Mooney, Ursuline will go for titles

STAFF REPORT

In week 15 of the 2008 high school football season, members of the Ursuline football team talked about vindication.

The Fighting Irish still had a bitter taste from losing to Maria Stein Marion Local in the 2007 Division V state championship game, and sporting a 14-0 record, dearly wanted redemption.

Ursuline got that and more, defeating Findlay Liberty-Benton, 21-0, for the first shutout in the Div. V state title game in 23 years.

This weekend, Ursuline goes for two in a row.

Friday afternoon at Fawcett Stadium in Canton, the Fighting Irish (10-3) go for their second straight Div. V championship and third of this decade, when they play Coldwater (13-1).

Earlier in the day, Cardinal Mooney (14-0) looks to put the wraps on a perfect season and their third state championship of the decade when the Cardinals meet Columbus DeSales (11-3) at 11 a.m. at Paul Brown Tiger Stadium in Massillon.

Ursuline, which also won the Div. IV state championship in 2000, will face a Coldwater team that defeated Mooney in the 2007 state title game in Div. IV. The Cavaliers also defeated Mooney in the 2005 championship game, also in Div. IV, and was the opponent when Ursuline won in 2000.

Last year, Coldwater lost to eventual state champion Kettering Alter in the regional finals in Div. IV before dropping to Div. V this season.

Cardinal Mooney also faces a familiar opponent, but one that wasn’t — familiar, that is — until this season.

The Cardinals met DeSales for the first time in school history in week 2 at Stambaugh Stadium. Mooney won that game, 21-14, but the Stallions, no strangers to the OHSAA playoffs, finished the regular season with a 7-3 record and have won four straight in the postseason to earn a rematch.

DeSales, area fans may recall, defeated Chaney 20-17 in the Div. II state championship game at Massillon, winning on a late field goal.

The Stallions also won state championships in 1985 and 1998 and finished as runners-up in 1990, 1996, 2001 and 2005.

This season marked the 16th straight postseason for DeSales, a streak reaching back to the 1994 season.

Mooney will be playing for its seventh state championship. This is the Cardinals’ 10th title game appearance.