Memorable moment caps special night at Staples Stadium

Football turned out to be only a secondary story line last Friday night when the undefeated Braves hosted the Temple Tigers at Staples Stadium.

In the game, the Braves rolled over the Tigers 62-27, but as fans walked out of the stadium many were in tears at what they had just witnessed during the last moments of the fourth quarter.

With only a couple of minutes to go in the one-sided contest, Temple head coach Seth Rogers approached Braves head coach Tim Barron to explain a situation with one of his sophomore players, Devin Moore, a physically challenged player on his squad.

He was wanting to put Moore into the game just to be able to get him in the action and talked with Barron about asking his guys not to injure him. Coach Barron suggested they go one step further and let Moore carry the ball for a touchdown.

What ensued was one of the most inspiring moments you could ever hope to see in a high school atmosphere.

“This young man played soccer for Temple last spring and came to me and said he wanted to play football.  He is one of the hardest working players we have.  I wish more of our kids had his work ethic.  He only missed one summer workout and hasn’t missed a practice all year.  As coaches, it meant a lot to us for Coach Tim Barron to let us do this.” ~Temple assistant coach Sean Schinella

Moore took the hand off from the Tiger quarterback and set sail down the sidelines for a long touchdown run as fans, players, and coaches on both sides of the field cheered him on. It was indeed a very special moment that no one in attendance will soon forget.

It was also “Pink-Out” night where upwards of 500 fans had purchased t-shirts to help raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Support could be seen throughout the stadium as many cheerleaders, players, and fans were decked out in pink. In addition to the money raised for breast cancer awareness through the sale of the t-shirts, a local business, Budget Paint and Body Works, also donated $100 for each Brave touchdown to the worthy cause which amounted to $900.

Each player who scored will be given a certificate from Budget honoring their donation through their on the field efforts. Fox-5 news was also on hand to film some highlights for High 5 Sports.

Earlier in the week the Braves were nominated for the Team of the Week Award but were narrowly defeated in an online poll by the Fayette County Tigers, a AAAA school. Braves fans from all over the world clicked and texted until they could click and text no more accruing a near record number of 250,000 votes.

The highlight reel shown during the High 5 Sports Friday night broadcast featured several Braves including Duranta Dunson, Jonathon Hunt, and Ta Freeeland.

The Braves dominated the game from start to finish outgaining the Tigers 454 to 119 in yardage. Dunson scored three times in the first quarter and ran for 107 yards in limited action.

Jonathon Hunt continued to shine with 75 yards on just four carries and he also tossed a touchdown pass to Ta Freeland. Freeland caught two TD passes including another from back-up QB Taylor Smith.

Tori Rogers added to his already impressive stats with two TD’s. Senior Damon Pearson returned a kickoff for another TD from 60 yards away.

Late in the game freshman Quay Daniel got his first career TD on a 71-yard scamper. The Braves (8-0, 6-0) will face Spencer (3-5, 3-3) this Friday in the last regular season home contest.  It will also be Senior Night. (Photo by Rodney East)