Moon beats Baldwin for best start in six years

By: Sean Saputo
Friday, September 13, 2019 | 11:54 PM

For the first time in six years, Moon is off to a 3-1 start.

The Tigers topped Baldwin, 41-13, Friday night to start with three wins in four games for the first time since 2013. That season was the last time the Tigers had a winning record both overall and in conference play.

Things didn’t start out hot for the Tigers (3-1, 1-0), who lost two fumbles to the Highlanders (1-3, 0-2) in the first quarter. However, the Tigers surrendered just seven points off the turnovers, a 44-yard Angelo Priore touchdown to open the scoring.

Despite the mistakes made in the first quarter, Moon later got its opportunities to take advantage of Baldwin miscues and went on to score 27 unanswered points to take a 27-7 lead at the half.

After taking a 13-7 lead, Moon received two gifts from the Highlanders special teams unit.

First, a bad snap over the head of punter Joe Moeller rolled to the Highlanders 1-yard line. Moeller, instead of running it out of the end zone or attempting to kick it, threw the ball for an intentional grounding penalty, allowing Jamal Littlejohn to score on the next play from a yard out.

On the next possession, Baldwin elected to pooch punt with Priore. Up-man Mason Stahl moved in front of Priore and the kick hit him and led to another one-play Moon possession and a 5-yard touchdown run by Dawson Snyder.

Miscues and mental lapses have been an unfortunate theme for Baldwin this year and coach Loran Cooley knows it’s something that has to be fixed.

“When you are playing a good football team like that, a very well-coached team, you can’t have those mental errors, bad snaps on special teams and things like that. In this conference we have to focus and emphasize on those little things,” Cooley said.

Moon tacked on two more scores in the second half to Baldwin’s one and dominated time of possession. That style of play is something coach Ryan Linn is happy his team can accomplish.

“We talked all week. Control the ball and make them go down the field. Something is going to happen,” Lynn said.

Quarterback Dante Clay led the way for the Tigers, throwing for 101 yards on 12 of 16 passing with two touchdowns. He added 79 yards on the ground and another score.

Littlejohn was the other primary focal point of the offense, rushing for 90 yards on 13 carries and scoring a rushing and receiving touchdown.

Moon has itself in a solid position early in the year and is doing so with a young group that has proven it’s ready to take the reins of a program that hasn’t seen the success it expects.

“Our sophomore group has a lot of talent,” Lynn said. “That group is our best attendance group in the offseason and they are very football smart. They’ll do whatever it takes to win.”

Baldwin now prepares for 0-4 Woodland Hills. Last year, Baldwin lost to the Wolverines, 12-0 on the road, and it was the start of a 1-5 stretch run after a 3-1 start.

Moon will face a much-improved Chartiers Valley team next week. The Tigers and Colts have split the season series the last four years, but the Tigers have won eight of the last 11 matchups dating to the 2003 season. Despite the success against the Colts, Lynn knows it’s another tough test coming up.

“We keep telling the kids it’s one week at a time,” Lynn said. “We’re going to do what we need to do to beat them, whether its running the ball or throwing the ball. Coach (Dan) Knaus is doing a lot of good things over there and they’re running the ball really well, so we have to stop their run game.”

Tags: Baldwin, Moon