Alabama High School Football Team Led By 8th-Grade Sensation

Kole Moody has thrown for over 5,000 yards before freshman season

An Alabama high school football team is on the cusp of competing for the Class 3A state championship with an eighth-grader at the controls of the offense.

Southside High School, which plays Bayside Academy on Friday night in the Alabama high school football 3A state semifinals, is led by eighth-grade phenom Kole Moody.

Moody, the son of Southside head coach Charles Moody, has had a monumental season before even stepping foot inside the high school halls. In 13 games this year, Moody has completed 273 of 359 passes for 5,089 yards with 58 touchdown passes.

Kole Moody Has Special Players At Wide Receiver Including Cedrick Simmons, Derrick Surles

The Panthers have four leading targets for Moody, as Cedrick Simmons leads the way. The junior has caught 99 passes for 2,083 yards and scored 18 touchdowns, as senior Derrick Surles also has 18 receiving touchdowns on 73 receptions and 1,309 yards.

Junior Michael Hosea sits just under the 1,000-yard mark, catching 52 passes for 956 yards and 15 touchdowns, as senior Amari Towns has 33 catches for 646 yards and seven scores.

Southside, Kole Moody Riding High Heading Into State Semifinals

Moody, who stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 150 pounds, ranks first in the nation on MaxPreps in yards passing. He threw for at least 300 yards in the first 12 games of the season before going for 288 in a win over Glenwood last week.

In a 76-38 victory over Bullock County in late October, Moody completed 29 of 35 for 584 yards and eight touchdowns. He has at least three TD passes in all but one game, going for over 400 yards five times besides the 584-yard performance.

After Early Start, Moody Continued Piling Up Large Numbers, Victories For Southside

Moody threw 17 touchdown passes in the first three games of the season and had over 1,100 yards. In a two-game span in October, he threw 10 touchdowns with no interceptions, completing 32 of 36 passes for over 700 yards.

Charles Moody is a former standout tight end at Alabama A&M where he earned all-SWAC honors, catching 63 passes for 740 yards and six touchdowns during his collegiate career. He took over the program at Southside in 2019.

Bayside Academy is 12-1 on the year and coming off a 30-13 win over Montgomery Academy. The lone loss was a Week 1 setback to St. Michael Catholic.

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