Team

Cardinal Mooney

Record	Div.	Conf.
7/5	Div. IV	Independents

By Greg Gulas

sports@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

When he isn’t flinging passes to receivers on the football field, Mount St. Joseph, Md., quarterback Bryan Costabile is a key member of the World Lacrosse, Under-19 National team.

After suffering a 53-12 defeat to Costabile and the Gaels in their season opener Friday at Youngstown State’s Stambaugh Stadium, Cardinal Mooney probably wishes Costabile would just stick to lacrosse.

Costabile, who is an early lacrosse commit to Notre Dame, passed for 241 yards and two touchdowns, adding 61 yards and a score on the ground while the Gaels racked up 443 yards of offense as they cruised to their initial win in two Ohio tries.

They had already fallen to Steubenville Big Red, 35-20 in 2011 during their only other visit to the Buckeye State.

Three lost fumbles in the opening period, which led to 15 unanswered points, had the Cardinals on their heels early.

“You can’t get off to a start like that, especially against a good team like Mount St. Joseph because it’s really difficult to recover. As a team, we have to do a better job of taking care of the ball so we don’t end up in a position like that,” Cardinals coach P.J. Fecko said. “Fortunately, we have a game next week so we can come out, compete and bounce back. We’ll pull together and work through this.”

Cardinal Mooney was held to a three-and-out on its first drive of the game and after Tristan Beaumont connected on a 25-yard field goal, the Gaels took a 3-0 lead.

On Mooney’s first play of their next drive, Avante Thompson recovered the first of three Cardinals’ fumbles which led directly to a Costabile 40-yard scoring strike to Christian Heyward for a 9-0 advantage.

The Gaels’ Keyshawn Hailey then recovered a fumble on Cardinal Mooney’s next drive, taking it 20-yards to the house as they increased their advantage to 15-0.

Beaumont’s second field goal of the game, this time from 31 yards to make it 18-0 after the first 12 minutes.

“We came into the game well aware of how great a football program Cardinal Mooney had, knowing that we had better not underestimate them if we expected to win,” Costabile said. “Intensity was the key because we didn’t want to embarrass ourselves on the road.”

Touchdown runs by both Emanuel Patterson and Costabile in the second stanza increased the Gaels’ lead to 32-0, but Cardinals defender Patrick Pelini picked off a deflected pass right before the half, which Devon McNutt capitalized on with a 1-yard run as Cardinal Mooney cut the lead to 32-6 at intermission.

A 5-yard run by Sam James and a 63-yard scoring strike from Costabile to Jaden Blue, sandwiched around a Pelini 23-yard scoring pass to Mike Williams then made it 46-12.

Blue, who had a game-high five catches for 144-yards and a touchdown, said he’s just happy to be on the receiving end of Costabile’s aerials.

“We’ve had this connection for the past two years and it’s like we know each other’s moves,” Blue said. “I trust him, he trusts me and that’s why we work so well together.”

The Gaels’ Christian Carter rounded out the scoring with a 4-yard touchdown scamper with 3:15 remaining.