grabbed a 10-yard touchdown pass.  This made the score 8-7, Mooresville with the lead, ending the first half.  Mooresville was unsuccessful on the two-point conversion.  This play has been there for Mooresville a few times this season like the play Wright made against Cox Mill earlier in the season.

In the 3^rd quarter, AL Brown had a long drive.  They had some chances to break it open but fell short.  Edstrom, Farmer, Young, were causing trouble up front.  KJ Gillepsie was forcing AL Brown QB CJ Gray into difficult situations.  Gray broke free on a few occasions and picked up good yards.  Next thing you know Edstrom and Farmer would be making a big tackle for loss.  It was a back-and-forth grind, chewing up a lot of clock, and ending with an AL Brown punt.

Mooresville had to start deep in their own end but started it off with a bang.  It is what the coaches love when the big eaters up front put everyone down and allow a running back to break free.  In addition, on the first play besides that, Randy Fulmore came out of the wide receiver position and put a block on the AL Brown free safety Gerard Evans, opening a huge lane for Eric Heal.  Heal managed to have eyes in the back of his head as he dodged the few AL Brown speedsters trying to catch him.  Fulmore’s block had everyone scattered and he was outweighed by 30 pounds.  Heal scampered 35 yards plus out over the Mooresville 40-yard line.  Norman, in the next play found Dominic Morin over the middle to end up in Wonders territory within a matter of seconds.  The subsequent running attack of Norman and Heal, along with plays by Morin and Fulmore had Mooresville knocking on the door.  Alec Lawrence, Rhylan Young, Cameron Bradley, Kendyn Smith, and Drew Davis led the protection on Norman and opened holes for Heal.

At this point of the game as a Mooresville fan, you felt your team had the momentum swing and were going to win this game.  It is that moment when you are watching your team you breathe that sigh of relief and say, “we got this” and that was the feeling throughout the stadium.  Norman then throws a bomb at Dominic Morin (standard poised Norman back shoulder dime) and Morin comes down with it about the 10-yard line.  Next play Norman himself makes a great run behind AJ Graham who blocked his man all the way into the end zone.  Norman went down at the 4 but it was quickly followed up with a student-body left run for Eric Heal who scored his first touchdown of the game.  Heal took it in from 4 yards out and Jacob Monsour had the extra point making the score 15-7 for Mooresville.  The first to greet Heal was Lawrence who made a key block to allow Heal to score.  Rhylan Young also provided some assistance on the play and the Wonders even tried to stir up trouble with Young during the extra point.  This only motivated Young more for the rest of the game.  It is never good to upset the men up front.  They are the gladiators who battle on the front lines all night. If these men lived on a planet alone, they would roam like dinosaurs… knocking over trees in their paths, eating what they hunt only and causing a complete ruckus. 

On the following kickoff, we saw Darian Reid get blocked and go down, but this guy got back up and ran the AL Brown return from behind just as Brady Raab hit him.  Reid and Young followed up by Luke Modrak, JoJo Davidson sighting, and Carter Elkin, yes quarterback Carter Elkin, really popped him a good one.  There had to be at least 6 Mooresville tacklers on this play and stopped AL Brown in its tracks. Elkin has been a good player all season and kept his head held high while playing a different role for the Blue Devils.  Now he hits people for a living and is ready if needed at quarterback.

AL Brown did manage to open it up a bit here.  The mixture of Gray and Herron was deadly once again and they gained ground.  Then it was all capped off by a big strike by Gray to free safety, wide receiver, #13 Gerard Evans.  Probably pay back for the block put on him earlier in the game by Fulmore, which allowed Heal a 40-yard run.  Evans didn’t hesitate and came down with the ball in stride but thankfully Jay Wilson for Mooresville made a touchdown-saving tackle.  Here the AL Brown stalled a bit with great plays by Caleb Edstrom, Skyz Carr, and KJ Gillepsie.  Tiquan Cromartie made a great play on a pass breakup in the endzone on 3^rd down to save an AL Brown touchdown. This forced the Wonders to kick a field goal which was successful by Ethan Martinez (30-yard field goal) making the score 15-10 Mooresville.

Mooresville moved the ball up to about midfield before it stalled out.  Chaz Nox defensive tackle came up big on a sack for AL Brown.  Norman tried to run the ball a few times and didn’t have the same result as earlier in the game.  Mooresville ended up turning it over on downs.   AL Brown was quick to strike back, they too moved the ball down into Mooresville territory and tried to score twice on those evil crossing routes that haunt you.  Darian Reid made two nice plays staying with his man as AL Brown ran it twice in a row and failed both times.   Jay Wilson also had a huge tackle for loss that moved the Wonders back and forced a missed field goal.

Mooresville then began to move the ball well. Eric Heal stepped up and ran like a mad man.  They ground it out and picked up good yardage moving in to Wonder territory.  On key third down, Norman spotted Randy Fulmore on a fly pattern, and it looked like Fulmore was dragged down.  The Mooresville faithful in attendance hushed a loud boo believing Fulmore was interfered with.  This brought them up to 4^th down and a chance for Mooresville to take an 8-point lead.

Then everything went to #*($&!

Something went wrong with Mooresville’s field goal, and it sailed wide left.  There was a breakdown somewhere regarding the entire process of kicking.  Every single piece of the timing was off, and Mooresville simply missed it.  This left AL Brown with the ball and plenty of time to score.

CJ Gray and Mekhi Herron were back to their old tricks again confusing the defense and making good ground.  They moved the ball into Mooresville’s side of the field and broke it open.  Gray found wide receiver Derick Brazil.  Big players make big plays and the senior for AL Brown broke free and took it to the house for 54 yards.  This put AL Brown up 16-15 followed by a successful 2-point conversion CJ Gray pass to Xavier Chambers making the score 18-15 AL Brown.

The Mooresville crowd was stunned.  They went from what would have been a comfortable 8-point lead late in the game to being down 3 with little time left on the clock.

I cannot remember the last time Mooresville was trailing in a football game.  All the armchair generals out there who had Mooresville picked to win by 30 were stunned.  However, many of the die-hards and of course, the Mooresville team itself knew the game would be a fight.  Although down, they were not about to give up just yet.

Brody Norman was about to be tested and needed to lead the Blue Devils down and score. A field goal was needed to tie and a touchdown to win.  Norman took control of this drive and gained most of the yardage with his legs.  Two missed opportunities to Morin and Fulmore didn’t work out, so he made up for it on the ground.  Mooresville brought in a big package with Caleb Edstrom at lead block and Norman followed him through the hole.  Mooresville worked itself all the way down into field goal range with virtually no time on the clock.

This set up Jacob Monsour to tie the game with his leg.  Many remember Monsour kicking the game winner at rival Lake Norman to win the game.  This is the same man who missed a kick only minutes earlier which would have given Mooresville the lead.  Only this time it was different.  All parts of the well-oiled machine that go in to one kick all worked in unison and Monsour split the uprights from 36 yards out forcing a tie and overtime situation.  Monsour bounced back from the previous missed only to rely on his leg to save the season.  Monsour touched on this topic in the post-game interview below.

Overtime and the nerves.  At this point of the game, there was no doubt each team deserved the victory.  Both had fought hard and had seen the light at the end of the tunnel only for it to fade dark within reach.  The glorious coin toss in which you hope to win so that you can go on defense first, know what you must do to win, and use this as an advantage.  Most will tell you that with football, this is usually about the only time anyone cares about the coin toss.  You don’t care at the beginning of the game as you are diving into your two-hour old pizza, and wondering if you are dressed warmly enough for the night.  You surely don’t have your cell phone out trying to video your son or daughter along with 79 other mothers and fathers. But right now, all ears are patiently waiting for Gary Merriman to tell us who won the toss over the loudspeaker.  “Mooresville wins the toss!” just as we hear coach Joe Nixon say to the head official “We want to play defense first.”

Momentum, you felt it in the stadium.  The crowd came back to life, and everyone suddenly had a pulse once again.  Mared by a possible defeat on the horizon there was new hope.  A chance for victory.

AL Brown started out with a nice play.   Quarterback CJ Gray had some space due to the misdirection, got outside, and was pushing down toward the goal line.  Tiquan Cromartie made a huge play as Gray hit the pylon with the ball, which could have been a Wonders touchdown, but Gray stepped out on the 4-yard line thanks to Cromartie.  Forcing a field goal was key here for Mooresville at the very least, so they needed a stop in a big way.  A false start was called on the Wonders which forced them back 5 yards which gave Mooresville more of a cushion.  On the next play, Herron went up the middle before being stopped by Jamari Farmer for a brutal hit.  DJ Turner, Landon Young, and Caleb Edstrom were there also to stop the quick running back.  On 3^rd down AL Brown dropped back to pass with a blitzing AJ Graham for Mooresville. Graham with his hands up high, got to Gray and forced him to throw the ball out of bounds in the endzone bringing up a 4^th down for the Wonders.  Unfortunately for the Wonders, they missed the field goal wide right which gave Mooresville a chance for the win with any score.  KJ Gillepsie and Marley Samuel both got into the backfield fast with their hands up and nearly blocked the field goal.

Mooresville did not waste any time.  The plan was to not risk it and run it down their throats.  Mooresville has been very successful in the kicking game with 3 talented kickers.  Jacob Monsour, Andrew Cummings, and Lilly Rumrill.  Any one of them could have knocked in the game-winner but Mooresville wanted to put a cap on the end of their night with a touchdown.  Eric Heal gave them just that.  Heal on first down went right and picked up a solid 5 yards.  Same play, Heal to the right, big package where Caleb Edstrom came out of the running back 2 position and put a lead block on AL Browns linebacker, opening a hole for Heal to walk into the endzone, with the game-winning touchdown.  Heal ran through the back of the end zone with the ball held high as the Mooresville bench ran onto the field in celebration.  Touchdown Mooresville and game over for the Blue Devils.  The win propels Mooresville to another victory on an undefeated season, and they will face Mt Tabor next week at Joe Popp Stadium in round 2 of the NCHSAA 4A football playoffs.

Mt Tabor is a stellar team, and the Blue Devils will need to play some good football to beat them.  They run a similar offense to Mooresville with a lot of passing when needed.  Quarterback Lane Albright has 3 great receivers to choose from, but his favorite target is Shamarius Peterkin.  Jadon Blair, Chukwuma Hemmingway, and Khamari Shell, are also top targets for Albright.  Each of those receivers can also play quarterback if necessary and defense.  From the running back position, they have a bulldozer-style running back (Zion Thompson) who can surprise you at any moment.  The Mooresville secondary will need to step up and shut down the top receivers from Mt Tabor or it will be a long night.  Albright uses them all and he spreads out the love on offense.  He will also hold on to the ball and run it, utilizing his scrambling abilities to keep opposing teams’ defenses honest.  It looks like a battle coming to Joe Popp stadium Friday night.

Kickoff is at 7pm at Joe Popp Stadium.

Weather is expected to be in the low 50’s headed down to the mid 40’s by the second half.  Intermittent showers may be expected throughout the evening.

Thanks to Brittany Lynch and Dave Ramsey for statistical information.

Audio from the playoff postgame of AL Brown: