Cardinal Mooney's first state title came at a cost

Ted Bell injured his knee in the win over Western Reserve -- and never fully recovered.
By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
YOUNGSTOWN -- A 48-year-old man will wake up in his Lansing, Mich., home this morning with pain in his knee.
Ted Bell is used to it by now. He's lived with it for 30 years.
"When it happened, I always figured I'd get it fixed and I'd play again," Bell, who graduated from Cardinal Mooney High in 1974, said. "I'd been hurt before. I just thought I'd sprained it. I even ran off the field. I figured I'd be all right in a few weeks."
Weeks went by. Then months. Then years.
The pain never left.
"I'm going to get it replaced when I turn 50," he said of his knee. "Something's eventually going to have to be done."
Good and bad
No matter how you look at it, the best game in the best season of Bell's life turned out to be the most costly.
Bell, considered by many to be the greatest high school football player in the area's history, injured his knee in the fourth quarter of Mooney's 1973 Class AAA state championship victory over Warren Western Reserve at the Akron Rubber Bowl.
The injury came when the Cardinals -- leading 7-3 -- were driving for a game-clinching touchdown with two minutes remaining.
Bell, who already had a 33-yard touchdown, was stopped inside the 5 yard line, but came up hobbling. Fullback Dave Handel followed with a 1-yard touchdown run to seal the victory.
But for Bell, the damage was done.
"I don't blame anybody -- I wouldn't take anything from the journey I've had," he said. "It was the most intense game I've ever been a part of. I can still remember being the locker room after the game knowing we were state champs. You knew nobody could beat you. You were the best there is."
Special season
It was the first of four state championships for Mooney -- the most of any area team.
"There's definitely something special about your first one," said coach Don Bucci. "I remember walking off the field and looking at the crowd and thinking, 'I just can't believe this.' "
The Cardinals used the title game to avenge their only loss of the season -- Reserve won 6-0 in Week Six.
But Bucci said the highlight of the season was the Cardinals' 34-7 state semifinal win over top-ranked Cincinnati Moeller.
"Back then, the teams from Cincinnati and Columbus were state powers and getting the opportunity to play Moeller -- and to beat them so convincingly -- really put Youngstown football on the map," Bucci said.
Bell finished with 2,145 yards that season and still holds school records for career rushing yards (4,428) and career touchdowns (47).
Mooney's success wasn't surprising -- "We kinda had an idea that we were going to be good," Bucci said -- but few predicted the Cardinals would win a state title.
"I think as individuals, we weren't the best football players," Bell said. "But we had played together since ninth grade and we were close.
"By our senior year, things finally came together."
scalzo@vindy.com