NAPLES, Italy - All-Europe running back Alex Moya broke a 90-yard kickoff return Saturday that broke the back of a Naples comeback try and launched Ansbach to a 40-17 victory over the Widcats.

The big play came in the third quarter after Naples, which trailed 20-0 in the second period, had closed the gap to 20-17 in the third quarter.

Derrick Flake added two touchdowns — he had three on the day — after Moya’s score to salt away the game and guarantee Ansbach (4-0) at least a tie for the Division II-South title and a home-field berth in the European D-II quarterfinals on Oct. 23.

Moya’s kickoff return TD was his third score of the game. He ran 15 and 34 yards to paydirt in the opening stanza as Ansbach jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Flake’s first TD made it 20-0.

But Naples (2-2) came back behind the determined running of 5-6, 175-pound senior Kyle Smigelski, according to Ansbach coach Marcus George.

“He’s hard to handle,” George said by telephone of Smigelski, whose 14-yard TD run seven minutes before halftime combined with a Naples field goal to cut the deficit 20-10 at intermission. Naples then took the opening kickoff of the second half and started a drive that culminated in a Smigelski TD run.

That was as close as Naples would get.

T.J. Propp and Xavier Jones each made 11 tackles for Ansbach.

Migrated