1987 CARDINAL MOONEY AND BOARDMAN FOOTBALL REVISITED- 35 YEARS LATER
By Radar Pavlov
This weekend will mark the Golden Anniversary of the Ohio High School Athletic Association Football Championships from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium at the Pro Football Hall if Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Here in the Mahoning Valley, we have a rich tradition of seeing High School Football over the years.
Many of us that lived in the Mahoning Valley in the past and in the here-in-now present still remember the 1973 Class AAA Football Championship Game between Cardinal Mooney and Warren Western Reserve, the 3 times that 3 schools from the Mahoning Valley that played in the Football Championship Game:
1989: Campbell Memorial (Division III), Warren JFK (Division IV), McDonald (Division V),
1994: West Branch (Division III), Wellsville (Division V), McDonald (Division VI),
2022: Canfield (Division III), South Range (Division V), and Warren JFK (Division VII),
2009 with Cardinal Mooney and Ursuline (Division V) winning football state titles in their respective divisions.
And then, there was the year of 1987, the year that Cardinal Mooney won their fourth OHSAA Football title under the late Don Bucci in Division III while Boardman came oh so close to winning it all in Division I.
This year marks 35 years since Mooney’s and Boardman’s Football deep run to the OHSAA Championship Round.
If you’re a football fan living in the Mahoning Valley that follows High School Football regularly, here was how we got to ‘87.
In the first 11 years of the OHSAA Football Playoffs, between the years of 1972 and 1982 – 4 different schools from the Mahoning Valley won an OHSAA Football Championship on 6 different occasions:
Brookfield – 1978 (Class AA)
Cardinal Mooney – 1973 (Class AAA), 1980 (Division II), 1982 (Division II)
Warren Harding – 1974 (Class AAA)
Warren Western Reserve – 1972 (Class AAA)
In the 4 years that proceeded 1987 between the years of 1983 and 1986, only Cardinal Mooney played for an OHSAA Football Title during that period, but they were shut out by Gallion, 6-0, in the 1985 OHSAA Division III Football Championship Game played at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
Coming into the 1987 High School Football season in the Mahoning Valley, the Mahoning Valley was coming off a fourth straight season of no school winning an Ohio High School Athletic Association Football Title of any of the 5 Division classes in 1986.
Going into 1987, the Boardman Spartans Varsity Football Team had never made an Ohio High School Athletic Athletic Association Football Postseason Appearance which includes the years that Boardman was led by a future Miami Hurricanes NCAA National Champion and Cleveland Browns Quarterback by the name of Bernie Kosar (1979 to 1981) while the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals Varsity Football Team we’re perennial OHSAA Football postseason Contenders, but was coming off an embarrassing playoff upset by Campbell Memorial in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division III Region 9 Semifinals the previous year.
There were three other Mahoning Valley schools that qualified for the OHSAA Football Playoffs in that memorable year of 1987: Struthers (Division III Region 9, defeated Orrville in the Regional Semifinals; lost to Cardinal Mooney in the Regional Finals), Springfield Local (Division IV Region 13, lost to Gate Mills Hawken in the Regional Semifinals) and McDonald (Division V Region 17, lost to Mogadore in the Regional Semifinals), but Boardman and Cardinal Mooney we’re the cream of the crop in High School Football in the Mahoning Valley in 1987.
Here is a look at those two schools from 1987, beginning with the school that almost won it all in OHSAA Division I, the Boardman Spartans.
1987 Boardman Spartans Football
Led by Boardman Head Football Coach Bill Bohren, the Boardman Spartans Football posted a record of 7-2 in the regular season which was good for a #3 Seed in the OHSAA Football Division I Region 1 Computer Rankings at the end of the regular season to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in school history. Only losses to New Castle (Week 1, 1987) and future OHSAA 1987 Division III Football State Champion Cardinal Mooney (Week 6, 1987) prevented Boardman from going undefeated during their 1987 Regular Season.
While Boardman’s Offense scored only 165 points in their 9 regular season contests (conservative in today’s OHSAA Football), Boardman’s defense was king, posting shutouts in 5 games during the regular season, allowing a total of 29 points.
In the OHSAA Playoffs in ‘87, Boardman took full advantage of being in the football postseason for the first time in school history by posting their 6th shutout of 1987 by upsetting Euclid, 31-0, in the Division I Region 1 Semifinals played in Mentor, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, then in the greatest football game in Boardman history, they upset a Cleveland St. Joseph team that featured a future Heisman Trophy from Michigan, a future Super Bowl MVP and college football analyst by the name of Desmond Howard in 3 overtimes, 20-19, in the Division I Region 1 Finals played at the old Rubber Bowl in Akron. Boardman then defeated Sandusky in the Division III Semifinals 21-14, in a game played at the Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio before losing to Cincinnati Princeton, 14-7, in the Division III Championship Game also in Columbus.
Boardman Spartans Football had never advanced to the Ohio High School Athletic Association Football Championship Game before 1987, and they never advanced to one since 1987, even though Boardman made a State Semifinal appearance in 1995 in Division I.
Here is a game-by-game results summary of 1987 Boardman Spartans Football:
9-4-1987 0 at New Castle 9
9-11-1987 35 Chaney 0
9-19-1987 35 at Lorain Admiral King 6
10-2-1987 47 Howland 0
10-10-1987 6 vs. Cardinal Mooney (at YSU) 7
10-16-1987 7 Ursuline 0
10-23-1987 32 Indiana (PA) 7
10-30-1987 3 at Austintown Fitch 0
11-6-1987 10 South 0
11-14-1987 * 31 Euclid (at Mentor, Ohio) 0
11-21-1987 * 20 Cleveland St. Joseph (3OT) (at Akron, Ohio) 19
11-28-1987 * 21 Sandusky (at Columbus, Ohio) 14
12-5-1987 * 7 Cincinnati Princeton (at Columbus, Ohio) 14
*-OHSAA Football Division I Playoffs Head Coach: BILL BOHREN Record: 10-3
Next, the one that won it all in OHSAA Division III, were the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals.
1987 Cardinal Mooney Cardinals Football
Led by Cardinal Mooney Head Football Coach Don Bucci, the Cardinal Mooney Cardinals Football team posted a regular season record of 8-1 in 1987 which was good for a #1 Seed in the OHSAA Football Division III Region 9 Computer Rankings at the end of the regular season to qualify for the playoffs. Only a loss to a Cleveland St. Joseph team that featured Howard and a future Michigan and NFL journeyman quarterback named Elvis Grbac in Week 2 prevented a perfect season for Cardinal Mooney. While Mooney’s Offense scored only 135 points in 9 games of regular season play, Mooney’s defense permitted only 29 points from their opponents, posting shutouts in 6 regular season games for Mooney.
In the OHSAA playoffs, Mooney football kicked it into another gear by outscoring their 4 Division III football playoff opponents by a combined score of 95-10 in victories over Wickliffe (21-0, Division III Region 9 Semifinals at Stambaugh Stadium), Struthers (21-3, Division III Region 9 Finals at Stambaugh Stadium), Elyria Catholic (23-0, Division III Semifinals at Berea, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland) and Thornville Sheridan (30-7, Division III Finals at Ohio Stadium on the campus of the Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio) to claim their 4th OHSAA Football Championship under Don Bucci while posting 2 more shutouts bring their season total of shutouts to 8 games overall while becoming the first Ohio High School Football school to win OHSAA football championships in 3 different classes: (1973 – AAA, 1980 – II, 1982 – II).
Sadly, it would be the last OHSAA football title for Mooney Football under Bucci even though they would make 3 state semifinals appearances in the 1990s (1990, 1996, 1999, all in Division III), and they would not win it all again until 2004 under Bucci’s successor, P.J. Fedko.
Here is a game-by-game results summary of 1987 Cardinal Mooney Cardinals Football:
9-5-1987 28 Ashtabula (at YSU) 0
9-11-1987 11 Cleveland St. Joseph (at YSU) 20
9-18-1987 7 at Austintown Fitch 3
9-25-1987 8 at Canton McKinley 0
10-10-1987 7 Boardman (at YSU) 6
10-16-1987 15 at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s 0
10-24-1987 20 at Cincinnati St. Xavier 0
10-31-1987 14 Ursuline (at YSU) 0
11-6-1987 25 vs. Chaney (at YSU) 0
11-13-1987 * 21 Wickliffe (at YSU) 0
11-20-1987 * 21 Struthers (at YSU) 3
11-27-1987 * 23 Elyria Catholic (at Berea, Ohio) 0
12-4-1987 * 30 Thornville Sheridan (at Columbus, Ohio) 7
*-OHSAA Football Division III Playoffs Head Coach: DON BUCCI Record: 12-1
As this unforgettable 2022 High School Football season in the Mahoning Valley comes to a close this weekend in Canton, Ohio, all of us at YSN would like to say a big thank you to the student-athletes, the coaches, and the families of the 1987 Boardman Spartans Football and 1987 Cardinal Mooney Cardinals Football teams 35 years later for making our community proud of all of the accomplishments from that great year of 1987.
To share a quote from a hit song from 1987, both Boardman and Cardinal Mooney Football had the time of their lives in the year 1987.
Until the next On The Radar, this is Radar Pavlov reporting for YSN Live.
