Saturday, November 28, 2009
Gallery
Braylon Heard rushes for 298 yards and 3 TDs
By CHUCK HOUSTEAU
Vindicator Correspondent
CANTON — Braylon Heard didn’t dare look back.
After all, the Cardinal Mooney tailback had his sights set directly on next week’s state championship game at Massillon as he raced toward his final touchdown of the night against Steubenville.
Heard’s 94-yard touchdown run with 3:06 left in the third quarter sealed the deal on a game that really was put away by halftime and gave the Cardinals a 45-7 Division III state semifinal win over Big Red at Fawcett Stadium.
Mooney had too much defense, special teams and way too much Heard for Steubenville to handle.
Heard rushed for 298 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Cardinals to its 10th appearance in a state championship contest.
“It was a great job by the ‘O’ line,” Heard said. “We’re heading to the state championship game and that’s all I was thinking about during those runs.”
The Cards (14-0) will be trying for a perfect season and a seventh state title when they face Columbus DeSales next Friday at 11 a.m at Massillon Paul Brown Stadium.
Mooney defeated the Stallions 21-14 at YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium in week 2 of the regular season.
“Steubenville put together a great year. Year after year they put a quality program on the field and this year as well,” said Mooney coach P.J Fecko. “Fortunately we were able to jump on them quick.
“We were fortunate to make some big plays that put us ahead and we were able to play some sound defense behind it.”
Defense was Mooney’s calling card in turning back an explosive Big Red team that averaged over 370 yards of offense and nearly 35 points per game.
Linebacker Mark Brandenstein and company totally shut down All-Ohio quarterback Dwight Macon and allowed the Steubenville offense only one touchdown drive.
The Cards sacked Macon five times, forced him to scramble numerous other times and intercepted a pass.
“We did a good job of shutting down their great offense,” said Heard who also excelled on the defensive side of the ball. “We knew we had to shut down Macon and get pressure on him and our lineman and linebackers did a great job.”
Steubenville managed only 117 yards of offense, including 32 rushing yards on 29 carries, and seven first downs.
“Defensively our guys put on a very solid performance,” Fecko said. “They gave us good field position all night and allowed us to make some plays.”
The biggest plays offensively came via Heard.
The West Virginia recruit scored on runs of 43, 65 and 94 yards.
“The holes were huge,” Heard said. “Once I got out in front I wasn’t looking back.”
Mooney scored first on a 4-yard quarterback sneak by Alex Zordich that capped an eight-play, 81-yard drive on the Cards’ first possession.
Steubenville (12-2) tied the game late in the quarter on a 3-yard run by Jesse Birden that was aided by three pass completions by Macon.
After that it was all Mooney.
The Cards grabbed the momentum directly away from Big Red on the next series when Heard took an option pitch from Zordich and raced 43 yards untouched to the end zone.
Steubenville went three-and-out on its next possession and Heard scored on a 65-yard gallop with 6:36 left in the half that opened up a 21-7 lead for the Cards.
“That’s nothing we haven’t seen all year from Braylon,” Fecko said. “He’s made a lot of plays for us all year but it’s important to note that there are a lot of guys that make those runs possible for him.”
Mooney’s offensive line enabled the Cards to rush for 456 yards on 53 touches.
Ray Vinopal, who scored on a 30-yard run late in the first half, had 68 yards on eight carries, while Zordich added 29 yards and Charlie Brown had 28.
It wouldn’t be a story without praising Mooney’s special teams and kicker A.J Fox.
Fox kicked a 43-yard field goal into the wind in the third quarter to push the Mooney lead to 31-7. The junior also sent several kickoffs into the end zone and kept Big Red bottled up with his kickoffs and several booming punts.
Mooney’s special teams continually gave the Cards great field position all night long.
“Mooney outplayed us in every phase of the game,” said Steubenville coach Reno Saccoccia.
The Cards scored a final touchdown on a 1-yard run by quarterback Ed Reese in the fourth quarter.
“It was a great team effort,” said Vinopal. “Now we have to finish the job next week against DeSales.”