Mooney vs Cleveland Benedictine

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Mooney vs Cleveland Benedictine

Team

Cardinal Mooney

Record	Div.	Conf.
4/6	Div. IV	Independents

By Chuck Housteau

sports@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The Mooney Cardinals look ready to make a run down the home stretch of their season after an easy 42-7 victory over Cleveland Benedictine Friday night at Stambaugh Stadium.

The win was the second straight for the Cards (5-2) and had coach P.J Fecko happy with the improvement with his team over the course of the season.

“We’re happy with how we’ve improved from last week to this week and from last week from the previous weeks,” Fecko said. “Our guys came out with a good week of preparation and executed well tonight.”

Mooney rushed for 215 yards and five touchdowns in the first half as they cruised to an early 35-0 lead.

The Cards scored their first three touchdowns in a 3:42 span of the first quarter.

“We executed well on defense and kept [Benedictine] pinned down in their own end of the field,” Fecko said of the fast start. “Once we got the ball we were able to score rather quickly.”

Quarterback Kevin McGuire hit four of five passes for 47 yards in that early scoring spree as Mooney moved the ball at will over the Bengals (1-6).

McGuire also rushed for 76 yards on six carries and scored on an 18 yard touchdown run.

“Kevin is a very capable quarterback,” said Fecko. “We feel comfortable with him throwing the football and he did a good job of running the offense tonight.”

Tailback Charlie Brown ran the ball three times, all in the first half, for 96 yards and he scored two touchdowns on runs of 50 and 24 yards.

The Mooney defense was equally impressive as it pitched a shutout until the Bengals scored on a 60-yard run by Marshall Howell against the Cards backups.

“Our defense is playing a little more consistent,” Fecko said. “Our guys are paying a little more attention to detail and making sure people are where they need to be. We’re starting to make more plays and getting into a groove.”

Mooney finished with 322 yards of offense on the ground and 369 total yards for the game.

Benedictine had some success in the second half as Mooney rested its starters.

Tailback Bryan Lacey finished with 120 yards rushing on 20 carries while Marshall Howell had 110 yards on 17 carries.

The Cards will close out the season at Stambaugh with a tough stretch of games against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Ursuline and Cincinnati Moeller.