Johnson, Burney guide Mooney past Panthers

The Cardinals will meet Canton Central Catholic in the regional final.
By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
UNIONTOWN -- The Mooney High football team's waltz through Division IV Region 13 competition continued Saturday with a foxtrot through the Manchester defensive center.
Tailback Nate Burney's 97-yard touchdown in the first quarter put the Cardinals ahead and quarterback Derrell Johnson's 39-yard dance in the final quarter capped Mooney's 28-9 victory at Blue Streak Stadium.
Next Saturday, the defending state-champion Cardinals (10-2) will play Canton Central Catholic in the regional final.
Nickname
"We call him the human joystick, because even though we know he has the ball, it's hard to find him," said Burney of Johnson who also had a 49-yard run through the center to set up Mooney's second touchdown early in the third quarter.
"Our line came out focused in the second half and got it done," Burney said after the Panthers limited the Cardinals to a 7-3 halftime edge. "We just started to move the ball like we wanted to."
Mooney's second-half dominance came after a wild first half that coach P.J. Fecko agreed was "quite bizarre. I don't have an answer, but it wasn't very good.
"In the first half, we had just way too many mental mistakes and put us in some bad situations," Fecko said.
Burney finished with 193 yards while Johnson gained 102.
The Cardinals needed a little less than three minutes at the start of the second half to open up a 14-3 lead. From the shotgun, Johnson and Burney took turns gaining significant yards.
Johnson broke through the Panthers' center for a 49-yard burst to the Manchester 5.
Breathing room
Three plays later, Johnson scored on a quarterback keeper from the 1 to give the Cardinals some breathing room.
They were gulping sighs of relief with 9:12 to go as Johnson hit unguarded Burney with a short toss that he ran in for a 35-yard touchdown and a 21-3 lead.
Early on, the Panthers took the Cardinals by surprise. They opened the game by moving from their 20 to the Mooney 10 in just five plays.
The big play was Phil Partin's 32-yard pickup to the Mooney 26.
But the Cardinals defense stiffened once the Panthers got near the goal line. On fourth-and-goal from the 2, Panthers coach Jim France chose to go for a touchdown. Partin was stuffed for no gain.
Two plays later, Mooney had the lead, 7-0. After Burney was stopped for a 1-yard gain on his first carry, Burney broke through the center of the Panthers defense for a 97-yard score. Will Kandray's extra-point kick gave the Cardinals a seven-point edge.
"That's the second one of my career," Burney said. "You're pretty tired when your done, but it's enjoyable."
Score nullified
The Cardinals thought they had a 13-0 lead when Johnson hit wide receiver Desmond Marrow with a quick out. Marrow eluded a slipping Panthers defensive back to race 58 yards for a touchdown.
But a holding call across the field from the play took those points off the board and pushed the Cardinals back to their 29.
After the Panthers forced a shanked punt, Marrow intercepted his second pass of the game at the Mooney 12 to thwart the Panthers.
But three penalties plus Blake Marsh's sack of Johnson at the 1 renewed the Panthers' spirits.
After Kandray's punt out of the end zone, the Panthers marched to the Mooney 5. But Robert Walker's sack of quarterback Travis Gregory for a 13-yard loss forced Manchester to settle for Brian Myers' 35-yard field goal 67 seconds before halftime.
The Panthers rushed for 116 yards in the first quarter alone before losing 8 yards on four runs in the second quarter.
williams@vindy.com