Moon shakes off rust, pushes past Woodland Hills into Class 5A semifinals

By: Mitch Montani
Saturday, November 13, 2021 | 12:49 AM

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The Moon Tigers produced a gritty win Friday night, besting Woodland Hills, 21-13, to clinch a spot in the WPIAL Class 5A semifinals.

The Tigers scored all 21 of their points in the second quarter. Those points proved to be enough for Moon.

“I think the bye week affected us,” coach Ryan Linn said. “We had a little bit of a slow start. Then we scored 21 in the second quarter. We were able to take a breath.”

Despite some rust after the first-round playoff bye, the Tigers were able to use some of that extra time to their advantage. In the second quarter, Moon instituted a no-huddle offense to help get things going.

“It’s something we’ve been working on over the last couple of weeks,” Linn said. “It was nice having that time off to put that in a little bit this week.”

Moon (11-0) broke the ice midway through the second quarter. Senior Ben Bladel scored on an 8-yard touchdown run. After both teams exchanged scores — on a 5-yard scoring run by Ian Foster for Moon and a 1-yard sneak from Deontae Williams for Woodland Hills — the Wolverines had a costly fumble.

The turnover set up Bladel for another touchdown. He caught a 16-yard pass from quarterback Ty McGowan with just seconds to play in the first half, giving Moon a 21-7 halftime advantage.

“We made a couple mistakes and they capitalized on them,” Woodland Hills coach Tim Bostard said. “That’s a good football team over there. I wish them the best of luck.”

Senior receiver Jean Edmundson was a bright spot for the Wolverines (5-7). He had back-to-back catches for 67 combined yards in the second quarter, which set up Williams’ touchdown run. Edmundson also caught a 38-yard touchdown pass from Williams late in the game.

“He came out here and left everything on the field,” Bostard said. “I ask our kids every game to leave the tank empty. They do that on a consistent basis. I can’t ask for anything else.”

A turning point in the game took place in the fourth quarter. Despite not scoring, Moon managed to put together a drive that took nine minutes off the clock. This left the Wolverines with limited options.

“If you can take eight or nine minutes off the clock, you force them to go fast,” Linn said. “That’s not their game. When we put them in that situation, it was tough for them to respond.”

Moon’s quest for a second WPIAL championship will continue next week. The Tigers will face Penn Hills with a chance to punch their ticket to Heinz Field.

“We’ll clean some stuff up next week and get our kids ready to go,” Linn said. “We’ll talk about the opportunity that’s in front of us. We’re one game away.”

Watch an archived broadcast of this game on Trib HSSN.

Tags: Moon, Woodland Hills