VA-SJ rally ends Mooney's season

The Cardinals came back from a 20-7 deficit.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Franklin Frazier's 8-yard run with 30 seconds remaining, his only carry of the game, lifted the Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph football team to a 26-21, come-from-behind victory over Cardinal Mooney Saturday in a Division IV regional quarterfinal playoff game at Stambaugh Stadium.
The win advances the Vikings to second-round play next week as they improved to 7-4 overall, winning for the fourth time in their last five outings.
The Cardinals, winners of two straight and five of their last six contests heading into the playoffs, ended their season with an 8-3 mark.
"Franklin Frazier doesn't run the ball very often, but I sure am glad that he was able to find his way into the end zone as time was running out," Viking coach Tom Schoen said. "Being a shallow team without much depth, we can wear down at the end of a game. I really felt that as long as there was time on the clock though, then we had a chance tonight."
Cardinals rebound
The game was a tale of two halves as VA-SJ dominated the first half of play to take a 20-7 lead at intermission. The Cardinals on the other hand controlled all but the final Vikings drive during the final 24 minutes to forge a 21-20 lead midway through the final quarter.
"This is a disappointing loss for us, especially after we fought back to take the lead," Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said.
"The simple fact though is come playoff time, if you don't win five games, your season is going to end with a loss," Fecko said. "This truly was a very unique team. I told them at the end of the game to recognize what a tremendous job they had done all season long. This was a close-knit team that showed a commitment, had an excellent work ethic and a real togetherness."
The Vikings set the tone of the game early as quarterback Mike Cvelbar (who completed 12-of-22 for 171 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for a team high 109 yards on 18 carries) found wide receiver C.J. Kostranchuk with a 21-yard scoring strike on their first series for a 7-0 advantage.
Stoops to the house
Cardinal Mooney signal-caller Ron Stoops then tied the score at 7 when he scored on a 65-yard run just 41 seconds into the second quarter.
Cvelbar added scoring strikes of 49-yards to David Lighty and 15-yards to Dewan Hoover (the placement failed) as the Vikings built a 20-7 lead at intermission.
"Mike Cvelbar did one super job for us tonight," Schoen said. "It's really not a surprise because he's been doing this for us the past two seasons. The quarterback draw seemed to be open for us so Cvelbar took what he could get."
The Cardinals then scored 14 unanswered points to take the lead, the first score coming on an Eric Mariotti 2-yard plunge with 1:35 remaining in the third period while Mike Rich's 2-yard run with 7:15 to go gave the Cardinals a 21-20 lead.
The key play on VA-SJ's final drive came on a fourth-and-four from their own 41-yard line. Electing to go for it, Cvelbar hit Kostranchuk with a 9-yard completion to keep the drive alive.
Aided by a pass interference call with under a minute remaining to move the ball to the Cardinal 8-yard line, Frazier then scored the game winner with 30 seconds remaining.
"We have played several spread teams and Ursuline would be a similar opponent to the Vikings' style of play," Fecko said. "Give them credit though. Cvelbar was elusive tonight."