Team

Cardinal Mooney

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

Team

Girard

Record	Div.	Conf.
13/1	Div. IV	All-American Conference Blue Tier

Team

Crestview

Record	Div.	Conf.
7/4	Div. V	Independents

Team

Western Reserve

Record	Div.	Conf.
8/2	Div. VII	Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference

By John Bassetti

bassetti@vindy.com

After surviving a nailbiter against Steubenville, will Cardinal Mooney have another heart-stopper against Dover?

Possibly, but first the Cardinals (8-3) will have to hold down a team that’s scoring plenty of points.

“We never played them and don’t know much about them,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said Sunday.

“We started working on film exchange, but we do know that they’re a team that scores a tremendous number of points at a rapid pace.”

Leading up to Mooney’s first meeting against Dover, could there be a synonym for Dover’s offense?

“They’re a juggernaut, scoring 40, 50, even 60 points a game,” Fecko said. “So they’ve got the ability to score a lot of points and fast. It’s going to be a handful to deal with.”

Mooney will return to Canton’s Fawcett Stadium this Friday, a week after squeezing out a 24-22 win over previously unbeaten Big Red in last weekend’s Region 11 semifinal.

“We’ve played there a lot of over the years,” Fecko said of the Canton landmark.

“It came down to the end and we were able to be the last to score,” Fecko said of momentum being in Mooney’s favor at the final curtain when Conor Durina’s 30-yard field goal cleared the uprights with 0:05 remaining.

Against Canal Fulton Northwest a week earlier, Durina didn’t attempt a field goal, but he was 3-for-6 in extra points before he was replaced by Laz Frisone.

“He had a bad night, but he’s been solid for us all year and was 100 percent for us the other night,” Fecko said.

Girard thrashed Sullivan Black River, 56-14, last week to earn the privilege of playing in their second regional championship game in 10 seasons.

In 2002, the Indians lost to Ursuline.

On Saturday, the Indians (11-1) will battle Norwayne (11-1), the team that eliminated Brookfield, 42-7, in Week 11.

Girard head coach Nick Cochran hopes his players are looking ahead.

“It’s Week 13 — you’ve got to be motivated to do the right things on the field and off the field,” Cochran said. “Our defense bent a little but it didn’t break inside the 20.”

Quarterback Dan Graziano completed five of his first six passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns to wide receiver Branden Byrd as the Indians posted a 42-7 halftime lead.

Those throws helped open up space for tailback Ahmad Eggleston who rushed for 230 yards.

Unbeaten Western Reserve will play the team that knocked out Youngstown Christian, 27-24, in a Div. VI Region 21 semifinal last weekend.

To advance, senior linebacker Tommy Marlowe’s do-or-die halftime message rallied the Blue Devils from a 14-0 deficit against Malvern.

In the 29-20 win, Marlowe had four sacks and Dan Zilke had a key fumble recovery that eventually resulted in a tie-snapping TD for Reserve.

Donnie Bolton had a game-best 242 yards rushing.

Nick Blower’s 304 yards fueled Crestview’s 41-20 win over St. Thomas Aquinas to give the Rebels a shot at unbeaten Kirtland in the Region 17 championship game.

Kirtland, which is also Region 17’s top-seeded team, sidelined Columbiana, 49-8, in the opening round.