Mooney - Father and Son

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A story about a son who plays football for Mooney and his father who is a coach there.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — His size sticks out like a finger on a fistful of sore thumbs, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound defensive tackle surrounded by Division I recruits, a lineman in a safety’s body on arguably the most talented team in the state.

His name is Matt Lyden. The undersized (for Mooney) senior is a first-year starter who lettered on special teams last season and spent the offseason before his final year of high school football dreaming of playing the Sam (or strongside) linebacker on a state title team.

Then, this August, during a scrimmage against Cleveland Glenville, Lyden found himself face-to-face with an uncomfortable truth.

“I wasn’t fast enough,” Lyden said.

So, Lyden took a step forward, put his hand down and managed to grab a starting spot next to three players who had at least three inches and 30 pounds on him.

How’d he do it?

Glad you asked. Because it’s a good story.

Several years ago, when Matt was 11, his father, Mark, took his only son to the downtown YMCA and walked to the weight room.

Mark, a man long on strength and short on height, showed his son the machines, watching carefully — then proudly — as his son showed a knack for the sport.

Within a year, Matt was entering — and winning — powerlifting contests. His work ethic and strength made him a natural, helping him emerge as the strongest pound-for-pound lifter in Ohio five years running.

Soon after his son started lifting, Lyden — a former head coach at Wilson and East who teaches at Chaney High — was hired on at Mooney as the strength and conditioning coach.

Lyden and his wife, Wendy, had already decided their three kids — Sara, Matt and Jade — would attend Mooney, so it was a natural fit. Especially since it meant he could coach his son.

“It was a dream come true,” said Lyden, who has coached at Mooney the past six years. “To be able to coach my kid and also be at one of the best programs in the state, surrounded by some of the best coaches and kids anywhere was great.”

At just about any other school in the Mahoning Valley, Matt would have been a starter by his junior year, if not earlier. But, surrounded by top-flight talent, Lyden had to bide his time, overcoming his lack of size with heart — and, especially strength.

“If he wasn’t as strong as he is, he’d be getting killed on every play,” Mark said.

When he lost the linebacker job, defensive line coach Tom Valesquez and defensive coordinator Ron Stoops gave him a chance to win a job at defensive tackle.

“Those guys are as fair as they come as far as giving someone an opportunity,” Mark said of Stoops and Valesquez. “They deserve a lot of credit for that.”

He won out, and now lines up next to Oklahoma recruit Taylor Hill (6-3, 0215), Div. I-recruit John Simon (6-3, 266) and All-Ohio lineman Brandon Ericsson (6-1, 261).

Matt’s been the World Natural Powerlifting Federation’s teenager lifter of the year the past three years, benching 300 pounds, squatting 500 and dead lifting 565. He set a national record when, at 165 pounds, he dead lifted 510. Among his teammates, only junior John Simon can compete with him in the weight room.

“I’m not going to play football in college, but lifting is something I can do the rest of my life,” Matt said.

“And, certainly, the girls don’t mind,” Mark said, smiling.

On Saturday, Lyden will play his final organized football game when the Cardinals try to become the first team in school history to win back-to-back titles.

No team in Ohio has played more games over the past four years, but no one’s quite ready for it to end.

“Truthfully, it’s a bittersweet moment,” Mark said. “Come 6 o’clock Saturday night, it’s over. I think most kids and myself would like to be back on the field on Monday.

“You just have to put it in perspective and enjoy the moment.”

Added Matt, “I’m never playing football again, so to win a state title my senior year at Mooney, you can’t ask for anything more than that.”

scalzo@vindy.com