Ursuline and Mooney schools mark 50 years of rivalry revelry

By Jon Moffett

Both schools have invited their 1958 teams to attend the big game Friday.

YOUNGSTOWN — In 1958, Dwight Eisenhower was president, a gallon of gas cost roughly a quarter and two private schools in Youngstown played each other in football for the first time.

Today, someone who was 12 years old during the Ike era is president, a gallon of gas costs around $3, and Ursuline and Cardinal Mooney high schools are facing each other for the 50th year Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Stambaugh Stadium.

Carolyn Korenic, an Ursuline graduate and now director of alumni and advancement at the school, said the rivalry creates memories that last forever.

“So many of our alumni look back on this rivalry fondly and have so many great memories about Mooney,” Korenic said. “They may not remember moments of senior year, but they remember if they beat Mooney or not.”

Samantha Villella, who graduated from Mooney and is in her first year as director of advancement for the school, said the game is special.

“That’s what you waited for all year,” she said.

Marshall Finelli, a senior at Ursuline, said the game is the pinnacle of the year for football.

“It is the big game,” Finelli said. “Any rivalry in the area really doesn’t get any bigger than this.”

Billy Panick, a senior and student council president at Mooney, said just watching it take place, “to see everyone so excited for just one single football game, it’s just amazing to see the tradition.”

Though the game is the highlight of the week, the events leading up to the gridiron battle are part of what makes the rivalry so intense.

Students at Mooney and Ursuline prepared for the game by transforming their schools into elaborate displays of school pride.

“Every year during Mooney Week, we decorate the entire school,” said Ashley Williams, a senior cheerleader at Ursuline. “The theme for this year is ‘Showdown at the Irish Corral.’”

Ursuline’s Wild West theme features posters of caged cardinals throughout the hallways.

Mooney chose the theme “End the Luck of the Irish,” and the highlight is a display at the front of the school showing cardinals shipping leprechauns back to Ireland.

Along with decorating the halls, senior students also took the opportunity to decorate themselves for the week.

Each school chose different themes for each day during Spirit Week. Mooney’s themes were hillbilly day, fashion disaster day, movie star day and superhero day. Ursuline’s themes are superhero day, flashback day, nerd day and cartoon day.

Both Spirit Weeks will culminate with pep rallies today. The schools have invited their respective teams of 1958 to take part in the rallies, as well as a special pregame ceremony on the field Friday.

“We have the team of ’58 coming in, so it’ll be great to see them, and they represent the tradition well,” said John Simon, a senior tight end/defensive tackle for Mooney. “It’s a great honor to be playing in this game.”

Both teams enter Friday’s game touting impressive records. The Mooney Cardinals are 7-1 with their only loss coming at Mentor High School in the opening week. The Fighting Irish of Ursuline have a perfect 8-0 record.

Mooney has the edge on the rivalry, with an all-time record of 35-15-3. The Cardinals have won the past six contests, but the Irish look to get back on top to win bragging rights, as well as the trophy between the two schools: a shillelagh. The club from Irish folklore is a symbol of victory between the schools.

“We want it back. We haven’t had it in a long time, and we want it back,” said Megan Morrison, a senior at Ursuline.

Not so fast, said Dan McGlone, a senior fullback for Mooney.

“The shillelagh has made its home at Mooney for the past couple of years, and we’re hoping to keep it here,” McGlone said. “It’s been a tradition, and we like seeing it in our trophy case.”

jmoffett@vindy.com