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Mooney defense on alert for Dover’s air skills
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Mooney’s Ryan Farragher stops Lake Catholic’s Aaron Phillips during the Division III regional quarterfinal. The Cardinals anticipate an offensive shootout tonight against Dover. The Tornadoes average 45.5 points per game.
YOUNGSTOWN
On Monday, there was a tornado watch for much of the Youngstown-area. It’s reoccurring tonight in Canton when the Dover Tornadoes come to town for the Division III regional final.
The Cardinal Mooney coaching staff reports gusts of strong throwing ability, swirling wide receivers and an overall powerful vortex of an offense.
Looking at the scout sheet radar, the Tornadoes will descend on Fawcett Stadium at 7:30.
The Cardinals’ defense is advised to step up the coverage — immediately.
“Dover proposes a brand new set of challenges for us,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said. “We’ve made guys aware that they need to be ready for what they do on offense. Most of all, they like to throw.”
Quarterback Derik Swinderman enters the game as a prolific passer who has completed 175-of-313 passes for 2,906 yards. As a whole, the Dover throwing attack averages nearly 300 yards per game.
“We really started developing our passing structure out of a Wing-T offense a few years ago,” Dover coach Dan Ifft said. “We entered the playoffs for the first time in 2003 and needed an equalizer against good teams.
“It’s a unique offense and we’ve been working on it since then, so it’s nice to have kids coming up through junior high with a grasp of it already.”
The Tornadoes (11-1) faced Canfield in Week 3 when those Cardinals eeked out a 43-42 victory in the final minute. Swinderman attempted 55 passes in that game, but fought off a nagging ankle injury. It held him out for the next three weeks, with Mason Mamarella — the team’s second leading receiver with 698 yards — taking the snaps.
Ifft says Swinderman still felt pain when he returned, but fully recovered in their first-round playoff game which was a 68-53 win over Thornville Sheridan. Dover averages 45.5 points and 417.25 yards per game.
“Obviously, we’ll need to be able to control more of the pass,” Fecko said. “When we’re in zone, we’ll need to be ready for drops and in man-to-man, we’ll have to just latch on to the right guys.”
But in the Tornadoes’ case — they’re all the right guys.
Logan Maholm is the most inviting target with 67 receptions for 1,074 yards, but the aforementioned Mamarella leads the team in TDs (13) and yards per catch (21.2).
Two other WRs, Trey Wallick and Josh Bennett have more than 30 catches and 300 yards. Jake Dummermuth and Brant Raber each have more than 150 receiving yards.
Mooney (8-3) and Dover have met before in the 1980 playoffs — a 42-6 victory for the Cardinals en route to their second of seven state championships.
“We’ve played a tough schedule this year,” said Ifft, the head coach since 1995. “But with Mooney, it’s always like you’re playing Goliath. There’s a reason we’ve gotten this far and we’ve earned the right to play them.
“Our kids are ready to get over the hump.”