URSULINE OWNS THE NIGHT; HOLDS OFF MOONEY

YOUNGSTOWN, OH- There’s not much that Ursuline can do these days that they haven’t done before.  Last night was not one of those nights, as the Irish did defeat Cardinal Mooney for the fourth consecutive time- a feat that had not been accomplished in the nearly seven decades leading up to this year’s matchup by a final score of 13-7.

However, it wasn’t easy.

These games rarely are.

Ursuline came out looking like they were going to roll their cross-town rivals jumping out to an early 10-0 lead in the first quarter.  Jack Ericson scampered up the middle for 20-yards to put the Irish up 2 scores in the opening stanza, and the way it would remain all the way to the second half.

Coming out of the locker room, Mooney had a spark.  Following an electric kickoff return by the Cardinals, Junior QB Ashton O’Brien quickly connected with Alec Delsignore to get him involved in the offense, which would include a 15-yard strike from AOB to Delsignore to bring the game within 3.  O’Brien would finish 13-21 for 151 yards with that score, and three interceptions.

Ursuline would rack up 358 yards of offense, but was held to only one trip to the endzone in the contest- something that was out of the ordinary for this up-tempo offensive juggernaut.

Mooney would have opportunities to tie or take the lead throughout the second half, but the stout Irish defense led by Ty’Req Donlow would stomp out the flames that the Cardinals continued to fan.  Donlow supplied one of the biggest plays of the game late in the contest when he chased down Ashton O’Brien on a third and short for a loss of 13.

The Irish finish the season 8-2 and await finalization of the bracket with West Branch and Salem’s contest on Saturday night which has secondary point implications for Canfield and other teams in the region.  Mooney finishes a tough schedule at 4-6 and projects to be in the playoffs on the road next Friday night.

YSN will have both playoff games available along with many others with the Playoff Power Pass on October 28th.