YOUNGSTOWN Cardinals bounce back, put pain in Painesville

Cardinal Mooney rolled, 55-0, past the Division I team.
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Cardinal Mooney football coach P.J. Fecko wasn't concerned about his team's ability to bounce back after last week's tough 21-19 loss to Warren Harding.
"We have great senior leadership," Fecko said. "I didn't see any letdown from our seniors this week."
Even with the team's top leader, quarterback Ron Stoops, out with an injury, the Cards were still able to roll past Division I Painesville Riverside 55-0 at Stambaugh Stadium.
Stoops' understudy, junior Kyle McCarthy, ignited the Mooney offense in the first half by scoring on runs of 46 and 19 yards.
McCarthy also connected on 4 of his 8 pass attempts for 73 yards through the air in the first two periods.
"I had a lot of confidence in myself and the team," McCarthy said. "I was nervous at first, but once we started playing football, we were just playing football."
Three first-half fumbles kept the Beavers in the contest as Riverside trailed just 14-0 after two periods.
The Cardinals broke open the game in the third quarter by scoring 27 points. Mooney's defense, which has been the strength of the team all year, was outstanding.
The Card defenders limited Painesville to 11 total yards of offense and two first downs.
Turnovers
Mooney forced Riverside into four turnovers which all resulted in points by the offense.
Running backs Frank Cassese and Eric Mariotti tallied two touchdowns each, and Mike Rich and Isiah Thomas also scored on short runs. Kicker Dustin Hinkle was good on seven of eight kicks.
"It was a great overall game," Fecko said. "This team is coming together, and we played great football in the second half."
In his first start at quarterback, McCarthy played flawlessly as he accounted for 169 of Mooney's 426 total yards. McCarthy rushed for 96 yards on 5 carries to go with his 73 passing yards.
McCarthy also returned a punt 43 yards to the 2 yard-line of Riverside to set up another score. He's also a standout on defense for the Cardinals.
Cassese was Mooney's leading rusher with 110 yards on 14 carries while Mariotti added 57 on 10 rushes.