There must have been a sign hanging from Moore Stadium that said “defense need not enter.” Southmoore and Del City combined to score almost a 100 points Friday night in the first district game of the season.

However, it was the SaberCats’ defense that came up with the two biggest plays in the 54-42 District 6A-1 victory.

Southmoore trailed 42-40 with 2:32 remaining. It took quarterback Kendall Thompson only a few plays to post the go ahead score when he caught Austin Reece for an 18-yard touchdown pass. It was Thompson’s fifth touchdown of the game.

The Eagles got the ball back and were prepared to drive the field for the winning score. But a pass was picked off by junior Ty Young with 1:17 left on the clock. It was the second interception of the quarter for the Cats’ defense.

“It feels real good,” Young said. “We all worked hard, offense and defense. I feel like we finished the game strong. I am proud of my SaberCats.”

The victory pushes Southmoore to 2-2 on the season and, more importantly, 1-0 in district play.

“This district is an uphill battle all the way,” Southmoore coach Chris Jensen said. “We don’t have anything easy ahead of us.”

Southmore’s defense came up big in the final period, it was the offenses that provided the fireworks. The two teams combined for almost 1,000 total yards and both starting quarterbacks combined for nine touchdowns passes.

The SaberCats’ defense was put on its heels early. On the Eagles’ second possession, James Allen scored on a 8-yard run. Then’ after a lengthy drive, Del City went up 14-0 when Chazten Gonzales hit Chris McAlister on a 18-yard touchdown pass.

The defense redeemed itself when it recovered a Del City fumble in the second quarter. It set up a 15-yard touchdown pass from Kendall Thompson to Derek Serowski.

The Eagles’ lead was cut to seven, but it didn’t last long. After a three and half minute drive, Greg Johnson scored from 4 yards out and put Del City up 20-7.

But, in less than a minute the Cats struck again. Kendall Thompson drove them down to the 9-yard line with only 2 seconds left in the half. Instead of going for a field goal and cutting the lead to 10, Jensen went for it all. His gamble paid off when Thompson hit Austin Reece in the middle of the end zone for a touchdown as the clock ran out. Southmoore trailed 20-14 at halftime.

“We came out a little slow,” Jensen said.

The third quarter when both teams started to light up the scoreboard.

The SaberCats took the lead when Kendall Thompson threw his third touchdown of the game on a 41-yard screen pass to Kyuann Thompson. Kyuann Thompson scored again and put the Cats up 28-20.