Saturday, September 26, 2009
By TOM WILLIAMS
Vindicator sports staff
YOUNGSTOWN — For about five seconds of the second half, the showdown between state-ranked Mooney and Mentor Lake Catholic continued to live up to its Clash of the Titans billing.
Charlie Brown gave Mooney the momentum when he dashed for a 94-yard touchdown on the second-half kickoff of the Cardinals’ 42-14 win at Stambaugh Syadium on Friday night.
Braylon Heard’s two-point conversion gave the Cardinals, the top-ranked team in this week’s Div. III AP poll) a 28-14 lead.
With the Cougars (No. 2 in Div. II) unable to slow the Cardinals’ ground attack, Mooney (5-0) added two more scores in the third quarter.
“The linemen got it done tonight,” said Mooney’s senior running back-defensive back, Ray Vinopal, who scored two touchdowns on long runs.“Charlie Brown busted out with that huge return and that just set the tone for the whole [second] half.
“We fed off of that momentum.”
Pounded hard by the Cardinals’ ground game, the Cougars trailed by 28 points in the third quarter.
“We started to wear on them a little bit,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said after the Cardinals rushed for 404 yards on 53 carries.
“We’re pretty confident in our rushing attack because we have the hogs up front to do it and the backs,” Vinopal said. “We work well together. We like running behind them and they like blocking for us. We’re fortunate to have a big physical line.”
The game developed slowly for the Cardinals who fell behind by eight points.
“We had stalled due to their good defense,” Fecko said. “We just had to make some tweaks here and there.”
The Cougars (4-1), thanks to a second chance opening kickoff return, stunned the Cardinals when returner Richie Sanders raced 85 yards to the Mooney 1.
Sanders scored on the next play for Lake Catholic’s 7-0 lead.
“I knew they were a very good football team but I was confident in the way we performed all week,” Fecko said. “I thought it would carry over into the game but as the start of the game fell out, I wasn’t so sure that was going to happen.
“You just have to weather the storm,” Fecko said. “And we did. We took some shots early, but we were able to swing the momentum our way.”
Mooney scored on its second possession with Vinopal breaking loose for a 47-yard touchdown run.
“I just got the ball and made a quick little move to the right,” Vinopal said. “My fullback [Mark Brandenstein] made a great block to kick out their end.
“Our offensive line was blocking all over the place,” Vinopal said. “It was nothing but green ahead of me so I just tried to use my speed.”
A missed extra point kept the Cougars in the lead that grew to 14-6 when Lake Catholic quarterback Jerrod Roynak hit Zach Cvelbar down the right sideline for a 33-yard scoring toss.
That’s when the ball began rolling Mooney’s way. Quarterback Alex Zordich raced 55 yards for the Cardinals’ second touchdown. Heard’s conversion run tied the game.
Late in the half, the Cardinals gobbled up time and yardage, going 80 yards on nine plays. Heard’s 6-yard scoring run sent the Cardinals to the locker room with a six-point advantage.
“Our defense was doing a pretty good job in that first half of not letting them do much,” Fecko said. “Our defense hung in there. We had some three-and outs. Then we blew it open in the second half.”
The Cardinals sacked Ronyak three times in the first quarter.
“That whole first half, he was running around,” Fecko said. “There were times that we missed him but we were able to flush him a little bit and disrupt some throws. Anytime you can throw the timing off of an offense like that, it’s a big deal.”
The Cougars rushed 33 times for 132 yards. Ronyak 6-foot-3, 205 pounds) completed 11 of 20 passes for 124 yards.
“That’s a guy who’s been making an awful lot of plays and making good decisions,” Fecko said. “When you have that whole combination with his size and his ability, the way he runs the offense, he becomes quite a handful. Thankfully, we were able to keep him pinned down.”
williams@vindy.com