LEEDS — The rivalry game between Leeds and Moody is not a region contest, at least in technical terms.

For MHS interim head coach Brandon Wiley, however, it counts just the same.

“It’s a region game,” he said Thursday night in the midst of a jubilant celebration at Homer Smiles Field. “It’s a region game, because Moody ain’t been around long enough.

“In these people’s minds, they’ve never beat them (Leeds). … Oh, in my book, it’s a region game.”

Region game or no, Wiley’s Blue Devils made sure it was a memorable night for Moody: for the first time in school history, MHS conquered its archrivals from Leeds in a 7-6 triumph over the defending 3A state champs.

“The kids just never gave up,” Wiley said following the game, in between embraces from his wife and St. Clair superintendent Jenny Seals. “I knew, being good kids … good things happen to good people, and we’ve got good kids.”

Wiley’s Devils (6-4) won the game despite a dominant statistical night from Leeds (8-2). The Green Wave outgained Moody by a more than 2-1 margin, and spent almost the entire game in Blue Devil territory.

In fact, in the second half, Leeds turned the ball over on downs three separate times, and had a fourth-quarter touchdown called back due to a holding penalty.

“Great effort — we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times,” LHS head coach Keith Etheredge said. “We got a couple tough calls; we got two touchdowns called back. But we had our chances, shot ourselves in the foot.”

Etheredge’s squad very nearly won the game anyway. After holding the Green Wave and taking over at their own 31-yard line, the Blue Devils whittled the clock to 19 seconds before lining up to punt on fourth down.

That’s when disaster very nearly struck — the center snap sailed over the head of punter Brandon Watson and inside the Moody 5-yard line. The senior scooped it up, but could only manage to reach his own 24-yard line, giving Leeds the ball with 10 seconds to play.

Without a timeout, Etheredge opted for a game-winning field-goal attempt from 41 yards out. Sophomore Keaton Glass — whose two field goals were the only Green Wave points on the night — had the distance, but his kick hit the home-side upright.

“We had a great opportunity to make a play,” Etheredge said. “Keaton got all his leg in it and it just nicked off the upright.

“We just came up short this time. It’s hard to do it every single time.”

All the points in the game came in the first half. The Green Wave netted two Glass field goals, from 26 and 34 yards, on two first-quarter possessions, and led 6-0 at the close of the period.

Moody’s only scoring drive ended midway through the second quarter, when senior Brandon Hicks scored from five yards out. The Blue Devil possession covered 56 yards in 13 plays, and featured two fourth-down conversions. Blake Spiker’s PAT ultimately proved the difference, making it 7-6.

Hicks led the Blue Devil offense, with 32 yards and the touchdown on 10 carries. As a team, Moody managed 85 total yards for the entire game.

That left things to the Blue Devil defense, which surrendered 236 yards of total offense, but managed to keep Leeds off the board the rest of the night.

“Unbelievable,” Wiley said of his defense. “There’s a lot of teams that run the football, throw the football, but it all reverts to playing good defense and not turning the ball over.”

Tailback Dedrick Forsythe led the Green Wave, with 94 yards rushing on 17 carries. Sophomore Ladarius Rogers contributed 42 yards of his own on 10 carries.

“My hats off to that bunch right there (Leeds),” Wiley said. “Best week since I’ve been at Moody in 10 years.

“I told Keith after the game, I said, ‘You know what: we acted like two schools only 5 miles away, that play football. We didn’t have problems, Internet stupidness, nobody spray-paint on nothing, we didn’t have any personal fouls in the game. That’s just two schools that are close playing a football game.’ The officials said it, too.”

Wiley’s defense had to hold off the Green Wave multiple times in the fourth quarter before Glass’ field-goal try. The key moment happened midway through the quarter, with Leeds facing fourth-and-1 at the Blue Devil 34. A Forsythe run precipitated a measurement from the officials, so close the head official bent to examine the result, before signaling first down for Moody.

“I’ve never seen a referee get out to measure for a first down with a wallet,” he said. “I always thought you were supposed to do it with a credit card. When he did the wallet, it hits the ball … so I don’t understand what that was.

“They’ve (Moody) done a great job with their guys. Coach Wiley’s done a fantastic job up there. And my hats off to them – they played their hearts out tonight.”

On the ensuing possession, the Green Wave appeared to have taken the lead on a 46-yard touchdown run by junior Jonathan Rose. However, the run came back because of a holding foul. The possession ultimately ended when junior Shane McGinnis’ fourth-down scramble came up short of the marker.

Etheredge said Thursday he is not concerned about preparing for his team’s playoff game against Sylvania, at home on Friday.

“We’ll be fine,” he said. “We’ve won our region, haven’t lost a 3A football game in a real long time.

“It’s gonna be tough this weekend – it’s a rivalry game and they’re right down the road. But it’s the first time they’ve ever beat us, and we’re a 3A school. If you got 5A schools working to beat you, you’re doing OK.”

As for Moody, Wiley and his staff must now turn their attention to Greenville – the Blue Devils travel there Friday.

“The last two weeks, everybody kind of said, ‘Well, here we go again — no postseason,’” he said. “I got my stencil out and I drew ’09 on the wall, of playoffs.

“A squirrel’s gonna find a nut every now and then, know what I mean?”

Both games kick at 7 p.m. Friday.