Blue Devils face AL Brown on Sr Night

The Mooresville Blue Devils are still undefeated and facing conference foe AL Brown at Joe Popp Stadium tonight.  Kickoff is set for 7pm.

Mooresville started off a bit slow for the first few minutes of the South Iredell game, but it has been top speed ever since for two straight weeks.   They even settled for a field goal early in the game vs South Iredell in a situation where they would normally pound it into the end zone.   Mooresville even had to punt a few times in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Mooresville began to roll with Randy Fulmore and Dominic Morin making great catches.  Brody Norman ran one in for a touchdown as well.  Finally, Eric Heal had 3 nice runs in a row and scored a touchdown of his own.

The Mooresville defense stepped up big all night, keeping South Iredell at bay.  The offensive line was equally in prime form giving up only 1 sack on the night.

AJ Baker was also stellar on the night with some dynamic runs of his own.  Between Baker, McCombs, and Heal, the Mooresville running backs are always fresh and ready to go.  It has also created depth at the running back position.  This is one of Mooresville’s huge bonuses that we will touch on later.

• South Iredell: 0-0-0-0-0
• Mooresville: 10-28-7-0-45
• Mooresville: Jacob Monsour’s 21-yard field goal
• Mooresville: Brody Norman 1-yard run – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• Mooresville: Eric Heal 10-yard run – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• Mooresville: Brody Norman 11-yard pass to Randy Fulmore – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• Mooresville: AJ Baker 10-yard run – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• Mooresville: Brody Norman 1-yard run – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• Mooresville: Jadarius McCombs 4-yard run – Lilly Rumrill PAT good

The defense was exceptional.  It’s not always who you hear over the loudspeaker when it comes to tackles made and the significance of actions on the field.  There are guys making plays all over the field out there.   Caleb Edstrom and Jamari Farmer have been neck and neck at the linebacker position.  They are an intimidating pair when you watch them from a quarterback standpoint.  Either one could get you at any given time.   The defensive down linemen and linebackers make a lot of people to be responsible for when running the ball.

The work of the defensive line also allows for the linebackers to be able to get clean hits on opposing running backs.  They too have a lot of guys to rotate and bring in as fresh bodies.  DJ Turner and KJ Gillepsie have been outstanding with a side nod to Luke Modrak.  These guys are making plays all night on the outside and getting in the quarterback’s face.  There is literally a 50 percent chance that the quarterback is going to have number 17 in his face with his arms held high.  That is what it has felt like to me personally watching the opponent’s offensive backfield. 

It is starting to become a real pain to throw the ball against the Mooresville defense.  Even if you get by Gillepsie, Turner will come hit you or Marley Samuel, then it’s all she wrote with a steaming Farmer or Edstrom.  It is very enjoyable to watch and entertaining from a defensive standpoint.

When you start to win these games by the margin which Mooresville is doing, it creates depth.  This is key when it comes to the postseason and the success of a football team in the long run.  Repetitions.  Reps.  The 1 thing to getting better in any sport especially when the competition is equal or better.  Mooresville has been able to play the entire team on a number of occasions and has multiple experienced players at all positions.  This is a key ingredient to long-lasting success and can even cure the “off night” syndrome a player or two may fall into on any given night.

The “I’ve been here before” in the player’s mindset also helps with eliminating mistakes.  Players who have been playing on special teams all year are now getting quality time at their true positions on the field.  Darian Reid and Jacob Goodin are two who have become very fine-tuned in tackling and are out there making plays. 

In the West Cabarrus game, Mooresville was able to get significant time for Noah Thomas, John Robinson, Sloan Karriker, Justin Kinahan and Xzavion Gardner.

They had a full dosage of Randy Fulmore again with more long passes and touchdowns.  Let’s talk about Fulmore for a moment.  Besides recently putting up Mooresville’s single-game record of 181 receiving yards in a game, and doing it in one half, the best thing about Fulmore?   His shoes.   (yes I see you Calderon and Kinahan) The blue black and white original Jordans are a winner.  These should be a team-mandatory item and worn by every player.  Although Brody Norman has a nice pair as well and is a close second.

Fulmore has been outstanding all season long and keeps making big plays.  These past two games have been a highlight reel of acrobatic catches and long YAC.  Yards After Catch.  On 4 separate occasions, he picked up 40 yards plus pass receptions and outran the defense.  Two bubble screens were nearly identical, each going for 70 yards.  I think of my friend Larry Sullivan who once told me to “let the game come to me” in photography.  We saw the same formation on the second go-round with Fulmore and decided to stay 75 yards away to let the game come to us, and Fulmore didn’t let us down.  He gained 50-plus yards and finally got brought down short of the goal line.   The truth of the matter is, we were tired from running up and down the field while Mooresville kept scoring touchdowns.  On that drive, we decided to stay put and they scored so fast it never mattered.

• Mooresville: 14-14-7-7-42
• West Cabarrus: 0-3-0-0-3
• Mooresville: Eric Heal 1 yard run – Jacob Monsour PAT good
• Mooresville: Brody Norman 58-yard pass to Randy Fulmore – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• West Cabarrus: #44 (not listed on roster) 23-yard field goal
• Mooresville: Brody Norman 16-yard pass to Randy Fulmore – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• Mooresville: Eric Heal 6-yard run – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• Mooresville: Brody Norman 42-yard pass to Dominic Morin – Andrew Cummings PAT good
• Mooresville: Jadarius McCombs 1 yard run – Lilly Rumrill PAT good

Player highlights:

Randy Fulmore: 7 receptions for 181 yards 2 touchdowns

Brody Norman: 10 completions on 16 attempts, 282 yards passing, 3 touchdowns

Key points of the game again were the defense and Mooresville’s ability to score whenever they wanted and own the game from both sides of the ball.

It was another game where almost the entire team had a chance to play and have fun in the same right.  Experience and increasing the depth of the Mooresville football team will be key to a post-season run.  They will need to defeat a tough AL Brown team tonight for a chance at the championship next week at rival Lake Norman.

Thanks to Brittany Lynch and Dave Ramsey for statistical information.

Audio from the postgame of South Iredell: