BY GREG GULAS
      Boardman News Sports
      bnews@zoominternet.net
      Vince Gentile hit Brayden Bryant with a 77 yard scoring strike just 16 seconds after Ursuline took a 14-13 lead with 7:21 remaining in the fourth quarter, and the Cardinals held on for a 28-21 win over arch-rival Ursuline in the 71st renewal of one of the Ohio’s most storied grid rivalries.
      Brady Desmond rushed for 72 yards and two touchdowns, Logan Guerrieri added a five-yard touchdown run to start the scoring just 73 seconds into the game and Mooney racked up 380 total yards as they defeated the Fighting Irish (6-4) for the first time since 2019, breaking a six-game stranglehold that the green and white had in the series.
      With the victory, Mooney improves to 42-26-3 overall in the 71 total games played, which dates back to the initial game between the two teams in 1958, an 8-6 win by the Cardinals (7-3).
      Known as the “Holy War,” it was the first time in 728 days that the two teams had played – Ursuline won the 2024 game, 30-0 while the two teams did not play a season ago when the UHS season was suspended after two games due to off-season and off the field difficulties – and the first win by the Cardinals in the decade.
      “I couldn’t be prouder of our team for playing four quarters and giving everything they got,” second-year Cardinal head coach Frank Colaprete said after the game. “We just keep swinging and now we get to celebrate this great win. To answer back like that on that long touchdown after they took the lead, that was big.”
      Colaprete, who is now 17-6 in 23 games since being named head coach, noted his two Cardinal teams, while different, share one similar yet very important trait.
      “We’re resilient, have been resilient all year and especially these last two years,” Colaprete added. “These guys don’t look at the clock, they just keep playing every play. I couldn’t be prouder of their resiliency and getting after it. They don’t think about it, they just go.
      “Moving forward, every week we’re playing our biggest rival so we got to beat the team that we are playing.”
      Guerrieri got the Cardinals on the board first with his five-yard run at 10:47 of the opening period, needing just three plays to cap their game-opening 49 yard drive.
      The failed two-point conversion run left the Cards with a 6-0 advantage after the game’s opening series.
      Ursuline wasted no time scoring on their first series of the contest, going 66 yards in 10 plays which was capped off by Vinnie Fecko’s seven-yard tally, his first of three scores on the night.
      Their failed placement left the game knotted at 6-all after the first 12 minutes of action.
      Desmond’s seven yard run at 10:02 of the second stanza was the only score in the period by either team. After Gio Whetstone added the point after, Mooney opened a 13-6 advantage heading to the intermission.
      The Cardinals maintained a seven-point lead (13-6) after a scoreless third frame, but Fecko’s send tally of the game, this time from three-yards out pulled the Fighting Irish to within 13-12 with 7:21 remaining.
      When Ray Javey found quarterback Patrick Reardon in the end zone with the two-point conversion, Ursuline took their only lead of the game, 14-13.
      It took just one play covering 16 seconds for Mooney to regain the lead as Gentile found Brayden Bryant with a 77 yard scoring strike, converting the two-point try – Gentile hit Dom Letlow with the conversion pass – for a 21-14 lead with 7:05 left.
      The Mooney defense held Ursuline on their next possession, taking over on downs and when Desmond hit paydirt from 13 yards away for his second touchdown of the game with 2:02 remaining, the Cards built a 28-14 lead after the Whetstone placement.
      The score capped an eight-play, 57 yard drive that chewed up nearly three and a half minutes off the clock.
      Fecko, who rushed for a game-high 145 yards on 31 totes, pulled the Fighting Irish to within 28-21 with nine seconds remaining but that was the closest UHS could get as the Cards recovered the on-side kick and ran out the clock for their first win in seven tries and a .500 mark (13-13) since the turn of the new century.
      Desmond knew that a win would result in a bye to the winning team in the first-round of the play-offs, which start this weekend.
      “You know, everyone’s bodies are like glass by Week No. 10 so getting that bye is great,” Desmond stated. “You get a home game right here at YSU, it was a winner take all and this win means so much to us. It was a great victory, both teams played hard and tonight was a real dog fight.”
      Gentile was 11 of 28 for 218 yards and one score for the Cards.
      Combined with Reardon, Ursuline’s signal caller who was 10 of 20 for 177 total yards, the two quarterbacks accounted for 395 combined yards through the air.
      “You know, we always look forward to this game and this was a great game tonight by both teams,” Gentile noted. “I love playing football, but a bye week will definitely help us heal and rest up.”
      In addition to Desmond, Tyree Dawson ran for 40 yards on seven carries for the Cardinals as the team racked up 159 yards and three scores on 34 carries.
      Bryant caught three passes for 107 yards and a score to lead all Cardinal receivers while Letlow and Dawson each caught two Gentile aerials for 34 and four yards, respectively.
      Mooney had 17 first downs, was penalized eight times for 66 yards walked off and committed two turnovers, a fumble and interception.
      In addition to Fecko’s ground exploits, Javey hauled in six Reardon aerials for 143 yards or 80.8 percent of the team’s yards through the air.
      Zalin Strother added 72 yards on 12 carries for UHS, combining with Fecko to post all 217 of the Fighting Irish’s positive rushing yards on the night.
      With the win, Mooney improved to 5-2 at home while the Fighting Irish fell to 4-3 in seven road contests played this season.
      The Fighting Irish committed one turnover and was penalized seven times for 785 total yards.
      Mooney In Div. V Playoffs
      The Cardinal Mooney Cardinals are the #6 seed in the upcoming OHSAA Division V, Region 17 football play-offs. They will host #11 Navarre Fairless on Friday night, Oct. 30 at YSU’s Stambaugh Stadium in first round action. Kick-off is slated for 7 p.m.
      The Cardinals are 7-3 and 5-2 at home, winning their last four games of the season by outscoring opponents 115-37.
      The Falcons are 6-4, 3-1 on the road and have a three-game winning streak having outscored opponents by a 91-27 margin in those three wins.
      Both teams are comparable offensively and defensively, having scored 278 total points (27.8) with Fairless allowing 153 (15.3) and CMHS allowing 155 (15.5).
     
      PICTURED: photo/Howard Reese
       URSULINE’S VINNIE FECKO GOES TO THE TURF during play against Cardinal Mooney last Friday night at Stambaugh Stadium. Fecko rushed for a game-high 145 yards on 35 carries. Making the initial hit on Fecko on this play is Rocco Haas, as Cardinal Rocco Zabel, 30, tries to get the ball out of Fecko’s grasp. Battling Irish lineman John Capple, 72, in photo at right is Mooney’s Jamarius Ford, 51. Also on the field for Mooney are Anthony Brock, 8; and Dom Letlow, 1. For the Irish, 75 is offensive lineman Dominic Dziedzic.