CANTON -- Make some room in the trophy case at Cardinal Mooney High. There's more hardware on the

CANTON -- Make some room in the trophy case at Cardinal Mooney High. There's more hardware on the way.
The Cardinals won their fifth state football championship Friday, defeating Versailles 28-6 with a dominating performance in the Division IV championship game before 7,945 at Fawcett Stadium.
The 2004 trophy, clutched proudly by coach P.J. Fecko and his senior captains following the game, will join those from the state title teams in 1973, 1980, 1982 and 1987.
"All year we said we would do our celebrating at the end of the season," said Fecko, "and as soon as we get out of here we're going to start.
"The key component," said Fecko, "was that we believed in each other. This was a very unselfish team. It's difficult, when you're talking about a 45- or 50-man team, to keep everyone happy. Somewhere along the line feelings will get hurt or egos will get bruised. But this senior class, they didn't let that become an issue."
All-star performance
Kyle McCarthy, who rarely comes off the field, personified that. He ran 13 yards for the Cardinals' first touchdown, turned around the game with an interception for a score, and passed 47 yards to Dan Buccino for a third TD. And on defense, he made three touchdown-saving tackles.
The only thing McCarthy deflected better than opposing players was credit.
"No one can do it by themselves," said the 6-foot-1 senior. "I'm blessed to have a great group of teammates."
McCarthy finished with 98 yards rushing on 12 carries; his only completion went to Buccino for the touchdown that made it 21-0.
Through three quarters, Versailles had two big plays by Curtis Worms -- a 54-yard run at the end of the first period in which McCarthy ran him down from behind, and a 30-yard pass from quarterback Tony McNeilan that McCarthy stopped with an open-field tackle. Both plays could have gone the distance otherwise.
"He's a veteran and played with a lot of poise," said Versailles coach Al Hetrick.
"It just shows our defense doesn't quit," said McCarthy. "I'll bet if you see the film all 11 guys were chasing that guy. I just happened to catch him."
Play of the game
It was McCarthy's interception that turned the tide of the game.
The Cardinals led 7-0 when Versailles embarked on a long drive with 5:18 remaining in the first half.
The Tigers, utilizing more passing plays, advanced to the Mooney 21 with 30 seconds to play.
On fourth down and 12, McNeilan, a left-hander, dropped back and looked for his receiver running toward the end zone along the right sideline.
The ball floated, and McCarthy, playing off the receiver, stepped in front, caught it, and raced untouched 93 yards to make it 13-0. Jeff Seddon's extra point gave the Cardinals a 14-0 lead at the intermission.
"The thing that killed us was the interception return just before halftime," said Hetrick.
"Our quarterback overthrew the ball and [McCarthy] was Johnny on the spot."
About the only time the Tigers appeared to hurt McCarthy was on an option play. But, on the very next play McCarthy rolled to his right and threw a strike to Buccino for the 21-0 lead.
Big numbers
The Cardinals (12-2) finished with 241 yards rushing. Junior tailback Nate Burney fumbled on his first two carries of the game, but finished with 118 yards on 19 carries.
Wourms and Russ Beisner, Versailles' 1,000-yard rushers, were held to 89 and 71 yards, respectively. McNeilan was just 5-for-23 for 80 yards. Burney also had an interception that stopped the Tigers' last drive of the game.
"They played their strong safety like a linebacker and they were blowing up our running plays," said Hetrick, a veteran of 37 years as Versailles coach who has won six state championships since 1990.
"We felt we had to pass to get them off the 10-man front."
That decision played right into Mooney's strategy.
"We like to dictate the game with our defense," said Fecko. "We want to stop the run and force you to pass. If we shut down one element of your game then we feel like we're in control."
A key in the big plays was the domination by Mooney along both lines. A key statistic -- the Cardinals were 8-of-11 on third down and Versailles was just 1-of-12.
"Our line was very good," said Fecko. "When your line is playing like that then special things can happen."
And for all the big plays he made, McCarthy's best answer came when asked which one was his favorite.
"The last one, with all the seniors in the huddle."
A perfect finish to a perfect day.