Boardman @ Mooney / YSU

Gallery

Team

Cardinal Mooney

Record	Div.	Conf.
7/5	Div. IV	Independents

Team

Boardman

Record	Div.	Conf.
6/5	Div. II	All-American Conference Gold Tier

Unbeaten Cardinals dominate Spartans

By Joe Scalzo

scalzo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

On Mooney’s first offensive play Friday night, sophomore quarterback Courtney Love — who was making his first start — took the snap, rolled right and fired his pass straight into the hands of Boardman linebacker Dan Popio.

Over the next 51 plays, Cardinals coach P.J. Fecko called one more pass.

“That’s how it usually is, isn’t it?” Fecko said, laughing.

Despite losing just about every notable player from last year’s state championship team, Mooney (2-0) stayed unbeaten with a 28-6 victory that looked an awful lot like every other victory in the program’s history. The Cardinals dominated up front on both sides of the ball, rolling up a 307-10 advantage in rushing yards.

“They physically beat us up front, plain and simple,” said Spartans coach D.J. Ogilvie. “When you only throw the ball [two] times and just keep running it, there’s no magic defense for that.”

Senior running back Charlie Brown, who spent the past few seasons waiting his turn in the rotation, ran for a career-best 177 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment since my sophomore year,” said Brown, who was behind Division I recruits Braylon Heard (Nebraska) and Ray Vinopal (Michigan). “I just practiced hard and when it was my time, I got it done.”

Brown injured his shoulder early in training camp and is just now getting back to 100 percent. But with junior Roosevelt Griffin (12 carries, 57 yards, two TDs) and senior Carmen Leonelli (14 carries, 55 yards) sharing the load, and a typically-strong Mooney line in front of him, he doesn’t need to be an every-down back.

There’s plenty of others to give opponents grief.

“Our guys really did a tremendous job of controlling the line of scrimmage on offense and defense,” said Fecko. “Once you can do that and get somebody on their heels, you’re going to gain some momentum.

“Our guys did a really good job of being persistent and over time, we wore them down a little bit.”

Senior center Zach Azam, who is normally a backup, joined senior guard Ryan Cook, junior guard Carmen Lanzo, junior tackle Austin Trgovcich and senior tackle Mike Rossi in clearing big holes all night.

But when asked who he likes running behind best, Brown turned diplomatic and said, “I like running behind [fullback] Clarence Scott most.”

Boardman senior quarterback Trae Robinson completed 8 of 17 passes for 87 yards and junior Ryan Pollifrone added 35 yards on 3 of 4 passing.

But the Spartans (1-1) couldn’t muster anything on the ground and had negative rushing yards until two minutes left in the game.

“We were up 6-0 and got some momentum, but those guys just wore us down,” Ogilvie said. “They were more physical than us.”

Friday’s game was the second straight meeting between the rivals, but didn’t have quite the same buzz — or the same crowd — as last year’s classic at Boardman.

“It’s Week 2,” said Brown, when asked about what the game meant. “We’re just moving on through the weeks and getting it done.

“Every week is a big week for us.”