| | Point Pleasant-Ravenswood extra pointsOctober 18, 2008 - Jody MurphyIt was quite a thrill Friday night in Ravenswood. The Red Devils, ranked fifth in Class AA had just come back from a two touchdown deficit, with a game-tying touchdown and PAT with five seconds left against Mason County rival Point Pleasant. The Red Devils won the game, 24-21, in overtime, on a 21-yard field goal by Tanner Hunter. The crowd - the Ravenswood faithful, anyway - was estatic, storming the field. Not everybody in a Red Devil jersey was celebrating. As fans hugged players and players hugged each other, Ravenswood senior lineman Tom Moss, stood off to the side of the impromptu party. He looked lost. Had he not been 6-foot-2, 241 pounds, he might have passed for a child looking for his parents. That's not far from the truth. Less than a week ago, Moss' dad, Charles R. Moss, died while camping with friends. Charles Moss, it is beleived, accidentily stepped off a 50-foot cliff in the darkness of rural Pleasants County. Moss left behind a wife and two kids, including Tom. Charles Moss was laid to rest Thursday. A day later his son was in uniform for the Red Devils. He played well, making a key overtime sack to stifle the Big Blacks offense. After the game, it was clear Moss was taking one for the team. "I knew my teammates needed me. I needed to be there for my teammates," he said with a tear trickling down his face. "I just did it for everybody else. "I needed to be here." Moss said he had a wellspring of thoughts going through his head at kickoff. "My mind was going crazy." Head coach Dick Sturm said the team was at the funeral service for Moss' father Thursday - in uniform to show their support. Sturm was unsure Moss would play Friday. He said the decision was entirely up to Moss and his mother. "The only thing I told him was that if he wanted to play, he had to be in school Friday," Sturm said. "Tom has ben through a great deal of adversity," he added. "I can't say enough about him. ... He's a tremendous young man." I have to agree with Sturm. Article CommentsNo comments posted for this article. Post a Comment | |