TRUMBULL COUNTY Harding ends slump, 28-6 against JFK

The Raiders' defense shut down Cleveland JFK, while Dan Herron led the offense.
By PETE MOLLICA
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
WARREN -- Coming off two straight losses, Warren Harding needed a win and bad Friday night.
The Raiders, behind the running of sophomore tailback Dan Herron and a stiff defense, came up with a 28-6 victory against Cleveland JFK at Mollenkopf Stadium.
Herron rushed for 121 yards on 18 carries and scored three touchdowns, while the Harding defense held the Fighting Eagles to 65 yards rushing and 102 total yards while improving to 6-2 on the season.
"It was a must-win for us tonight," said Raiders coach Thom McDaniels.
"I thought we played pretty well under the conditions tonight," he added. "We only had one turnover and that one should have never happened."
Ground game leads way
Harding finished the night with 252 total yards, 192 of them on the ground, while senior quarterback Roger Matlock was 7-of-11 passing for 60 yards and one interception.
The Raiders also used talented wide receiver Mario Manningham at tailback at times during the contest as the senior standout ran 10 times for 39 yards.
"We experimented with Mario this week," said McDaniels. "We gave him four plays this week and we expect to expand on that down the road."
After stuffing the Eagles on their opening drive, the Raiders hit paydirt quickly.
Starting at the JFK 43, Herron carried the ball four straight times, including a 32-yard scamper on his first carry and a one-yard TD jaunt on his fourth try, to put the Raiders up 7-0.
Eagles only score
JFK came right back with an 80-yard drive, its only real threat of the night. Senior Erin Bullock broke loose up the middle on a fourth-down play for a 36-yard touchdown run, but the point-after attempt failed.
The Raiders took the ensuing kickoff and marched 69 yards to take a 14-6 lead as Manningham picked up 34 of his 39 yards on the drive. Herron came on and scampered the final 13 yards for the touchdown.
Harding's defense set up the third touchdown when Ben Elser intercepted a Demonte Clement pass at the Eagles' 23-yard line.
Matlock passed nine yards to Herron, and then on fourth down from the 14 Herron broke off-tackle, turned the corner and raced for the end zone.
Final touchdown
After a scoreless third quarter, the Raiders finally hit paydirt in the fourth quarter.
This time the Raiders drove 63 yards on 13 plays, with a 13-yard pass play on fourth down from Matlock to Manningham keeping the drive alive. Senior Jon Richardson capped the drive with a two-yard TD run with 4:53 remaining.
The Eagles (6-2) had four offensive drives in the second half that netted a total of minus-17 yards as the Raider defense took control.
mollica@vindy.com