Warren Harding downs Cardinal Mooney

By MIKE MCLAIN

sports@vindy.com

WARREN

It’s not true that a high school from Warren hadn’t beaten Cardinal Mooney since Ted Bell led the Cardinals to a win over Western Reserve in a 1972 state title game.

It only seemed that way, given that the Cardinals had won the last three games against the Warren Harding Raiders by a combined margin of 10 points. Included in the streak were one-point wins in each of the last two seasons.

This season’s nonconference game between the two powers had a more pleasant ending for Raiders coach Steve Arnold. Led by Kay’Ron Adams’ two-touchdown, 187-yard rushing effort, Harding won for the fifth straight time, 19-7, on a rainy Friday night at Mollenkopf Stadium.

“We didn’t find ways to win the last three years,” Arnold said. “Tonight we found a way to win. Their record isn’t indicative of how good a football team they are. They play [Akron] Hoban and [Akron] St. Vincent; great teams. I’m really proud of the way we played.”

Harding, which has clinched a playoff spot in Division II, Region 5, improved its record to 6-2. The Cardinals are 3-5.

Much of the game pitted the power runs of Adams, who has committed verbally to attend Rutgers, and the running and passing of Mooney quarterback John Murphy, who rushed for 140 yards and threw for another 110.

Adams opened the scoring with a 15-yard run on the first possession of play, and he added a 59-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter after a 1-yard sneak led Mooney to a 7-6 lead. Adams also ran 29 yards on a fake punt, setting up a 16-yard scoring pass from Elijah Taylor to Ja’Kari Salter that produced a 19-7 Harding third-quarter lead.

Murphy threw his body around at will. His longest run covered 59 yards to the Harding 21 late in the second quarter, but the Raiders defense stiffened and made a crucial stop.

“He’s a really gutsy kid,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said of Murphy. “He’s a terrific person and a great leader. He made some really great plays with his feet, with his head and with his arm.”

It didn’t help Mooney to have to battle poor field position in addition to Adams and an outstanding Harding defense. The Raiders began five of their first six possessions in Cardinals territory and finished with six of nine starts on Mooney’s side of midfield.

“Digging out of that field position is very difficult because you have to be careful and you have to try to push it out a little bit,” Fecko said. “Offensively we were able to move the ball, and then somewhere along the line we’d stutter or have a mishap.”

The best drive by Mooney, which lost two fumbles, consumed most of the second quarter and covered 83 yards on 16 plays, culminating with Murphy’s 1-yard sneak. Brian Philibin kicked the extra point, giving Mooney a 7-6 lead. Harding kicker Mike Clauss had his point-after kick blocked after Adams’ 15-yard scoring run.

Two plays after Murphy’s score, Adams slipped a tackle near the line of scrimmage and took off on a 59-yard scoring run. Taylor’s pass for the extra two points failed.

“Over 20 years of doing this, you know you’ve seen many great backs, and he [Adams] is obviously one of them,” Fecko said. “You’re never going to shut him down. You just have to limit the big plays. You know he’s going to get one or two, and you hope you can hang to that.”

Adams lines up as one of three personal protectors in Harding’s punt formation. Faced with a fourth-and-5 at the Cardinals’ 41, Arnold called for a direct snap to Adams. The senior ran around the right side to the 12 two plays before Taylor hooked up with Salter.

“It’s something we’ve worked on all year and it was the opportune time to run it,” Arnold said.