By Matthew Peaslee

mpeaslee@vindy.com

CANTON

The Cardinal Mooney football season ended exactly where it started.

Cardinal Mooney State Champs

Gallery

Mooney bested the Shawnee Braves for their 8th State Championship 21-14

The Cardinals knocked off Canton McKinley in a season-opening 28-24 win at Fawcett Stadium — 14 weeks later they hoisted the Division III championship trophy on the Hall of Fame field. With a 21-14 victory over Springfield Shawnee, Mooney captured its eighth state crown.

“At the beginning of the season we knew we could get here,” Ryan Farragher said. “We knew that we could win state because we had the team to do it.”

It was a cakewalk turned nail-biter as a 14-point halftime lead wasn’t secure enough to make for an easy second half.

Simply, the game was exciting, pressure-filled and heroic — as any state championship should be.

“A dream come true,” is how Mooney quarterback P.J. Quinn put it.

After a scoreless first quarter, 28 points went on the board in the second.

It was the Cards that took the initial lead on the first play of the second quarter. Roosevelt Griffin ran to the end zone on an 18-yard scamper to cap off a seven play, 36-yard drive.

In his final game in a Mooney uniform, Griffin ran for 119 yards on 21 carries, bringing his season total to 1,506.

“Roosevelt has been a quality player for us all year and has made some great runs and some great decisions for us,” coach P.J. Fecko said. “Tonight, he did a really good job of taking care of the football and pounding out yards.”

The Braves answered by engineering a solid 79-yard drive.

QB Brad Jarzab hit three different receivers along the way and took matters into his own hands by running in the score from 15 yards out. The highly touted Jarzab finished with 122 passing yards and 139 on the ground.

“You get an extra blocker and an extra body when the quarterback is running the ball,” Fecko said. “He had the ability to throw it, too. He put them in positive situations all year. Our defense really answered the call against their offense and the type of player that he was.”

Griffin and Justus Ellis-Moore created headaches for the Shawnee defensive staff. Ellis-Moore added 70 yards on 11 carries.

“They’re strong and fast,” said Braves coach Rick Meeks. “[Griffin] is really athletic and fast and they execute.”

The scoring continued on the Cards’ next drive after Griffin rattled off a 26-yard run and junior Ellis-Moore added a 24 yard dash. Four plays later, Quinn punched it in from 2 yards out for the first of his two rushing TDs.

Again, Shawnee was in a position to respond, but Marcus McWilson had other ideas.

Intense pressure from Cameron DiVito gave way to an off-throw and McWilson intercepted a Jarzab pass near midfield and returned it 36 yards, pre-empting Mooney’s third touchdown.

“It was nice knowing that we had an advantage going into the second half,” Quinn said of his team’s early, big lead. “We knew we couldn’t come out flat against this team. They’re a second-half team, we saw that on film.”

Yes, the Braves did get the only score of the final two quarters and that came with 5 minutes, 38 seconds remaining in the game. They had 11 of their 20 first downs and 166 of their 318 total yards in those final two quarters.

“We were down 14 last week,” Meeks said and added that the halftime mood in the locker room was not one of panic. “We fought at the end and they should be very proud of themselves.”

But after 125 gritty plays, it was one of the final ones that could’ve made the difference.

A pass interference penalty on the Cards kept the Braves alive when they were facing a fourth-and-10 on their 48-yard line with 2:22 left. After a Jarzab incompletion, Mooney was again whistled for pass interference advancing the ball to the 18-yard line. A pair of rushes by Shawnee RB Alex McCrory and a false start penalty brought up fourth-and-6.

Then, time stood still as Jarzab dropped back to pass looking for Tyler Sherrock in the left corner of the end zone.

Actually, 16 seconds ticked away and the attempt was broken up by Farragher, giving control back to the Cards.

“Our whole defense stepped up there,” Farragher said.

Farragher was quick to give a nod to his leaders for preparing him and his teammates for the moment.

“Our coaches deserve so much credit,” Farragher said. “They put so much time, effort and work into making us better and they’re the ones that really got us here.”

The Mooney senior class had already won a state championship when they were sophomores in 2009. Ending their high school careers with a win, though, was much more fulfilling. Getting another ring doesn’t hurt, either.

“There’s a lot expected of you,” Austin Trgovich said. “You’re expected to win state championships. And that’s what we did.”

Farragher caught four Quinn passes for 39 yards and Quincy Jones added a reception for 13 yards. Five different receivers ended up catching a pass for the Braves.

Courtney Love led the defensive effort with 7.5 tackles, Trgovich, Ellis-Moore and Carmen Lanzo added sacks.