Photo

Photo by: William D. Lewis

Cardinal Mooney players rush onto the field at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium for the Division III regional final against Dover. The Cardinals will take the field at Fawcett for the final time this season today in the state championship game against Springfield Shawnee.

Team

Cardinal Mooney

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

By Matthew Peaslee

mpeaslee@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Way back in the blistering heat of the summer, 120 Division III high school football teams began practicing for the season.

Thirty two of those teams made the playoffs.

Two reached the finals.

Now, it all comes down to one game.

This afternoon at 3 p.m. attention turns to Canton’s historic Fawcett Stadium as the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals take on the Springfield Shawnee Braves.

“It’s an exciting time for everyone,” said Mooney coach P.J. Fecko. “[We’re] battle tested and hopefully we answer the call this week.”

“We’re just excited to be in the position we’re in playing for a state title,” offered Shawnee coach Rick Meeks.

It’s the Braves first opportunity to bring a championship trophy to their community, but they’ve made five playoff appearances in program history with a 9-4 record.

The Cardinals (10-3) have already been in this position 11 times and they are fighting for an eighth state championship. Only Cleveland St. Ignatius has more with 10.

Shawnee (14-0) will look to stop their attempt with a stout defense that has created 17 interceptions and 32 sacks.

“Our defense has been able to put us in a position to take advantage of opportunities,” Meeks said. “This is the most team speed we’ve had since I’ve been here. We’ve been faster than the other teams we’ve played this year.”

In last week’s state semifinal defeat of Elida, the Braves’ defensive unit forced five turnovers, four of which came in the second half. Also, after allowing 322 passing yards from QB Reggie McAdams in the first half, they buckled down and limited the Elida senior to just 73 in the final two quarters. Drew Young, James Williams and Nick Hines are key players in the Shawnee secondary and each had an interception in that game.

“Our defensive backs have been able to be opportunistic to come up with some big plays,” Meeks said.

Offensively, the Braves tout two-time Buckeye Conference offensive player of the year, Brad Jarzab. He has thrown for 1,363 yards through the air, while amassing 1,377 yards on the ground as the team’s leading rusher.

Alex McCrory joins Jarzab in the backfield and has 13 touchdowns to go with 1,255 yards on 220 carries. Hines and Jordan Huggins are the Braves’ leading receivers with 442 and 437 receiving yards, respectively.

Mooney will counter with a host of offensive playmakers including running backs Roosevelt Griffin (1,387 yards) and Justus Ellis-Moore (776 yards). QB P.J. Quinn throws for 92.3 yards per game but also can run with 704 yards on the season.

“We’ve had a few different folks back there and it’s something that we’ve always tried to do,” Fecko said. “It really helps through the course of the game.”

Courtney Love (36 tackles), Anthony Dermotta (12.5 tackles) and Marcus McWilson (five interceptions) lead a defense that allows 21.2 points and 249.2 yards per game.