Moon beats North Hills, backs up No. 1 ranking in Class 5A

By: Paul Paterra
Friday, September 17, 2021 | 12:01 AM

4250263_web1_ptr-MoonNH02-091821 — Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review

Moon’s Ian Foster scores during the third quarter against North Hills on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Moon.

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Moon’s Joe Cotton celebrates his third quarter touchdown next to North Hills’ Liam Tracey on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Moon.

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Moon’s Ian Foster carries for a touchdown past North Hills’ Tanner Ilnicki during the third quarter on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Moon.

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Moon’s Dylan Sleva carries through the North Hills defense on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Moon.

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Moon’s Brandon Weaver carries past North Hills’ Alec Apodaca during their game on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Moon.

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Moon quarterback Tyler McGowen throws a pass under pressure from North Hills’ Logan Nash during their game on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Moon.

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Moon’s Joe Cotton eludes North Hills’ Caleb Armstead during their game on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Moon.

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Moon’s Trent Fraley hoists Ian Foster after Foster scored during the third quarter against North Hills on Friday, Sept. 17, 2021, in Moon.

For now, the title of top-ranked team in Class 5A seems to fit Moon quite nicely, thank you.

The Tigers (4-0) celebrated their first week with that title in the Trib HSSN rankings with a 38-7 victory over fourth-ranked North Hills in a Class 5A showdown.

The tone for the game was set early. The Tigers were back in their own territory after a 69-yard punt by John Green put the ball on the Moon 3-yard line.

The Tigers followed with a 16-play drive that took 5 minutes, 20 seconds off the clock and culminated with a 2-yard run by Dylan Sleva, giving Moon a 7-0 lead with 2:43 left in the first quarter.

“We were pretty much executing up front, moving the ball, 10 yards a pop,” Sleva explained. “It was a huge momentum swing. That opens up everything else. It gets us pumped up on both sides of the ball.”

Moon coach Ryan Linn said the drive was important in getting the Tigers to doing what they do best.

“We emphasized getting back to who we are, that is running the football,” Linn said. “That 97-yard drive set the tone for the night.”

Sleva paced the Tigers’ rushing attack with 94 yards on 19 carries.

The lead grew to 14-0 just 1:12 later. North Hills fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and Moon capitalized on a drive that ended with Ian Foster plunging over the goal line with a 1-yard scoring run.

Moon scored 17 points off three North Hills turnovers.

North Hills (2-2) got its lone points on the first play of the next drive on a 59-yard touchdown pass from Green to Robert Dickerson, who weaved his way through the Moon secondary for a nifty scoring run.

Rounding out Moon’s scoring in the first half was a 9-yard touchdown pass from Tyler McGowan to Taite Beachy and a 30-yard field goal by Jacob Weiland.

McGowan competed 13 of 20 passes for 152 yards, and Beachy had five catches for 76 yards.

Two more rushing touchdowns for Moon came in the second half on a 6-yard run by Joe Cotton and a 20-yard jaunt from Foster.

Throughout most of the second half, Moon used its strong ground attack to churn time off the clock, including going to its Sledge offense on occasion, which features four running backs and two tight ends.

“The physicality of that football team and the way that they’re able to control the ball is what really hurt us in that football game,” said North Hills coach Pat Carey. “That was an indication of the players that they have over there. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to slow them down.”

In fact, nobody has slowed down the Tigers this year so far.

“We practice hard, and we do what we can do,” Sleva said. “We just want to be the best that we can be.”

Listen to an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.