Mooney will play Versailles for the state title next Friday.

Mooney will play Versailles for the state title next Friday.
MASSILLON -- For Cardinal Mooney High it was an old story made true by another generation of Cardinals.
Special teams play, defense and offensive ball control all resulted in a 28-6 state semifinal victory in Division IV over third-ranked Martins Ferry.
The Cards advanced to next Friday's state championship game against Versailles (11-3), which defeated Coldwater 14-0 in Dayton.
The defense put the Cardinals on top first after the Purple Riders (12-1) marched from their 19-yard line to the Mooney 4 and had a third down pass fall incomplete. Their junior kicker, Manoel Sampalo, attempted a 22-yard field goal.
Turn of events
Quickly, Nate Burney came from the outside and blocked the kick and a perfect bounce came up to Eric Mariotti, who raced 87 yards to the Martins Ferry end zone.
The first of Jeff Seddon's four conversions put Mooney in front, 7-0.
"I just came to the outside of the kicker's foot and got my hand up," said Burney.
"Nate came free to block the ball and I was in the right spot," added Mariotti.
Even though Martins Ferry had more yards and first downs in the first half, they were kept out of the end zone and Mooney's 7-0 lead held up going into the intermission.
Early in the third quarter a Cardinal drive was stopped at the Purple Riders' 16-yard line and Seddon was short on a field goal attempt.
Interception for a score
After two Luke Warren runs for 6 yards, Ryan Church the senior quarterback for the Riders, passed over the middle and Burney was on the spot, picking it off and returning it 35 yards for a touchdown with 6:30 remaining in the third quarter. That put the Cardinals (11-2) ahead 14-0.
"I saw the ball in the air and knew I had to make a big play," said Burney.
On the next Martins Ferry series, Mooney senior linebacker Jon Italiano sacked Church for a 10-yard loss and on the next play, Church fumbled the snap from center, and Italiano, who had three sacks and five solo hits, recovered the ball at the Cardinals' 44.
"We worked on breaking through their offensive line all week and it paid off," said Italiano.
Mooney then used 13 plays to go 56 yards, taking 6:47 off the clock, and when Mariotti scored from the 1 with 10:01 remaining in the game, the Cardinals led 21-0.
Martins Ferry, which wasn't held to less than 21 points in a game all season, scored on the first play following the kickoff as Church hit Ben Smith on a 61-yard touchdown pass.
But Mooney answered with a 16-play, 59-yard drive, with quarterback Kyle McCarthy scoring from the 2 with 0:38 remaining.
QB credited linemen
McCarthy the game's leading rusher with 111 yards on 14 carries, said, "After the Liberty game our offensive line was questioned. They challenged themselves and any yardage I or anyone else had is a credit to them."
Mooney coach P.J. Fecko celebrated his 30th birthday with the win.
"Burney's block was a huge momentum swing and the defense stopping that first quarter drive was big for us," he said.
"Our defense throughout the game proved their mettle by stopping their running game, which made their offense one-dimensional.
Fecko said a few changes were made in the locker room to pick up the pace offensively.
"We made blocking adjustments at halftime and we were able to move the ball much better.
Statistics
Burney ran for 78 yards on 25 carries with most of that yardage in the second half. Rich and Mariotti combined for 41 more yards as Mooney had more first downs, 17-12.
Church completed 10-of-17 passes for 181 yards, but the Purple Riders had only 31 rushing yards as the Mooney defense had four sacks on Church and three other hits for losses.
"Until tonight we have done well, but if we didn't play well on offense it was because of the Mooney defense," said Martins Ferry coach Dave Bruney.
"Once they were up 14-0 we knew they would be tough to beat. They are well coached and have the people to do a lot of things. We gave them a little help, which they didn't really need."