By Joe Scalzo

The Cardinals cruised to an early 20-0 advantage.

YOUNGSTOWN — With junior Braylon Heard out with a bum ankle, senior Dave Italiano out with a broken leg and a slightly more familiar Irish team looming in Week 9, the Cardinal Mooney High football team could have been excused if their players weren’t at their best Saturday night against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary.

The Cardinals needed just three plays and 94 seconds to prove they wouldn’t need any excuses.

Junior George Lyras stripped Irish running back Harvie Tuck IV on the third play from scrimmage and cruised 34 yards into the end zone to set the tone en route to a 33-7 victory at Stambaugh Stadium.

“Their running back [Tuck] was held up by one of our linebackers and Coach Z [Michael Zordich] always says if he’s held up, get the ball,” said Lyras, who also had an interception that set up Mooney’s third TD. “I was surprised it the ball landed right back in my hands and I just took off running.”

Junior Karrington Griffin filled in well for Heard, carrying 16 times for 124 yards and a TD. Starting RB Ray Vinopal was his usual self, rushing 11 times for 94 yards and a TD while adding a 23-yard TD reception that gave Mooney (7-1) a 20-0 lead with more than five minutes left in the first quarter.

“We stunned them a little bit by jumping out early,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said. “Our guys up front did a great job and Karrington is an able body. He and Ray made some great decisions.”

Heard, an explosive junior tailback, is expected to play against 8-0 Ursuline on Friday when the teams celebrate the 50th anniversary of their rivalry.

Italiano, however, is out for the year after injuring himself in practice. But as Lyras said, the Cardinals have enough talent to overcome some injuries.

“We’ve got a lot of depth this year,” said Lyras, whose team has won seven straight since an opening loss to Mentor. “It was big that Braylon got hurt but other guys stepped it up.”

Chuck Gruber had a 30-yard interception return for a touchdown that closed out the scoring and Donald D’Alesio also had an interception as Mooney’s defense dominated the Irish, who finished with just 178 total yards on 56 plays.

Tuck, a bruising 5-11, 220-pounder, carries 21 times for 45 yards for the Irish (6-2), whose only other loss was by one point to Akron Garfield. St. Vincent-St. Mary is 1-16 all-time against the Cardinals, including two losses last year.

Quarterback Vince Pelini was 6 of 11 for 47 yards and two interceptions before getting banged up and leaving the game in the third quarter. Pelini is the nephew of Nebraska coach Bo Pelini and was facing his cousin, Mooney junior lineman Mark Pelini.

The Cardinals now prepare for Friday’s game, which pits arguably the best two teams in the Mahoning Valley this season. Mooney holds a 36-14-3 edge in the series and has won six straight.

As if the game needed an extra hype, it also looks like it will be the final game in the Steel Valley Conference’s storied history. Warren Harding is exiting the three-team league after this season.

“It’s an exciting week for both schools,” Fecko said. “At the same time, we’ve got to keep ourselves focused. Everybody has a responsibility. The student body has theirs and the alumni has theirs and so on.

“Ours is to get better as a football team and go out and play Friday night. We can’t get distracted by the other things going on.”

scalzo@vindy.com