Moore, Defense Lead Cougars Past Little Giants

WAYNESBORO – Stuarts Draft quarterback Derrick Moore put up more than 200 yards total offense and the Cougars’ defense picked off four passes in Friday’s 35-3 district win over the Waynesboro Little Giants.

Moore rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns on 10 carries and passed for 127 yards to lead the Draft offense. Baylor Graber added 75 bruising yards on 15 carries and scored one TD for the Cougars.

“For the most part we played a pretty clean game,” said Draft head coach Nathan Floyd. “We had a couple missed tackles and a couple of mental mistakes in the first half, but we came out of halftime and played a good, clean 24 minutes of football.

“Waynesboro is a pretty good football team. They play hard and they have some athletes. Coach (Nathan) Bain is doing a really good job, turning the program around," Floyd added.

The Cougars scored in the first minute of the game and never trailed. On the first play, Moore connected with Brandon Pritchett for a 68-yard pass play to the Waynesboro 4-yard line. A penalty at the end of the play moved the ball to the 2 and Graber bulled in for the TD. The PAT was blocked. 

A 32-yard return on the ensuing kickoff by Trendan Jackson set the Little Giants up at the Draft 47-yard line. On fourth-and-2, Draft stopped the Giants inches short of the first down to take over on their own 38.

Draft had a first down at the Waynesboro 32. Two runs gained 5 yards before a false start moved the ball back to the 32. On fourth-and-8, Waynesboro’s Casey Breeden broke up Moore’s pass, giving the ball back to the Little Giants offense at the 29.

On the next play, quarterback Sirron Gunn was pressured and attempted to throw the ball away. The attempted pass was a lateral and resulted in a 22-yard loss back to the 7-yard line. On third-and-31, Gunn found My’kel Masey open in the secondary for a 42-yard pass play to the Draft 49. 

A 12-yard un by Ethan Newsome moved the chains to the 28 and a 12-yard pass from Gunn to Jackson picked up a first down at the 15-yard line. The drive stalled, forcing Waynesboro to settle for 29-yard field goal by Nicholas Rosas, trimming the Draft lead to 6-3.

The teams traded interceptions near midfield early in the second quarter. Breeden picked off a pass by Moore and returned the ball to the Cougars 34-yard line. On the next play, Gunn’s pass was intercepted by Pritchett and returned to Draft 41.

A 16-yard run by Graber was good for a first down at the Waynesboro 35 and on the next play Moore weaved his way through the Little Giants defense for a 35-yard TD run. Graber added the 2-point conversion run for a 14-3 Draft lead with 4:11 left in the first half.

Another Cougars’ interception, this one by Zakarre Hymes-Williams gave Draft the football on their own 45. After Graber was stopped for a 2-yard loss, Moore found Micah Kelton for a 42-yard completion to the Waynesboro 15. Two plays later, Moore scored on a 12-yard run with 1:04 left in the half.

Waynesboro took the second half kickoff and moved the ball inside Draft territory with a first down at the 36. On fourth-and-5, the Draft defense came up with the stop, giving the offense the ball on the Cougars’ 31.

A holding penalty put Draft behind the chains but a 17-yard screen pass from Moore to Graber was good for a first down. The Cougars were faced with a fourth-and-6 play from the Draft 47 when Moore scrambled for a 23-yard gain to the Little Giants’ 30. Draft kept the ball on the ground and Moore finished the drive with a 7-yard run. Luke Young made the PAT for a 28-3 lead with 1:42 left in the third quarter.

The Cougars added their final scored on an 11-yard run by Levi Bartels and Young’s PAT was good for the final 35-3 margin.

The Cougars win coupled with Wilson’s win at Alleghany put the Cougars back in the hunt for a share regular season title. The Cougars, now 5-1 in the district, have next week off before playing Buffalo Gap. The final regular season game pits Draft against Wilson, now undefeated in district play and alone in first place.

“The next thing we have to do is have a good off week, a good bye week of preparation,” said Floyd. “Gap had a big win tonight, so we’ll focus and prepare for them.”