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Mooney players credit complete team effort in rout
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Mooney defender Carmen Lanzo (51) grabs Ursuline’s Jesse Curry during their game in Week 9. Lanzo’s Cardinals will play Chagrin Falls on Friday in a state semifinal.
YOUNGSTOWN
Having been a part of the Cardinal Mooney football team the last few years, P.J. Quinn has acquired what he calls the “Mooney Mentality.”
Learning it required no demeaning initiation (aside from developing to be the quarterback), no long-hours memorizing a special code (aside from the playbook) and no membership dues (aside from yearly school tuition).
All that was really needed was commitment, dedication and a will to win.
“When we look each other in the eye, we know that we’re going to play our hardest and leave it all out there for the team,” said Quinn, a senior offensive captain.
Just call it a crash-course in obtaining that mentality.
The Cardinals got a complete team effort in their 70-44 win over Dover last week in the Division III Region 11 final.
“Offensively and defensively we were just sound,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said. “We were down at halftime and in the second half it took a complete game from everybody to put it away.”
Creating five turnovers and scoring 10 touchdowns will do that.
“We played really well on defense,” defensive end Carmen Lanzo said. “But, when you score 70 points, it’s just a great thing. That doesn’t happen very often.”
But at the Southside parochial school — winning does.
In defeating the Tornadoes, the Cards registered their 17th regional championship as they scout out their eighth state title.
While it may have took the number of points equivalent to the current age of Art Garfunkel and Paul Simon, if it wasn’t for the total game put in by both the offense and defense, the notoriously creative and rowdy Mooney student section would be gearing up for basketball season.
“The defense helped to swing the momentum,” Quinn said. “When they take advantage of the other team’s mistakes, it’s our job as an offense to capitalize off them.”
Dover quarterback Derik Swinderman threw the ball nearly 60 times Friday night at Fawcett Stadium in Canton. Some teams might be caught off guard and intimidated by an extensive deep attack.
Not Mooney.
“That actually just played into our hands more,” Fecko said. “We scored rather quickly when we had the ball, but by throwing it so much they made the game longer. They made more opportunities for us to make a big play and create some turnovers.”
When Dover wide receiver Josh Bennett broke free after a 32-yard reception, Marcus McWilson put in the effort to catch up, strip the ball and regain possession for the Cardinals.
The defense also took matters into its own hands — literally — to help out the cause. Sophomore Anthony Dermotta’s pick-six for the Cardinals’ seventh touchdown set the tone for a breakout second half against the Tornadoes.
“Those were both really big,” Lanzo said. “A pick-six speaks for itself and if it wasn’t for McWilson’s play they probably would have scored because they were inside the 5 yard line. They both helped us out so much.”
Totaling 489 yards of total offense was just the icing on the cake. The Cardinals aren’t ready to dig into that dessert, though. They still have to clean their plates, so to speak, with a win this week against Chagrin Falls. That would land Mooney in its 10th state title game in school history.
“We’re out here for a state championship,” Quinn said. “That’s why you come to Mooney.”