Hult, Spartans air attack impressive

Moberly senior quarterback Chad Hult and junior receiver Brian Williams on Friday were strong imitations of Joe Montana and Jerry Rice at Dr. Larry K. Noel Spartan Stadium.

On each of the three occasions Hult connected with Williams, the result was paydirt.

Williams racked up an impressive 153 yards of receiving and scored three touchdowns, while Hult threw for 271 yards on 9-for-13 passing and had 5 TDs to lead the Spartans (2-0) to a 48-28 victory over California Pintos at home.

Senior Alonso Spiller ignited the home town spirit by taking the opening kickoff 85 yards down the northwest sidelines for a score. Then during Moberly's first offensive possession, Williams' first reception from Hult went for a 29-yard TD to help push the lead to 14-0 and give a standing room only home crowd something more to cheer for.

"Anytime you can take the opening kickoff and run it back for a touchdown certainly gives a lot of energy to a team to work with. Alonso's run was spectacular. But there is also that alter ego side too that a team can get so excited that you forget to play," said Moberly football coach Jason Ambroson. "Our offense was great and scored on its first series, then we had a let down when we let them score on their ensuing possession on a 26-yard pass play and that hurt."

Three of Moberly's four first half touchdowns came on big plays of 29 yards or more, and the final score that delivered the Spartans its 28-14 halftime lead came on a 3-yard plunge by senior runningback Charlie Gibbs with 0:50 left to cap an eight play 50-yard drive.

After California's Casey Wasser caught his 26-yard TD reception from quarterback Eric George with 4:42 remaining in the opening period, less than two minutes later Moberly answered on a 34-yard TD pass from Hult to Spiller. Spiller made the over the shoulder catch alongside the California sidelines in full stride, just two steps ahead of the reach of Pintos defender Tyler Imhoff, and dashed untouched for the next 12 yards into the endzone for a 21-7 score.

Steven Farris ran three yards for a California touchdown with 2:21 left in the second quarter to pull his team within seven points.

California's special team play is primarily what kept them in the game and provided Moberly fits. On punt returns or kickoffs, the Pintos would either run reverses or fake reverses that often netted big gains.

Matt Kirchoff took the opening kickoff of the second half on a fake reverse and went 81 yards to the Moberly 2 yard line. Two plays later their deficit was cut to 28-21 when Glenn Baquet scored.

"Those reverses and fakes gave us some fits. We knew that was coming and we practiced against that most of the week leading up to this game," Ambroson said. "They ran the ball pretty well but our defense held its own for the most part, but their offensive scores were set up on those reverses and fakes. I was pretty disappointed that we got burned a few times, but we also made some nice tackles and held them too. I give them credit for the way they run that play. They are effective in doing that."

The Pintos (0-2), who defeated Moberly by a similar 48-34 score last year, nearly matched the Spartans' ground game 192 to 187 yards rushing.

Gibbs gained 119 yards on 22 carries and sophomore Dustin Allen rushed 11 times for 49 yards to pace the Moberly rushing attack.

"Charlie did a great job running hard with the ball. He is a physical ball carrier and muscled his way for some yards," Ambroson said. "Give our offensive line credit. They made the holes and also gave Chad time to throw the ball."

But it was Hult's presence in the pocket that made the difference in the outcome where Hult made some great reads and was right on target on all but two of his 13 pass attempts.

Besides Williams, Hult also found Spiller three times for 55 yards, Todd Carney twice for 13, and threw a bullet to Darik Kelly in the middle of the field for a 50-yard TD reception with 7:56 left in the third quarter to put the team up 35-21 at the time.

Arguably, Hult's most impressive hook-up of the game was when he hit Williams on the fly for Moberly's final score of the game and a 48-21 lead.

At their own 22-yard line and a third and eight situation, Hult changed the play at the line and connected with Williams for a 78-yard TD reception as time expired to end the third quarter. Williams made three nice cuts on the field and went untouched into the endzone.

It also was the second time Hult had changed a play at the line that resulted in a score. The other strike was his 44-yard TD pass to Williams just five minutes earlier.

"Chad did a great job at quarterback and a couple of times he changed the play at the line when he read what the defense was giving him. Several of his passes were checks that were put in, and he did a nice job making a couple of checks to get the ball into the right hands. His throws were accurate and his receivers did a nice job getting to the ball, catching and then were effective running with it," Ambroson said. "Brian Williams made some great cuts down field for that touchdown reception. Really great."

Baquet led the Pintos offense rushing 15 times for 90 yards. Kyle Fulks rushed for 32 yards on six carries and Kirchoff had 21 yards on four carries.

George completed 7-of-12 passes for 61 yards and was intercepted by Moberly sophomore Trey Barrow during the third quarter. California receiver Wasser caught four of George's passes for 27 yards to lead the team.

"Our line had a big part in this game, but I think their line also did very well against us. In the battle of the trenches between the two teams, they did what they wanted to do to us and we did the same to them," Ambroson said. "There was a whole lot of hard hitting going on and I think there will be a lot of kids banged up and sore (Saturday) on both teams. This got to be a pretty physical game."

The Spartans travel next Friday to Shelbina where they will face Class 1 ninth-ranked South Shelby (2-0), who has not given up a point this season and have out scored their opponents 61-0 after Friday's 20-0 victory over Palmyra.

Last year, Moberly beat the Cardinals 26-15.