Mooney blanks Cowboys, 27-0

Mooney’s Dom Letlow sacks Chaney’s Dashawn Langston during the second half of their game, Thursday night at Stambaugh Stadium. (David Dermer/Warren Tribune Chronicle)

YOUNGSTOWN — Sometimes all it takes is a couple of plays to make a difference.

That was true on Thursday as the Cardinal Mooney football team came away with a 27-0 win over Chaney at Stambaugh Stadium in Youngstown.

The Cardinals’ defense and special teams units provided short fields throughout the day, and they took advantage.

Mooney’s first score came in the final five minutes of the first quarter. The Cowboys (2-4, 0-1 Steel Valley Conference) muffed a punt, and the Cardinals recovered it at the Chaney 24-yard line. Two plays later, Cardinal Mooney quarterback Vince Gentile threw a fade to Dennis Clark, who came down with it for a 21-yard touchdown catch.

Cardinal Mooney held that 7-0 lead until the final minute of the second quarter. Chaney lined up to punt, but the snap sailed over punter Dewayne Thompson’s head. Mooney (2-5, 1-0 SVC) recovered the loose ball at the Chaney 4-yard line. A 4-yard TD run up the middle by Adyn Paige extended Mooney’s lead to 14-0 before halftime.

“We came out on the short end on a few of those plays,” Chaney head coach Seth Antram said. “Defense played hard, but we gave up a short field quite a bit.”

Following a Mooney punt, the Cowboys had some momentum, but a fumble by quarterback Dashwn Langston resulted in another Chaney turnover. Mooney took over at it 43, and four plays later, Vince Gentile connected with Rocco Gentile on a play-action post over the middle for a 43-yard TD pass. Mooney had its extra point blocked for a 20-0 Cardinals lead.

“Coach Pelini actually put that play in like two days ago,” Vince Gentile said. “Just connected on that with Rocco.”

One final miscue closed the scoring on Thursday. Chaney had the ball at its 24 as the Cowboys lined up to punt. But the kick was blocked, and Brady Desmond recovered and took it down the right sideline for a short score just before the end of the third quarter.

Matt Jones was Chaney’s best weapon. He ran for 103 yards on 13 attempts and completed a 12-yard pass. Langston finished 3-for-7 passing with 39 yards.

As for Mooney, Paige was the leading rusher among the starters. He was held to 16 yards rushing and a touchdown on eight carries.

Vince Gentile finished his day with a 6-for-12 performance for 89 yards passing and two touchdowns. Rocco Gentile caught three passes for 54 yards and a score

“We had a lot of injuries. We’re beat up,” Cardinal Mooney head coach Carl Pelini said. “We came into this game with five offensive linemen. Some were inexperienced, and it showed early. I thought they came along as the game went on and got better and better.

“Defensively, we were outstanding the entire game. We have a lot of experience on that side of the ball. We got 10 starters back from last year, so we leaned on them tonight.”