Mooney QB led victory in 1958

By John Bassetti

Teammate Fran Lyons says Jim Traficant made his teammates better players.

YOUNGSTOWN — One of the more recognizable names on the 1958 Mooney football team is James Traficant, who many years later became Mahoning County Sheriff and the U.S. Representative for the 17th district.

Traficant is serving his final year of imprisonment for racketeering, bribery, obstruction of justice and tax evasion, but his fire and personality lit up the Cardinals when they played Ursuline for the first time at South High Stadium 50 years ago.

The teams renew their rivalry tonight at Stambaugh Stadium.

In the 1958 game, with the Irish leading, 6-0, Traficant fired a touchdown pass to Jack Vasko with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. The pair hooked up again for the conversion points.

“Jim was always on another level as far as emotions and firing up the team,” said Fran Lyons, a junior defensive back for Mooney that season. “He was a different guy and had his own world, but he was very, very emotional.

“If I had to be in foxhole with a guy, I think you’d want Jim Traficant,” Lyons said. “He could make people feel they’re capable of doing more than they could. He’d raise the level of people’s play and make you believe it.”

Lyons, who was part of the first class to go four years through Mooney, graduated in 1960. He’s retired and living in Bluffton, S.C.

Lyons played four years at Youngstown College for Dike Beede, then served in the military.

The anticipation of playing Ursuline was uplifting because it was a novelty and it was the established Catholic school in town.

“I never thought about it as a history-making event,” Lyons said. “It was just very, very exciting event.”

Lyons started 10 games his junior season. As a senior, he became a two-way player, adding the role of offensive end to replace Vasko.

Holding Ursuline to one touchdown in 1958 was a big accomplishment, Lyons said. Credit goes to defensive coach Mike Malmisur.

“He was way ahead of his time in coaching,” Lyons said. “He taught us how to read keys and study film. We learned more football from Mike than I learned in my whole career. I think his coaching enabled us to win that game.”

Lyons said he believes Malmisur had a great deal to do with him receiving a college scholarship.

“He took me under his wing. I didn’t have him my senior year and I missed him, but I learned enough.”

From what Lyons remembers of the Ursuline game’s halftime, the defensive players were busy digesting information from Malmisur.

“He was going over all the things we should be doing the second half. It was more cerebral stuff than yelling and screaming.

“He knew what to watch for and he knew how to teach it to people like myself who didn’t know very much.”

Because the Irish weren’t prone to passing, most of the action for Lyons was to defend the outside and up the middle.

“They were bigger than us, so I think they were trying to exploit the middle.”

After the game, Lyons remembers going to Mooney where the team was paraded across the cafeteria stage.

“That was very emotional,” Lyons said/ “During the game, we were too consumed with playing, so that appearance afterward was the fun part.”

In the service during Vietnam, Lyons worked for the criminal investigation department in Washington state.

He retired in private enterprise from Rimrock Corp., a company in Columbus that made automation and robotic equipment for the die-cast industry.

Lyons and his wife — the former Carol Mueller of Boardman — have been married 43 years.

bassetti@vindy.com