Coming off an emotional win over archrival Bexley on Thursday, September 28, the CA football team looked to stay hot with a win over Columbus East. The Vikings did exactly that, cruising to a 45-22 home victory.
Finally back in front of its home crowd, Academy busted out of the gates to begin the game. East received the opening kickoff, and faced a 4th and 1 deep in its own territory. The Tigers elected to go for it, but quickly regretted their decision as the Vikes smothered them at the line of scrimmage.
CA’s offense wasted no time cashing in on the good field position. Just a few plays later, senior quarterback Matt Saling hit junior Dorrian Moultrie on a bubble screen, and stellar blocking from the other Vikings receivers escorted him to the end zone.
On the ensuing possession, Academy’s defense forced the East offense into another 4th down. This time, the Tigers decided to punt instead of going for it again. But they would soon realize this was just as bad of an option. Moultrie fielded the kick at around midfield, planted his foot in the ground, and took off. As he approached the sideline, he cut upfield before outracing everyone for his second touchdown of the night. Not only is Moultrie the unquestioned best receiver in the MSL, he is also proving to be the premier return man in the conference as well.
Despite the early 14-0 hole, East refused to go down quietly. The Tigers embarked on an impressive 87-yard touchdown drive through the heart of the Vikings’ defense to stay in the game. The extra point was missed, but East had cut the deficit to 14-6 after the first quarter.
Academy’s offense took over, looking to extend its lead back to double digits. It got the job done, as the drive resulted in a 44-yard field goal by Sam Massick. The sophomore kicker has quietly been one of the most impressive players for CA this season.
After the two teams exchanged punts, the Vikes got the ball with time winding down in the half. They marched down the field, and were at the Tigers’ 3-yard line with 17 seconds on the clock. Saling took the snap, rolled right, and lofted a pass to wide open junior Chris Boyle, who made his first touchdown catch of the year. Academy headed to the break with a commanding 24-6 advantage.
But the Tigers swung back once again in the third quarter. They completed another time-consuming drive with a rushing score, and after a successful 2-point conversion, they found themselves downby just 10. East’s crowd began to feel the momentum shift and got behind their team.
Needing a score to put the Tigers away once and for all, the Vikes rose to the occasion. A big return from Moultrie kickstarted the drive, and Saling took the reins from there. He led CA down to the red zone, before floating a jump ball to Boyle in the back of the end zone for the knockout blow. After a slow start to the year, Boyle seems to be finding his groove and has emerged as one of the Academy’s top offensive weapons.
With an insurmountable 31-14 lead, the Vikes began to pile on. On their following possession, senior running back Herman Moultrie broke off a 52-yard touchdown run. He has now scored in 8 consecutive games, dating back to last season.
To start the final period, Saling called his own number and ran it into the end zone himself to make the score 45-14.
The Tigers picked up a garbage time touchdown at the very end, but it was much too late to prevent their 7th straight loss.
The Vikes will look to extend their winning streak to 4 as they hit the road to take on the tough Bloom-Carroll Bulldogs on Friday, October 13.