Leopards Win Double Overtime Thriller at Cardinal Mooney – Varsity Football
Louisville 20, Cardinal Mooney 14, 2 OT
The Louisville Leopards Varsity Football Team earned a hard fought 20-14 road victory over the host Cardinal Mooney Cardinals 20-14 in double overtime Friday Night at Youngstown State’s Stambaugh Stadium. With the win, Louisville improves to 4-3 on the season.
Wide Receiver Davis Burick took a direct snap and ran 6 yards up the gut for the game ending touchdown in double overtime to lift the Leopards past the Cardinals. Burick scored all three touchdowns for Louisville and was the game’s top receiver making 5 catches for 122 yards. Junior Dan Kennedy would lead the LHS ground game with 15 carries for 73 yards.
Leopards Defense Recovers Fumble in Double OT Goal Line Stand
The Leopards defense came up big all night long, but their crowning moment came on a goal line stand during the first possession of double overtime. The Cardinals completed their only pass of the game on a 12 yard connection from Senior Quarterback Walter Sweeney to Senior Tight End Devon Jenkins to convert a 3rd-and-5. Mooney was setup 1st-and-goal from the 4 yard line following the play and look poised to punch it in.
Sweeney went under center and ran a Quarterback Sneak on three straight plays. Louisville slammed the door shut each time. Sweeney gained 3 yards on the first play falling inches short of the goal line. The Leopards line pushed back on second down to hold him for no gain. Then on third down, the snap was fumbled and Junior Defensive Lineman Tony Brahler fell on it for the Leopards at the one yard line keeping the score at 14-14. Burick scored three plays later to give LHS their first double overtime victory since 1989.
Jones Throws School Record 50th Touchdown Pass
Colton Jones continued to make history for the third straight week. In Week 5 against Perry he became the school’s all-time leading passer in yardage and in Week 6 against Howland he set the school record for most career pass completions.
Jones would finish 16 of 32 passing for 224 yards with two touchdown passes to Burick. Facing 4th-and-11, Jones found Burick wide open over the middle for a 29 yard score to tie Neal Seaman for career passing touchdowns with 49. Later on in the third quarter, Burick burned the Cardinal secondary and Jones delivered a perfect lead pass to him for a 61 yard touchdown. It was the 50th touchdown pass of his career to put him in sole possession of the Leopards career record for touchdown passes.
Mooney Answers Twice in the Third Quarter
Cardinal Mooney answered each of Louisville’s touchdown with touchdown runs of their own. Trailing 7-0 out of halftime, the Cardinals went on a 10 play, 75 yard scoring drive to start the third quarter. Mooney ran the ball on every play of the drive going to Sophomore Runningback Zy’ere Rogers 9 times for 72 yards. Rogers kept the chain gang busy by going 27 yards on a 3rd-and-6, 8 yards on a 3rd-and-4, and 25 yards on a 3rd-and-10 to give the Cardinals a 1st-and-goal from 3 yard line. Rogers ran in a touchdown on the next play to tie the game at 7-7 with 6:57 left in the third.
The Leopards quickly scored on the other end to take the lead back, but Cardinal Mooney again answered with a game-tying scoring drive. The Cardinals received great field position after Louisville attempted a line drive kick to the left. Junior Michael Pastella fielded the ball out of the air and returned it to the midfield stripe. Mooney went to the ground again on all 8 plays of their 50 yard scoring drive. Rogers ran for a gain of 9 on a 3rd-and-2 and three plays later broke free for a 23 yard touchdown run on a backbreaking 3rd-and-10 play. That knotted the game up at 14-14 with just 3 seconds to play in the third quarter.
Th Cardinals would run 63 plays on offense carrying the ball 59 times for 263 yards. Rogers carried the majority of the load taking 41 carries for 216 yards as the game’s leading rusher.
Defense Takes Over in the Scoreless Fourth
Jones completed 5 passes to Ryan Pukys for 77 yards on the night. Their longest connection came on the ensuing drive when Jones hit Puky in the right flat. The Senior Wide Receiver found a seam and ran 46 yards down the right sideline to put the Leopards into scoring position on the Cardinal 26. But the next three plays netted no yards and a fourth down pass attempt fell incomplete ending the LHS threat.
The Louisville defense stepped up and produced a three-and-out on Mooney’s next drive. On 3rd-and-1, Defensive Linemen Senior Blake Robbins and Junior Josh Stafford plugged the middle and Senior Defensive End Jason Goard took down the ball carrier for no gain forcing the Cardinals to punt.
The Leopards next drive ended via a Mooney interception by Senior Free Safety Cody Clegg who returned the pick 28 yards to the Louisville 17. The LHS defense answered the call again forcing a Cardinals field goal attempt on 4th-and-2 from the 9 yard line. The 26 yard field goal attempt sailed wide left just as their 29 attempt did earlier in the first quarter.
Louisville went three-and-out on their next drive and Mooney began on their own 45. The Cardinals drove to the Leopards 32 after a pair of runs by Rogers. Mooney then went to the air on the next play and Pukys stepped in front of the pass and took it 71 yards to the house for a pick six. However, an illegal use of the hands penalty was called against the Leopards bringing the return back.
The foul happened after the pick, so Louisville retained possession on their own 24. Jones hit Pukys for a gain of 14, but a hotly debated offensive pass interference call two plays later put the Leopards back on their own 23 facing a 2nd-and-25. Jones found Burick over the middle to gain 17 yards back, but Jones was sacked by Pastella on 3rd-and-8 forcing another punt.
The Cardinals were content with playing for overtime running the ball three straight times with under a minute to play to run out the clock.
Louisville Survives 1st Overtime Since 2006
Cardinal Mooney won the toss and elected to go on defense first. Louisville started their drive strong with Kennedy running ahead for 8 yards on the first play. But the Leopards gave it right back as a high snap went over the head of Burick and he fell on it at the 20 yard line where they started. After an incompletion, another high snap went all the way back to the 38 yard line where Jenkins fell on it for the Cardinals to end the possession.
Needing just a field goal to win, Mooney remained conservative running the ball three straight times. Goard dropped Rogers for a 1 yard loss on first down and the next two runs netted 4 yards to setup a 4th-and-7.
Junior Kicker Brian Philibin looking for redemption after two earlier missed field goals, lined up for a 34 yard attempt. Louisville stared down their third loss of the year on a game ending field goal. The ensuing kick had all the length, but the ball hit the right collegiate upright square on and landed in the endzone. No good, the Leopards had new life entering double overtime for the first time in 30 years.
Had the game been played at Louisville or any other high school stadium, Mooney would have been victorious. Since the game was played at Youngstown State the collegiate cross bars are 2 feet, 5 inches narrower on either side of the goal post. Philibin’s kick would have easily cleared the right upright on a standard high school goal post, but instead he finished 0 for 3 on the night.
Leopards Play 3rd Double Overtime in Team History
The Leopards would go on to win the game 20-14 in double overtime, making them 3-0 all-time when a game goes beyond an initial overtime period. Louisville last went to double overtime in a 12-6 win on the road at Lake on October 20, 1989. The Leopards also defeated Alliance 13-10 in triple overtime on September 13, 1985. Overtime was first implemented by the OHSAA in 1985 and as a result that contest against the Aviators was the first time Louisville ever played beyond regulation.
The Leopard are now 8-3 all-time in overtime games, which includes a 6-1 record in overtime games played on the road. Their lone road overtime loss came at Fawcett Stadium when thy fell to the Canton McKinley Bulldogs 17-14 on September 17, 1994. All three double overtime contests came on the road as well.
This was the first time Louisville played an overtime contest since falling to the Canton South Wildcats 27-21 at home on September 29, 2006. It is also their first time winning an overtime contest since winning 27-21 at Canton South on September 30, 2005. In that game, the Leopards rallied from a 21-0 fourth quarter deficit with three touchdowns in the final 6:42 before taking the game in overtime. Their 13 season absence from overtime is the longest span in team history since overtime was implemented back in 1985.
With the win, Louisville is now 2-0 against Cardinal Mooney all-time. The Leopards also defeated the Cardinals at home last season 31-21.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next make their longest trip in team history when they go out of state to take on the Point Pleasant Big Blacks in West Virginia on Friday, October 18 at 7:30 PM. JV has no game next week, but will travel to face the Dover Tornadoes on Saturday, October 12 at 10:00 AM. Freshman will next travel to face the Northwest Indians on Thursday, October 17 at 5:00 PM.
Louisville at Cardinal Mooney Scoring Summary
LEOPARDS 20, CARDINALS 14
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Louisville 0-7-7-0-0-6–20
Mooney 0-0-14-0-0-0–14
1st Quarter
None
2nd Quarter
LOUISVILLE – Davis Burick 29 Yard Pass from Colton Jones (Myles Lab Kick) | LHS 7, CMHS 0, 5:29
9 Plays, 61 Yards
3rd Quarter
CARDINAL MOONEY – Zy’ere Rogers 3 Yard Run (Brian Philibin Kick) | LHS 7, CMHS 7, 6:57
10 Plays, 75 Yards
LOUISVILLE – Davis Burick 61 Yard Pass from Colton Jones (Myles Lab Kick) | LHS 14, CMHS 7, 4:21
4 Plays, 72 Yards
CARDINAL MOONEY – Zy’ere Rogers 23 Yard Run (Brian Philibin) | LH 14, CMHS 14, 0:03
8 Plays, 50 Yards
4th Quarter
None
1st Overtime
None
2nd Overtime
LOUISVILLE – Davis Burick 6 Yard Run | LHS 26, CMHS 20
3 Plays, 20 Yards
Records: Louisville 4-3, Cardinal Mooney 4-3
Louisville at Cardinal Mooney Team Stats
First Downs
Cardinal Mooney: 12
Louisville: 13
Rushing:
Cardinal Mooney: 59 Carries for 263 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
Louisville: 29 for 63 Yards, 1 Touchdown
Passing:
Cardinal Mooney: 1 for 4 for 10 Yards, 1 Interception
Louisville: 16 of 32 for 224 Yards, 2 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions
Fumbles/Lost:
Cardinal Mooney: 1/1
Louisville: 3/1
Penalties/Yards:
Cardinal Mooney: 0 for 0 Yards
Louisville: 5 for 47 Yards
3rd Down Conversions:
Cardinal Mooney: 8 of 16 (50%)
Louisville: 3 for 11 (27%)
4th Down Conversions:
Cardinal Mooney: 0 for 1 (0%)
Louisville: 1 for 4 (25%)
Louisville at Cardinal Moony Individual Stats
Rushing
Cardinal Mooney
Zy’ere Rogers: 41 Carries, 216 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
Louisville
Daniel Kennedy: 15 Carries, 73 Yards
Connor Adelman: 6 Carries, 17 Yards
Tyler Jackson 1 Carry, 5 Yards
Davis Burick 3 Carries, 4 Yards, Touchdown
Receiving
Cardinal Mooney
Devon Jenkins: 1 Catch, 10 Yards
Louisville
Davis Burick: 5 Catches, 122 Yards, 2 Touchdowns
Ryan Pukys: 5 Catches, 77 Yards
Carter Rode: 3 Catches, 14 Yards
Justin Broad: 2 Catches, 7 Yards
Grayson Beamer: 1 Catch, 4 Yards
Passing
Cardinal Mooney
Walter Sweeney: 1 for 4 for 10 Yards, 1 Interception
Louisville
Colton Jones: 16 of 32 for 224 Yards, 2 Touchdowns, 2 Interceptions
