By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

CANTON

Had Shawnee scored a touchdown in the final minutes of Friday’s state championship game against Cardinal Mooney, Braves coach Rick Meeks was all but certain he was not going to play for overtime.

“We were physically tired,” said Meeks after Mooney’s 21-14 victory at Fawcett Stadium. “So we were probably about 90 percent sure we would go for two.”

Braves quarterback Brad Jarzab’s 7-yard touchdown run with 5:38 to go sliced Mooney’s lead to seven points. Jarzab then drove the Braves from their 20 to the Mooney 12 before his fourth-down pass was batted away in the end zone by the Cardinals’ Ryan Farragher.

Shutting out the Cardinals (11-3) in the second half exhausted much of the Braves’ (14-1) resources and Meeks felt that overtime was not a solution.

“We probably would have called a timeout if we had one left to make sure everyone was set,” Meeks speculated.

Instead, the Cardinals took over on downs and ran out the clock for their eighth state title and fourth since 2004.

Meeks said the size of Mooney’s players was a big factor in the game.

“We were a little outsized,” said Meeks, crediting Mooney linemen Carmen Lanzo and Austin Trgovich for being particularly hard to handle. “The goal was to keep [the game] close and try to pull it out in the end.”

It almost worked.

“Our offensive line had a lot of trouble and it took us out of our game,” said Meeks, who also credited Mooney linebacker Courtney Love for outstanding play hassling Jarzab.

“Our defense played well enough in the second half to slow them down,” Meeks said. “We just didn’t get it done.”

Trailing at halftime was not new to the Braves — they had done so in their three previous wins. This time, Mooney’s skill was a factor.

“You look at their skill kids — they don’t look like ours,” Meeks said. “Man for man across the board, they’re bigger — that was the biggest difference.”

For the Cardinals, the game resembled their Week 12 win over Steubenville (24-22) and last week’s 24-14 victory over Chagrin Falls.

Jarzab rushed for 161 yards and passed for 122 more. He ignited the Braves in the second quarter to an eight-play, 79-yard drive that included three long completions. His 15-yard touchdown run tied the game at 7-7.

“They overpursued,” Jarzab said of the opening that led to the touchdown.

After Mooney went ahead 14-7 on P.J. Quinn’s 2-yard touchdown run, Marcus McWilson rescued the Cardinals with an interception and 36-yard return to the Shawnee 18, the game’s only turnover. Three plays later, Quinn scored from the 1 for a 14-point advantage.

“I just didn’t get enough on the ball and he made a great play,” Jarzab said.

“He’s good,” Meeks added. “Let’s give credit where credit is due. They are a powerhouse.”