By John Bassetti

Discussion still lingers about Traficant’s decision to pass a fake punt by Jim Traficant led to the Cardinals 8-6 victory.

YOUNGSTOWN — Bill Crawford can still visualize the ball coming at him during a fourth-down play that enabled Cardinal Mooney to sustain a drive in the 1958 Ursuline game.

Crawford’s catch from quarterback Jim Traficant on 4th-and-1 preceded the game-winning touchdown and subsequent extra points with nine minutes left in an 8-6 victory.

Discussion still lingers as to whether Traficant — unilaterally — made the decision to pass on a fake punt play instead of punting.

Even Crawford isn’t sure whether coach John Hudzik made the call to punt or not.

The instructions Crawford got in the huddle were for a fake punt.

“I was out [of the huddle], then came back. That’s when Traficant told me it would be a fake. He said ‘You’re getting the ball. Be ready.’ If not, I would have never turned around [for the pass].

Trailing, 6-0, Mooney recovered an Ursuline fumble late in the third quarter.

Plays of 13 yards seemed to be in vogue as Traficant and Jack Vasko hooked up to cover that distance to get a first-and-10 on Ursuline’s 43.

After Traficant was sacked for a loss of 13 yards, Crawford got the Cardinals back to the 43 by catching a 13-yard pass from Traficant.

“We couldn’t run, so we stalled. That’s when we faced fourth-and-1. Dave Fitzpatrick and myself were halfbacks, but, on fourth down, we’d move closer to the line because we were faster than the ends and we could go down and cover punts.

“Traficant was in punt formation. After the snap, I brush-blocked my guy [Ursuline defensive end] and went out to the flat. I was able to get open. I could still visualize that ball coming and I could feel it hitting me in the stomach.”

Crawford said the actual pass from scrimmage at the 43 was about 10 yards, but he ran the remainder down the sideline to the 20 — enough for a 1st-and-10.

He just isn’t sure who, genuinely, called the play.

“I’ve heard that too,” Crawford said.

“Maybe they did say Traficant switched on his own. I don’t know. Whatever I heard in the huddle is the way it turned out: that it would be a pass to me and not a punt.”

From the 20, Traficant threw a jump pass to Vasko for the six points, followed by an identical play.

“He [Traficant] didn’t roll out. He just jumped. Vasko was the left end and went down and in and caught. Then he did the same thing again.”

Traficant completed 9-of-13 passes for 130 yards.

“We didn’t have the size Ursuline did and we didn’t run very much,” said Crawford, who made All-City as a senior in 1959.

Although Traficant’s TD and conversion to Vasko accounted for Mooney’s points, Crawford thinks he deserves some credit for making the fourth-down reception.

“All the talk is of the passes to Vasko. But what if I dropped that ball?” Crawford asks, rhetorically. “The thing’s over.

“We were all psyched up. We never thought about being underdogs. We didn’t think we’d lose.”

A week earlier, Mooney lost to Rayen, but finished the season with a three-game winning streak.

“We started that tradition,” Crawford said of Mooney football. “We started the tradition and others have maintained it.”

Crawford now lives in Boardman, retired from the Youngstown Waste Water Dept.

bassetti@vindy.com