Moody rushing his way to history at Liberty
Moody rushing his way to history at Liberty
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LIBERTY -- Ever since the 2026 high school football season began, Liberty's Dawaun Moody has been running towards history.
Each Friday night this fall, Moody has put up some staggering numbers as he inched closer and closer towards several Leopards program milestones.
This past week against LaBrae, Moody finally eclipsed one of Liberty's biggest records, becoming the program's all-time leading rusher, breaking Leopards legend Fitzgerald Toussaint's record that was set in 2008.
"I was definitely excited. Pretty sure any player would be excited when I worked as hard as I did," Moody said of learning he finally broke the record. "But I give the credit to all my teammates and my coaches who gave me the opportunity to break that record. That's a team record, and I appreciate my guys."
But that's not the only record Moody set this season. In Liberty's second game against Niles on Aug. 28, Moody also broke Toussaint's career rushing touchdowns record.
He then followed that up by also breaking Sherron Walls' single-game rushing record by tallying 370 yards and four touchdowns on 18 carries in the Leopards' win over Newton Falls on Sept. 25.
"He amazes me every Friday night," Liberty head coach Dom Prologo said. "He sees things that people like me don't see. He just amazes me with his effort because guys I've coached before that were talented as all get out didn't play with the effort he plays with. His effort and his leadership has been phenomenal all year.
"He's up there with the best. I've coached kids that have won national championships in college as running backs, and he's as good as them."
Given their similarities and shared history, Toussaint has always been someone that Moody has idolized.
After he graduated from Liberty in 2008, Toussaint went on to star at Michigan from 2009-13. He then played four years in the NFL from 2014-17, spending time with both the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers.
"That's a legend, man. He's a legend and always will be a legend," Moody said. "I always strived to be like him. Hopefully I can do the same thing he did and follow in his footsteps a little bit. I had a conversation with him not too long ago. He told me to just keep striving to be better. That's all I try to do every day."
For his career, Moody has now rushed for 5,078 yards and 80 touchdowns. He's also thrown for 1,254 yards and 14 touchdowns, while also hauling in 33 career receptions for 586 receiving yards and nine touchdowns.
Looking back, Moody remembers arriving at Liberty as a freshman. His older brother, Dwayne, was also on the team at the time.
Moody always dreamed about becoming one of the best, and it's something that's fueled him throughout his high school career.
"I think that was always the goal, just being a better me -- trying to break records and trying to make my team better," Moody said. "I feel like the overall goal was always to make my team better, and I feel like I did that."
Last year, Moody split carries with Dyionn Tutwiler. But after Tutwiler transferred to Austintown Fitch during the offseason, the Leopards fully became Moody's team.
"He's taken on the role of 'this is my team.' If I gotta will them to a win, I'm going to help will them to a win. If I need to just lead us to a win, I'm going to lead us to a win, and that's the biggest difference in him, that leadership," Prologo said. "No kid that I've ever coached is more loyal than him. There's a lot of kids today that have a good year and they're like, where can I transfer to? He's shown loyalty to our program. He's shown loyalty to our vision, and now look where he's at."
With Moody leading the way, Liberty is in the midst of one of its best seasons in years. Despite a loss to Garfield a couple weeks ago, the Leopards sit at 7-1 with two games left in the regular season.
They're No. 6 in Division V, Region 17, of this week's iteration of the OHSAA computer ratings and control their own destiny for a playoff spot.
Plus, if Liberty continues to take care of business, Moody might have a chance to add one more record before his high school career concludes. He currently has 1,601 rushing yards this year, and Toussaint's single-season rushing record sits at 2,239 yards.
"Right now, we have to finish," Prologo said. "We gotta be able to beat Champion Friday night. We gotta be able to get ready, stay healthy and beat Southeast. Those are our two main goals right now, and then the playoffs will take care of themselves. If we do those two things, we'll get in the playoffs, we'll probably have a home game and then from there, it's a whole new season.
"You gotta ratchet everything up, and the kids are understanding that. We lost to Garfield and we told our kids, 'OK, the playoffs start now.' You want to play in the playoffs? You want a home game? You gotta win from now on, and our kids have embraced that."