Remembering the Youngstown City Series and Steel Valley Conference

[YTOWN]

After losing the first three games of the season to Aquinas, Massillon and Fitch, Ursuline rebounded to win the SVC title with a 6-3-1 record, 4-1-1 in the league. Led by QB Mike Banks the Irish improved each week and finished 6-0-1 in their last seven games. Ursuline won the SVC title when they beat Hubbard in week 8 but the title really came down to the Ursuline-Struthers game the week before. The Cats were coached by Mike Gottfried and they were a very solid football team. Ursuline had to rally from a 15-14 deficit in the 4th quarter after recovering a Struthers fumble in Wildcat territory to score the winning TD, final score of 22-15 Irish. Struthers actually finished the season with the best overall record of any of the SVC teams at 8-2 but unfortunately for them both losses were in the loop forcing them into a 2nd place tie with Fitch with 4-2 SVC marks.

	1972 URSULINE
LOUISVILLE AQUINAS L 6-13
Massillon L 0-21
FITCH L 6-12
MOONEY W 18-14
BOARDMAN W 26-8
CAMPBELL T 0-0
STRUTHERS W 22-15
HUBBARD W 20-6
CHANEY W 22-0
RAYEN W 25-0
6-3-1		4-1-1 SVC

College players I know of:

1st team Offense:

OT - John Takacs - Ursuline (AAA H.M. All-State team) - Pitt
OG - John Malenic - Mooney - Allegheny
C - Tony Bond - Mooney - YSU
QB - Frank Angelo - Hubbard - Jr. (Led the SVC in completions) - Michigan St. & Kent St.
RB - Ted Bell - Mooney - Jr. (AAA 3rd team All-State RB) (Led the SVC in rushing and total offense) - Michigan St.
RB - Dave Drabison - Fitch - Akron
FB - Steve Komara - Mooney (Led the SVC in scoring) - Ashland

I can't say I remember Nick Makridis of Campbell playing college ball but he was named to the AA 1st team All-State at DE. I believe his sons played at Warren Harding and OSU.

2nd team Offense:

SE - Melvin Land - Campbell - Jr. - Michigan St. - (Drafted by the Dolphins. Played for Miami & SF in the NFL, Toronto in the CFL and Michigan & Birmingham in the USFL)
OT - Gary Pavlechko - Fitch - Adrian
FB - Mark Choppa - Hubbard - Mt. Union

1st team Defense:

DE - Vince Casey - Struthers - Jr. - Murray St. (I seem to remember him going somewhere in Florida for baseball though)
DE - Ron Pentz - Fitch - YSU
DT - Sam Campana - Mooney - Adrian
LB - Mike Graham - Ursuline - Hiram, I think
LB - Art Bledsoe - Struthers - E. Kentucky
DB - Bob Spano - Struthers (Led the SVC in receiving & K.O. returns) - Ashland
DB - Mickey Pelanda - Fitch - Maryland
DB - Mike Banks - Ursuline (AAA 1st team All-State at DB) - Notre Dame


2nd team Defense:

DE - Jerry Martinko - Campbell (AA H.M All-state) - Denison
DT - Al Pitts - Hubbard - Jr. - Michigan St. - Drafted by the Browns
DB - Mike Berezo - Boardman - Jr. - Bucknell

 

[Gardens35]

Mark Choppa (Hubbard). Became Mt Union's first ever 1,000 yard (Season) rusher.

Vince Casey (Struthers). I didn't know about him playing baseball in Florida, but he played in the Youngstown Class B League (I think for Campbell AC, but not positive). He was really good.

 

[YTOWN]

Mark Choppa (Hubbard). Became Mt Union's first ever 1,000 yard (Season) rusher.

Vince Casey (Struthers). I didn't know about him playing baseball in Florida, but he played in the Youngstown Class B League (I think for Campbell AC, but not positive). He was really good.

I'm not sure about Mr. Casey playing baseball in Florida either. I'm pretty sure he signed an LOI for football at Murray St. but in the back of my mind I think I saw something about him going down to Fla. somewhere for baseball. He was a good athlete as was his older brother Tom.

 

[Gardens35]

Not at all surprised if he had an opportunity to play in FLA.

 

[YTOWN]

Obviously Warren Western Reserve was not yet a member of the SVC, that would happen in 1979, but I most certainly should have mentioned that the Raiders won the first ever AAA playoff state championship in 1972. With a defense led by All-State DE Ross Browner, LB Dave Zimomra, Marty Murray (he recovered 3 fumbles in the title game) and MG Allen Davis and the offense by All-State QB Barry Sims and RBs Neil Hall and Mike Spiva (he scored 3 TDs in the title game) the Raiders finished off a 12-0 season with a 37-6 victory over Cincinnati Princeton in the AAA championship game. The Raiders scored 37 unanswered points, 25 of them in the 4th quarter to blow open a 12-6 game at the end of 3 quarters. WWR was on a 17-game winning streak when the season ended with the championship.

I remember that DT Gary Jeter of Cathedral Latin was named the Lineman of the Year in AAA in 1972. When I saw that I thought if he's better than Ross Browner I have to see it. Latin played South that year but I didn't see the game.

 

[YTOWN]

Cardinal Mooney not only won the SVC title in 1973 but the 1973 season will forever be remembered by Cardinals fans for Mooney’s first state championship. Winning that title not only brought some acclaim to the Cardinals but also to the Steel Valley Conference and the entire area. For the second consecutive year the area had won the big school playoff state championship. Ted Bell had a tremendous season and was named the AAA Back of the Year in the state of Ohio and a Parade Magazine All-American. With every defense he played against geared specifically to stop him, Ted Bell rushed for 2,145 yards on 294 carries and scored 31 TDs, one on an interception return. He averaged 7.30 YPC for the season and his career total of 4,428 rushing yards is still the school standard. He averaged 6.8 YPC for his career.

The 1973 Cardinals played 7 undefeated teams at the time the game was played and won six of them. After losing 6-0 to defending state champion Warren Western Reserve in week six I thought sure the playoffs were going to be out of reach. I was convinced Mooney could defeat WWR and could have won that regular season game but I didn’t think the Cardinals would get another chance. Everything had to break just right.

Mooney had to beat three straight undefeated teams to win the state championship, starting with Chaney in the last week of the regular season just to make the playoffs. The Mooney-Chaney game was played on a Saturday night. The night before, Fitch was upset by South and Struthers lost to Wilson, not good for Mooney’s playoff chances. Ursuline, Boardman, and Hubbard all won though so I knew that Mooney would have just enough points IF………… a few things went Mooney’s way.

First of all, the Chaney game would have been meaningless as far as the playoffs were concerned if Massillon were to defeat Canton McKinley earlier that afternoon. A fired up Canton McKinley team upset the 8-0-1 Tigers, 21-0, setting the stage for Mooney that evening. Now the Cardinals just had to take care of business. For reasons that we have documented in the 1973 City Series season earlier in this thread Chaney came into the Mooney game at 6-0. The Cowboys had allowed only 6 total points on the season. They were led by QB Matt Cavanaugh (Pitt, NFL), RB Ron Calcagni (Arkansas), end Gary DeNiro (Alabama) and several other very good players. They were an excellent defensive football team but Ted Bell rushed for 274 yards and scored 3 TDs to lead the 28-0 rout. I thought Mooney would beat the Cowboys but I was surprised by that margin.

When the dust cleared Mooney had qualified for the playoffs out of Region three, less then six total points in front of Massillon. One must remember that OHSAA was still using 3rd level points in the computer equation in 1973 so six total points was minimal.

All that awaited Mooney now was undefeated and #2 ranked Cincinnati Moeller, in Cincinnati. Moeller had a few Parade All-Americans of their own in Harry Woebkenberg (OSU) and Jay Case (Notre Dame), defensive linemen. Mr. Case was a junior but he started and he made the Parade All-American team the next season.

They had a few other All-State players as well, including Greg Storer (OSU). The Crusaders were 10-0 and had allowed a total of 33 points and I saw a stat that said they had only allowed 435 rushing yards in those 10 games. I do not know if that is correct but Mooney scored 34 points and Mr. Bell rushed for 185 yards himself. FB Dave Handel added another 100 yards rushing and the Cardinals routed Moeller 34-7 after trailing 7-0 early.

Now it was on to the Rubber Bowl and the prayed for rematch with undefeated and #1 ranked Warren Western Reserve. The defending champions were riding a 28-game winning streak, including that 6-0 victory over Mooney in the regular season. Ross Browner had graduated but they were still an excellent defensive team led by Aaron Brown (OSU & NFL), Jimmy Browner (ND & NFL), Willard Browner, Marty Murray and Brian DeCree among others. They had posted 8 shutouts in the 11 games coming in, including six in a row starting with Mooney in week six and over Bowling Green, 30-0 in the semifinals the week prior. They had only allowed 20 points total in those 11 games.

In an all Youngstown/Warren area final, and the first ever rematch of a regular season game in a state championship game, the Rubber Bowl was a madhouse, the crowd had to be closer to 40,000 than the OHSAA-announced 29,000. The Rubber Bowl had a capacity of 35K and we were wedged in there like sardines. In the end Mooney punter Bill McClure may just have been the MVP of the game as he pinned WWR inside their 20 on 5 separate occasions. For the most part the Mooney defense kept the Raiders pinned back there all night and Ted Bell rushed for 135 yards and scored on a beautiful 33-yard run to put the Cardinals in front for good. That game would remain as the only rematch of a regular season game in a title game until 2001 when Cleveland St. Ignatius defeated Cincinnati St. Xavier in the D1 title game. To this day there have only been 6 such games in the championship with Mooney involved in two of them. The other was the 2009 D3 title game against Columbus DeSales.

The final score of 14-3 Mooney made up for the loss in Warren but it came at a price as Ted Bell suffered a knee injury. In 8 quarters that year Mooney's D only allowed the defending state champion Raiders to score 3 points. The 6 WWR scored in the regular season game came on a 70-yard fumble return by Brian DeCree. WWR head coach Joe Novak suffered the only loss of his high school coaching career in that AAA final game to Mooney. He was 23-1 as the HC of the Raiders with one state title and 1 runner-up finish. Warren Western Reserve in fact would never defeat Mooney again, losing 7 more in a row to the Cardinals after WWR joined the SVC in 1979. WWR closed with a fantastic all time won-loss record of 182-61-2 but the Raiders finished 1-8 all time against the Cardinals.

In the regular season Mooney had to come from behind in the 2nd half to beat Hubbard 22-15. Don Bucci always said that he thought that 1973 Hubbard team was very good. I did not see the game but the next week the Eagles played Kennedy Christian of Sharon, Pa. Hubbard hammered them 55-13 but when I saw the game write-up the following caught my eye so I made a note of it. Hubbard FB Ray Giancola rushed for 205 yards and 3 TDs on 4 carries. Four carries! That's a rather impressive average of 51.25 YPC. The TDs were on runs of 86, 80 and 29 yards which means the other carry was a mediocre 10 yards.

	1973 MOONEY
AKRON EAST W 20-0
E. LIVERPOOL W 29-0
URSULINE W 13-0
HUBBARD W 22-15
BOARDMAN W 14-13
WARREN WESTERN RESERVE L 0-6
CAMPBELL W 45-13
FITCH W 34-21
STRUTHERS W 40-6
CHANEY W 28-0
CINCINNATI MOELLER W 34-7*
WARREN WESTERN RESERVE W 14-3**
*PLAYOFFS
**STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
11-1		6-0 SVC

College players I know of:

1st team Offense:

SE - Vince Casey - Struthers (Led SVC in receiving) - Murray St.
TE - Mike Chudik - Struthers - Ashland
OT - John Bartos - Hubbard - Kent St.
OT - Brian Ciccuto - Mooney - Hiram
OG - Mike Loydn - Mooney - Heidelberg
OG - Jim Calhoun - Fitch - W. Liberty St.
C - Doug Porter - Ursuline (AAA 3rd team All-State) - OSU
QB - Mike Berezo - Boardman - Bucknell
RB - Ted Bell - Mooney (Led the SVC in rushing, scoring & total offense) (AAA BAck of the Year, Parade All-American) - Michigan St.
RB - Dave Hodge - Ursuline (State champion hurdler as a jr. and sr.) - Tulane & Syracuse

2nd team Offense:

SE - Joe Conroy - Boardman - Toledo
TE - Wally Ford - Fitch - Mt. Union
OG - Randy Mingo - Campbell - Adrian
QB - Frank Angelo - Hubbard - Michigan St. & Kent St.
RB - Glen Herchik - Ursuline - Texas-Arlington & Ohio Wesleyan
FB - Ray Giancola - Hubbard (Led the SVC in punt returns) - Mt. Union

1st team Defense:

DE - Tim O'Neil - Ursuline (AAA 2nd team All-State at DE) - Iowa
IL - John Skruck - Hubbard - Dayton
IL - Kevin Tomasko - Mooney - Iowa
IL - Tony Williot - Ursuline - Penn ST.
LB - Jerry Tuscano - Boardman - YSU
DB - Dave Lockshaw - Mooney (AAA 1st team All-State at DB) - Adrian

2nd team Defense:

DE - Bob Carney - Mooney - Hiram
IL - Mike Chizmar - Fitch - YSU
IL - Don Robinson - Boardman - Mt. Union
LB - Mike Tamburino - Ursuline - B-W

 

[Scipio]

Great post.
I was at the Rubber Bowl that night as a ten year old with my dad and Uncle. I was blessed to watch a hometown team in the State Finals three years in a row. Thanks for adding the interesting details.

 

[Gardens35]

That was an outstanding read! That Mooney team was "something" for sure!

After the disappointment of '69, '73 was Hubbard's next best shot at the SVC title. The Hubbard-Mooney game was a good one, the Hubbard-Fitch game was a really good one. Evenly matched teams, that game included two tipped passes that went for long gains for Fitch, and a missed FG late. Final was 22-21 Fitch.

*Surprised too see that Al Pitts wasn't on the SVC Team.

 

[YTOWN]

That was an outstanding read! That Mooney team was "something" for sure!

After the disappointment of '69, '73 was Hubbard's next best shot at the SVC title. The Hubbard-Mooney game was a good one, the Hubbard-Fitch game was a really good one. Evenly matched teams, that game included two tipped passes that went for long gains for Fitch, and a missed FG late. Final was 22-21 Fitch.

*Surprised too see that Al Pitts wasn't on the SVC Team.

Melvin Land of Campbell didn't make it either. Both made it as Jrs, both went to Michigan St. and both were NFL draft picks. I know they both played in 73. Big Bob Sammartino of Mooney didn't make it either. He also went to Michigan St. IIRC he caught a TD pass against Moeller, slid under the fence at the back of the end zone and got stuck there.

That 73 Mooney team was also bolstered by a handful of underclassmen who went on to play D1 college ball.

 

[YTOWN]

Gentlemen,

I wanted to post the game write-up from the Cincinnati Enquirer the day after the Mooney game but I can't seem to locate it at the moment. Anyway, the headline of the write-up was "Mooney's Bell Tolls End Of Year For Moeller, 34-7"

I always liked that headline but I think the Crusaders may have still been pissed off about it in 1976.

 

[Gardens35]

Possible 1974 Spoiler Alert :









"We won!.........................We lost".

 

[Gardens35]

Glancing at the All SVC photos, it seems Ted Bell was able to catch a toss with one hand and deliver a low stiff arm with the other while leaping over the goal posts without looking. Dang!

 

[EagleGuy]

Seems that the Tigers were "active" in the area back then. Steve Bartolin (Pitcher, Hubbard '68, YSU) was drafted by them too.

Bartolin had a wicked fastball. Bob Strachan (1967 noted above) was the other half of that great 1-2 SP duo, iirc.

 

[YTOWN]

In the 1974 season Cardinal Mooney had the added burden of being the defending state champions so they had an even larger target on their back than normal. In addition, the great Ted Bell had graduated so there was a huge hole to fill in the backfield. That task fell to sophomore Joe Croft, who did so very well rushing for over 1,200 yards and a 6 yard per carry average. The team started slowly offensively with two ties in the first three games, averaging only 9 PPG for the three and a 1-0-2 start. After the first three games the offense really started to click scoring 44 ppg for the next six games.

Because Mooney and Ursuline had tied 6-6 in week three, for the Cardinals the SVC title race came down to weeks 8 and 9 when the Cardinals played Fitch and Struthers and Fitch played Mooney and Ursuline respectively. Mooney won a share of the crown by beating Fitch, 20-0 in the week 8 game and won the outright title in week 9 with a victory over Struthers and a Falcon win over the Irish. Mooney finished at 5-0-1 in the league and Fitch and Ursuline tied for 2nd with 4-1-1 loop records. The Falcons had a tie with Struthers.

In week 10, Cardinal Mooney, sporting a 7-0-2 record and the Steel Valley championship, faced undefeated Chaney, City Series champions, at South for what people thought would be a playoff berth for the winner. However, following the computer points I knew that it was an extreme long shot for the winner to qualify. Too many teams would have to lose and get zero help. A crowd of better than 13,000 witnessed the game. Mooney pretty much dominated the game, Chaney only ran the grand total of 3 offensive plays in the entire 3rd quarter, and probably should have won but you have to give Chaney credit. They did what they had to do to win, 14-12 and end a perfect 10-0 season.

For the third consecutive year the Youngstown/Warren area produced the AAA state champion. Led by a defense that intercepted four passes, a great backfield and tremendous overall team speed Warren Harding routed Upper Arlington, 41-8 in the title game. John Henry Ziegler (AAA Back of the Year), Tyrone Hicks (OSU)(State sprint champ in the 220 and 4th in the 100 yard that year as a Jr), Kelton Dansler (OSU) (AAA 2nd-team All-State at LB), FB Jimmy Valentine, and QB Jimmy Richberg came at a defense in waves. Harding had defeated Cincinnati Moeller in one semifinal, 20-10 and UA defeated New Philadelphia, 27-7 in the other. After watching that title game against UA in the Rubber Bowl for all I know Jimmy Valentine is still running.

	1974 MOONEY
CLEVELAND CATHEDRAL LATIN T 0-0
EAST LIVERPOOL W 22-0
URSULINE T 6-6
HUBBARD W 34-0
BOARDMAN W 52-8
ERIE CATHEDRAL PREP W 56-0
CAMPBELL W 60-0
FITCH W 20-0
STRUTHERS W 42-7
CHANEY L 12-14
7-1-2		5-0-1 SVC

College players I know of:

1st team Offense:

SE - Jim Ferranti - Boardman - Jr. (Led the SVC in receiving) - YSU
TE - Tom Fabiny - Mooney (AAA 3rd team All-State) - N. Carolina St.
OT - Rich Marsico - Mooney (AAA 3rd team All-State) - Ohio U.
OT - Jim Dunlea - Ursuline - Northwestern
OG - Tim Fyda - Mooney - Air Force Academy
QB - Jim Bertrando - Mooney (Led the SVC in passing) - YSU
RB - Joe Croft - Mooney - Soph. (Led the SVC in rushing, scoring and total offense) - S. Illinois

2nd team Offense:

SE - Ron Stoops - Mooney - YSU (long time area coach)
C - Gary Reese - Hubbard - Ball St.
RB - Tony Clemente - Struthers - Jr. - Fairmont St.

1st team Defense:

DE - Dan Panozzo - Fitch - Jr. - Hiram
IL - Jody McCulloch - Mooney - Michigan St.
IL - Fred David - Ursuline - S. Carolina
IL - Mike Calhoun - Fitch (AAA 2nd team All-State at DT) - Notre Dame - Drafted by Dallas, played for the Cowboys 49ers and Buccaneers in the NFL and Winnipeg in the CFL.
LB - Bill Balestrino - Hubbard - Adrian
DB - Pat Durina - Ursuline - Jr. - YSU

2nd team Defense:

LB - Jeff Johnson - Mooney - YSU
LB - Glenn Fabis - Struthers - Jr. - Cincinnati

 

[YTOWN]

Possible 1974 Spoiler Alert :









"We won!.........................We lost".

Gardens35 is referring to the following. It had nothing to do with the SVC title race but in week 3 of the 1974 season I witnessed what is probably the most bizarre finish to a football game I have ever witnessed, possibly that anyone has ever witnessed outside of the California-Stanford game a few years later. Mooney and Ursuline were playing each other the following night so I attended the Struthers-Hubbard game at Struthers.

Neither team did much offensively all night but in the 1st quarter Struthers recovered a Hubbard fumble around the Eagles’ 25-yard line and punched it in for a TD. The Cats missed the PAT but they added a safety for an 8-0 lead at the end of one quarter. It stayed that way until the 4th quarter when Hubbard blocked a Struthers punt and gained possession around midfield.

The Eagles drove for the TD but failed on the 2-point conversion leaving them with an 8-6 deficit. With about 45 seconds left in the game, still leading 8-6, Struthers tried to punt from its own 25-30 yard line. Hubbard blocked this one also and recovered it on the Cats’ 6-yard line with 35 seconds left in the game. Hubbard ran off 4 plays without gaining anything and Struthers took over on their own 6-yard line with 1 second on the clock, 1 second. For some reason the Struthers QB, thinking the game was over when time expired I guess, threw the ball on the ground, he didn’t down it, he just threw it on the ground. A bunch of us were standing on the fence near that end zone and we were all screaming “that’s a live ball!” A Hubbard player named Antonucci realized it was a live ball and jumped on it in the end zone for the game-winning TD. As a result Hubbard won 12-8. UNBELIEVABLE!. I have seen similar things since then but that was the first time I ever saw it happen and the only time I saw the opponent winning because of it. I purposely omitted the name of the Struthers QB because the poor guy is STILL taking abuse about it.

I know that because a few decades later I was in a local establishment after a game when the QB in question walked in. The proprietor of the establishment, let's call him Moose, was tending bar and after spotting the QB he promptly yelled, "Hubbard.....WE WIN"......it seemed like every person within earshot replied....."NO.......WE LOSE!" Obviously this was not the first time this had taken place. The gentleman in question was a very good athlete for Struthers and is a member of their athletic Hall of Fame.

 

[invader03]

Cardinal Mooney not only won the SVC title in 1973 but the 1973 season will forever be remembered by Cardinals fans for Mooney’s first state championship. Winning that title not only brought some acclaim to the Cardinals but also to the Steel Valley Conference and the entire area. For the second consecutive year the area had won the big school playoff state championship. Ted Bell had a tremendous season and was named the AAA Back of the Year in the state of Ohio and a Parade Magazine All-American. With every defense he played against geared specifically to stop him, Ted Bell rushed for 2,145 yards on 294 carries and scored 31 TDs, one on an interception return. He averaged 7.30 YPC for the season and his career total of 4,428 rushing yards is still the school standard. He averaged 6.8 YPC for his career.

The 1973 Cardinals played 7 undefeated teams at the time the game was played and won six of them. After losing 6-0 to defending state champion Warren Western Reserve in week six I thought sure the playoffs were going to be out of reach. I was convinced Mooney could defeat WWR and could have won that regular season game but I didn’t think the Cardinals would get another chance. Everything had to break just right.

Mooney had to beat three straight undefeated teams to win the state championship, starting with Chaney in the last week of the regular season just to make the playoffs. The Mooney-Chaney game was played on a Saturday night. The night before, Fitch was upset by South and Struthers lost to Wilson, not good for Mooney’s playoff chances. Ursuline, Boardman, and Hubbard all won though so I knew that Mooney would have just enough points IF………… a few things went Mooney’s way.

First of all, the Chaney game would have been meaningless as far as the playoffs were concerned if Massillon were to defeat Canton McKinley earlier that afternoon. A fired up Canton McKinley team upset the 8-0-1 Tigers, 21-0, setting the stage for Mooney that evening. Now the Cardinals just had to take care of business. For reasons that we have documented in the 1973 City Series season earlier in this thread Chaney came into the Mooney game at 6-0. The Cowboys had allowed only 6 total points on the season. They were led by QB Matt Cavanaugh (Pitt, NFL), RB Ron Calcagni (Arkansas), end Gary DeNiro (Alabama) and several other very good players. They were an excellent defensive football team but Ted Bell rushed for 274 yards and scored 3 TDs to lead the 28-0 rout. I thought Mooney would beat the Cowboys but I was surprised by that margin.

When the dust cleared Mooney had qualified for the playoffs out of Region three, less then six total points in front of Massillon. One must remember that OHSAA was still using 3rd level points in the computer equation in 1973 so six total points was minimal.

All that awaited Mooney now was undefeated and #2 ranked Cincinnati Moeller, in Cincinnati. Moeller had a few Parade All-Americans of their own in Harry Woebkenberg (OSU) and Jay Case (Notre Dame), defensive linemen. Mr. Case was a junior but he started and he made the Parade All-American team the next season.

They had a few other All-State players as well, including Greg Storer (OSU). The Crusaders were 10-0 and had allowed a total of 33 points and I saw a stat that said they had only allowed 435 rushing yards in those 10 games. I do not know if that is correct but Mooney scored 34 points and Mr. Bell rushed for 185 yards himself. FB Dave Handel added another 100 yards rushing and the Cardinals routed Moeller 34-7 after trailing 7-0 early.

Now it was on to the Rubber Bowl and the prayed for rematch with undefeated and #1 ranked Warren Western Reserve. The defending champions were riding a 28-game winning streak, including that 6-0 victory over Mooney in the regular season. Ross Browner had graduated but they were still an excellent defensive team led by Aaron Brown (OSU & NFL), Jimmy Browner (ND & NFL), Willard Browner, Marty Murray and Brian DeCree among others. They had posted 8 shutouts in the 11 games coming in, including six in a row starting with Mooney in week six and over Bowling Green, 30-0 in the semifinals the week prior. They had only allowed 20 points total in those 11 games.

In an all Youngstown/Warren area final, and the first ever rematch of a regular season game in a state championship game, the Rubber Bowl was a madhouse, the crowd had to be closer to 40,000 than the OHSAA-announced 29,000. The Rubber Bowl had a capacity of 35K and we were wedged in there like sardines. In the end Mooney punter Bill McClure may just have been the MVP of the game as he pinned WWR inside their 20 on 5 separate occasions. For the most part the Mooney defense kept the Raiders pinned back there all night and Ted Bell rushed for 135 yards and scored on a beautiful 33-yard run to put the Cardinals in front for good. That game would remain as the only rematch of a regular season game in a title game until 2001 when Cleveland St. Ignatius defeated Cincinnati St. Xavier in the D1 title game. To this day there have only been 6 such games in the championship with Mooney involved in two of them. The other was the 2009 D3 title game against Columbus DeSales.

The final score of 14-3 Mooney made up for the loss in Warren but it came at a price as Ted Bell suffered a knee injury. In 8 quarters that year Mooney's D only allowed the defending state champion Raiders to score 3 points. The 6 WWR scored in the regular season game came on a 70-yard fumble return by Brian DeCree. WWR head coach Joe Novak suffered the only loss of his high school coaching career in that AAA final game to Mooney. He was 23-1 as the HC of the Raiders with one state title and 1 runner-up finish. Warren Western Reserve in fact would never defeat Mooney again, losing 7 more in a row to the Cardinals after WWR joined the SVC in 1979. WWR closed with a fantastic all time won-loss record of 182-61-2 but the Raiders finished 1-8 all time against the Cardinals.

In the regular season Mooney had to come from behind in the 2nd half to beat Hubbard 22-15. Don Bucci always said that he thought that 1973 Hubbard team was very good. I did not see the game but the next week the Eagles played Kennedy Christian of Sharon, Pa. Hubbard hammered them 55-13 but when I saw the game write-up the following caught my eye so I made a note of it. Hubbard FB Ray Giancola rushed for 205 yards and 3 TDs on 4 carries. Four carries! That's a rather impressive average of 51.25 YPC. The TDs were on runs of 86, 80 and 29 yards which means the other carry was a mediocre 10 yards.

View attachment 54311

	1973 MOONEY
AKRON EAST W 20-0
E. LIVERPOOL W 29-0
URSULINE W 13-0
HUBBARD W 22-15
BOARDMAN W 14-13
WARREN WESTERN RESERVE L 0-6
CAMPBELL W 45-13
FITCH W 34-21
STRUTHERS W 40-6
CHANEY W 28-0
CINCINNATI MOELLER W 34-7*
WARREN WESTERN RESERVE W 14-3**
*PLAYOFFS
**STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
11-1		6-0 SVC

View attachment 54312
View attachment 54313

College players I know of:

1st team Offense:

SE - Vince Casey - Struthers (Led SVC in receiving) - Murray St.
TE - Mike Chudik - Struthers - Ashland
OT - John Bartos - Hubbard - Kent St.
OT - Brian Ciccuto - Mooney - Hiram
OG - Mike Loydn - Mooney - Heidelberg
OG - Jim Calhoun - Fitch - W. Liberty St.
C - Doug Porter - Ursuline (AAA 3rd team All-State) - OSU
QB - Mike Berezo - Boardman - Bucknell
RB - Ted Bell - Mooney (Led the SVC in rushing, scoring & total offense) (AAA BAck of the Year, Parade All-American) - Michigan St.
RB - Dave Hodge - Ursuline (State champion hurdler as a jr. and sr.) - Tulane & Syracuse

2nd team Offense:

SE - Joe Conroy - Boardman - Toledo
TE - Wally Ford - Fitch - Mt. Union
OG - Randy Mingo - Campbell - Adrian
QB - Frank Angelo - Hubbard - Michigan St. & Kent St.
RB - Glen Herchik - Ursuline - Texas-Arlington & Ohio Wesleyan
FB - Ray Giancola - Hubbard (Led the SVC in punt returns) - Mt. Union

1st team Defense:

DE - Tim O'Neil - Ursuline (AAA 2nd team All-State at DE) - Iowa
IL - John Skruck - Hubbard - Dayton
IL - Kevin Tomasko - Mooney - Iowa
IL - Tony Williot - Ursuline - Penn ST.
LB - Jerry Tuscano - Boardman - YSU
DB - Dave Lockshaw - Mooney (AAA 1st team All-State at DB) - Adrian

2nd team Defense:

DE - Bob Carney - Mooney - Hiram
IL - Mike Chizmar - Fitch - YSU
IL - Don Robinson - Boardman - Mt. Union
LB - Mike Tamburino - Ursuline - B-W

Holy cow. How many players were on this team. Seems like alot. Are freshmen included in picture. Second. I wish I could have seen the Championship game at the rubber bowl. Sounds like an awesome atmosphere.

 

[Impalaman]

Holy cow. How many players were on this team. Seems like alot. Are freshmen included in picture. Second. I wish I could have seen the Championship game at the rubber bowl. Sounds like an awesome atmosphere.

My guess would be that no one in the picture was a freshman since the reason that Maurice Clarett supposedly didn't go to Mooney was that Don Bucci had told his father and him that freshmen don't play varsity at Mooney..

 

[YTOWN]

Holy cow. How many players were on this team. Seems like alot. Are freshmen included in picture. Second. I wish I could have seen the Championship game at the rubber bowl. Sounds like an awesome atmosphere.

No freshmen. That was a fairly typical roster size for Mooney teams at that time.

 

[BCSisdead]

Holy cow. How many players were on this team. Seems like alot. Are freshmen included in picture. Second. I wish I could have seen the Championship game at the rubber bowl. Sounds like an awesome atmosphere.

Cardinal Mooney’s 1973 team reflects on state championship ahead of 50th anniversary celebration

YOUNGSTOWN — Summers in the Mahoning Valley during the 1970s were oppressive. Daily temperatures ranged from the high 80s to low 90s most days, but combine that with the humidity and the smog from the steel mills that blanketed the area and the heat index could climb into the 100s. However...

www.vindy.com

 

[Struthersfan]

Holy cow. How many players were on this team. Seems like alot. Are freshmen included in picture. Second. I wish I could have seen the Championship game at the rubber bowl. Sounds like an awesome atmosphere.

My brother and our friend drove to Akron for the game. Didn't actually get in until sometime in the first quarter. (perhaps late in the quarter) This was due to horrendous traffic heading to the Rubber Bowl. 30,000 plus at the game, no exaggeration.
They said the atmosphere was unbelievable.
You missed a good one.

 

[YTOWN]

In 1975 the SVC title came down to week 9 when Ursuline beat Mooney and Boardman upset Fitch giving the Irish the title with a 5-1-1 SVC mark. For the 2nd time Ursuline won the title with a 6-3-1 overall record but one of those losses came in week 10 to Lakewood St. Edward, the AAA playoff runner-up in 75. Mooney and Fitch tied for second with 5-2 loop marks. Both finished 7-3 overall. Struthers also finished 7-3 overall but they were probably the tough luck team in the SVC losing three loop games by a total of 9 points and playing everybody tough.

Howland was admitted to the SVC in 1975 bringing the league to 8 members. The Tigers won the Mahoning Valley Conference title in 1974 finishing 9-1 overall, the loss to eventual AAA state champ Warren Harding. Howland finished 4th with a 4-2-1 league record but they tied Ursuline and defeated Mooney, to this day the only time Howland has defeated Mooney. Fitch had an interesting 3-game stretch in weeks 4-6 beating Struthers, 7-6, Hubbard, 7-5 and Howland, 7-6. The Falcons also defeated Warren Western Reserve in week 10, 14-13.

In other 1975 games that may be of interest Mooney opened the season at Canton McKinley. The Pups were led by Parade All-American QB Roch Hontas and future Buckeye, Eagles and Browns player Ray Ellis. Long-time Mooney teacher, coach and area sportscaster Denny Barrett died earlier that day and the team learned of it right before game time. The Cardinals came out and played an inspired game, especially defensively, and beat McK, 22-8. Mooney's D was so dominant in that game that they held McK to 2 first downs and minus-2 yards total offense. They held Mck to 16 rushing attempts for minus 6 yards. McK's score came on a KO return. That was McKinley's only loss of the season and it cost them a playoff berth and who knows maybe a state championship?

Speaking of Parade All-Americans, as good as Mooney looked in week one, E. Liverpool made them look equally as bad in week two behind their Parade All-American RB Ernie Washington. The Potters had not scored a point against the Cardinals in their four previous meetings but they flipped that and beat Mooney for the first time, 24-0. Other area Parade All-Americans in 1975 included RBs Willard Browner from Reserve, Tyrone Hicks from Harding and across the Pa. border DL Bruce Clark from New Castle. I have a cousin who played with Mr. Clark for the Hurricanes.

For the first time since the playoffs started no area teams qualified. In a game that certainly could have gone either way Cincinnati Moeller won their first championship with a hard fought 14-12 win over Lakewood St. Edward, the first time the AAA title was not won by a NE Ohio team. In AA, Parma Holy Name kept one title in the NE with a 19-14 win over Cincinnati Wyoming. In the class A title game Carey defeated Newark Catholic, 15-7 to win the title.

	1975 URSULINE
CLEVELAND JFK W 8-0
NILES L 0-20
BOARDMAN W 18-8
CAMPBELL W 22-0
STRUTHERS W 18-14
HUBBARD W 6-2
HOWLAND T 0-0
FITCH L 8-17
MOONEY W 14-8
LAKEWOOD ST. EDWARD L 8-36
6-3-1		5-1-1 SVC

College players that I know of:

1st team Offense:

WR - Jim Ferranti - Boardman (Led the SVC in receiving & punt returns) - YSU (Last time I looked "the Flea" was still YSU's all-time leading receiver in total receptions, yardage and TD catches) IIRC he was one of the last cuts by the Steelers when they had Swann and Stallworth at WR.
OT - Tom King - Fitch - Miami (O)
OT - Dave Yazbek - Mooney - Kent St.
RB - Ted Wade - Howland - YSU
RB - Pat Durina - Ursuline - YSU
RB - Tony Clemente - Struthers (Led the SVC in scoring & KO returns)- Fairmont St.

2nd team Offense:

End - Joe Koken - YSU
C - Ross Mehrmann - Boardman - Westminster
RB - Joe Croft - Mooney - Jr. (Led the SVC in rushing for 2nd straight year) - S. Illinois

1st team Defense:

DE - Tom Ahern - Howland - Northwestern
IL - Mike Trgovac - Fitch - Jr. - Michigan
LB - Glenn Fabis - Struthers - Cincinnati
LB - Joe Barwinski - Mooney - S. Illinois
LB - John DiDomenico - Boardman - YSU

2nd team Defense:

IL - Mike Chizmar - Ursuline - Miami (O)

 

[nupanther]

I'm pretty sure the Flea still leads in all time yardage at YSU, but Bryce Oliver passed him up this season for all time TD receptions.

 

[Impalaman]

In 1975 the SVC title came down to week 9 when Ursuline beat Mooney and Boardman upset Fitch giving the Irish the title with a 5-1-1 SVC mark. For the 2nd time Ursuline won the title with a 6-3-1 overall record but one of those losses came in week 10 to Lakewood St. Edward, the AAA playoff runner-up in 75. Mooney and Fitch tied for second with 5-2 loop marks. Both finished 7-3 overall. Struthers also finished 7-3 overall but they were probably the tough luck team in the SVC losing three loop games by a total of 9 points and playing everybody tough.

Howland was admitted to the SVC in 1975 bringing the league to 8 members. The Tigers won the Mahoning Valley Conference title in 1974 finishing 9-1 overall, the loss to eventual AAA state champ Warren Harding. Howland finished 4th with a 4-2-1 league record but they tied Ursuline and defeated Mooney, to this day the only time Howland has defeated Mooney. Fitch had an interesting 3-game stretch in weeks 4-6 beating Struthers, 7-6, Hubbard, 7-5 and Howland, 7-6. The Falcons also defeated Warren Western Reserve in week 10, 14-13.

In other 1975 games that may be of interest Mooney opened the season at Canton McKinley. The Pups were led by Parade All-American QB Roch Hontas and future Buckeye, Eagles and Browns player Ray Ellis. Long-time Mooney teacher, coach and area sportscaster Denny Barrett died earlier that day and the team learned of it right before game time. The Cardinals came out and played an inspired game, especially defensively, and beat McK, 22-8. Mooney's D was so dominant in that game that they held McK to 2 first downs and minus-2 yards total offense. They held Mck to 16 rushing attempts for minus 6 yards. McK's score came on a KO return. That was McKinley's only loss of the season and it cost them a playoff berth and who knows maybe a state championship?

Speaking of Parade All-Americans, as good as Mooney looked in week one, E. Liverpool made them look equally as bad in week two behind their Parade All-American RB Ernie Washington. The Potters had not scored a point against the Cardinals in their four previous meetings but they flipped that and beat Mooney for the first time, 24-0. Other area Parade All-Americans in 1975 included RBs Willard Browner from Reserve, Tyrone Hicks from Harding and across the Pa. border DL Bruce Clark from New Castle. I have a cousin who played with Mr. Clark for the Hurricanes.

For the first time since the playoffs started no area teams qualified. In a game that certainly could have gone either way Cincinnati Moeller won their first championship with a hard fought 14-12 win over Lakewood St. Edward, the first time the AAA title was not won by a NE Ohio team. In AA, Parma Holy Name kept one title in the NE with a 19-14 win over Cincinnati Wyoming. In the class A title game Carey defeated Newark Catholic, 15-7 to win the title.

View attachment 54405

View attachment 54406

	1975 URSULINE
CLEVELAND JFK W 8-0
NILES L 0-20
BOARDMAN W 18-8
CAMPBELL W 22-0
STRUTHERS W 18-14
HUBBARD W 6-2
HOWLAND T 0-0
FITCH L 8-17
MOONEY W 14-8
LAKEWOOD ST. EDWARD L 8-36
6-3-1		5-1-1 SVC

View attachment 54407

View attachment 54408

College players that I know of:

1st team Offense:

WR - Jim Ferranti - Boardman (Led the SVC in receiving & punt returns) - YSU (Last time I looked "the Flea" was still YSU's all-time leading receiver in total receptions, yardage and TD catches) IIRC he was one of the last cuts by the Steelers when they had Swann and Stallworth at WR.
OT - Tom King - Fitch - Miami (O)
OT - Dave Yazbek - Mooney - Kent St.
RB - Ted Wade - Howland - YSU
RB - Pat Durina - Ursuline - YSU
RB - Tony Clemente - Struthers (Led the SVC in scoring & KO returns)- Fairmont St.

2nd team Offense:

End - Joe Koken - YSU
C - Ross Mehrmann - Boardman - Westminster
RB - Joe Croft - Mooney - Jr. (Led the SVC in rushing for 2nd straight year) - S. Illinois

1st team Defense:

IL - Mike Trgovac - Fitch - Jr. - Michigan
LB - Glenn Fabis - Struthers - Cincinnati
LB - Joe Barwinski - Mooney - S. Illinois
LB - Joe DiDomenico - Boardman - YSU

2nd team Defense:

IL - Mike Chizmar - Ursuline - Miami (O)

A couple of things about some of the Howland players on the all-SVC team.
1. Tom Ahern played for Northwestern,
2. Ted Wade, who had 90 yard interception return for a TD against Mooney at the end of the 1st half, was tragically murdered in 1977.

Trumbull man convicted of Warren murder dies

WARREN — Orson W. Wells, a Braceville Township native convicted in a 1977 Warren murder and six counts of kidnapping in the 1993 ...

www.tribtoday.com

 

[YTOWN]

I'm pretty sure the Flea still leads in all time yardage at YSU, but Bryce Oliver passed him up this season for all time TD receptions.

I have not looked at the list for a year or two but now that you mention I think I did hear that Mr. Oliver became the all-time leader in TD receptions this year. Thanks for the info.

I said above that "The Flea" led the SVC in receiving and punt returns. His punt return total does not include about a 75-yarder that I saw him return for a TD against Struthers. I thought the Wildcat cover men were going to separate Mr. Ferranti from his head because he didn't call for a fair catch and they were right on top of him. Somehow he caught the ball, threw a couple of moves that broke the ankles of the would be tacklers, started up the near sideline, bounced it all the way across the field to the far sideline and took it to the house. It was a thing of beauty to watch but it was called back. Struthers ended up winning the game, 14-7 when their RB Tony Clemente bolstered his league lead in KO returns by returning a KO about 90-95 yards for the game winning TD. The Spartans had just scored to take a 7-6 lead late in the game.

A couple of things about some of the Howland players on the all-SVC team.
1. Tom Ahern played for Northwestern,
2. Ted Wade, who had 90 yard interception return for a TD against Mooney at the end of the 1st half, was tragically murdered in 1977.

Trumbull man convicted of Warren murder dies

WARREN — Orson W. Wells, a Braceville Township native convicted in a 1977 Warren murder and six counts of kidnapping in the 1993 ...

www.tribtoday.com

Thank you for the info on Mr. Ahern sir. I will update the list.

 

[YTOWN]

Mooney won the 1976 SVC championship and finished the season at 10-0. They qualified for the AAA playoffs and once again had to travel to SW Ohio to play Cincinnati Moeller. The game was played in Dayton this time, at Welcome Stadium, where an exceedingly lucky Crusader team escaped and advanced to the AAA state championship game by eking out a 48-0 victory over the previously undefeated Cardinals. Mooney was the victim of horrendously bad officiating, every call went Moeller's way. For example trailing 14-0 Mooney advanced to the Moeller one-yard line where I have no doubt in my mind that QB Jeff Bruno scored on 3rd down but he was marked short. Joe Croft was then stopped on 4th down, another very questionable call I must add. Had that TD been called, as it should have been, it may have been a much different outcome......I don't know maybe like......48-7!

In all seriousness that 76 Moeller team was one of the best HS football teams I have ever seen. Mooney was not an offensive juggernaut by any means winning games by scores like 6-3 (Canton McK), 7-2 Ursuline and 7-0 (Howland) but the Cardinals had only allowed 30 points in 10 games. Led by Ohio AAA Back of the Year QB Tim Koegel (Notre Dame) and AAA Lineman of the Year Jim Brown (Penn St.) Moeller shredded the Cards for 48 points in 4 quarters. Both of those gentlemen were also Parade All-Americans. They had a 3rd Parade AA in Jr. LB Bob Crable (Notre Dame, NY Jets). He made the Parade team in 77 but he started on that 76 team. He was also named the Ohio AAA Lineman of the Year in 77.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that the 1976 Moeller team was one of the most dominant I have seen. In their 12 games that season they outscored their opponents 490-40. That includes two playoff games against teams, Mooney and Gahanna Lincoln, that were a combined 21-0 and had allowed a total of 59 points in those 21 games. Moller beat them by a combined 91-5. Mooney had registered six shutouts and Lincoln five including a 28-0 blanking of Lakewood St. Edward in the other semifinal. With their 43-5 victory over Gahanna Lincoln in the title game Moeller became the first team to repeat as champions at the AAA level.

According to their website the 1976 Crusader team had 21 seniors who received football scholarships to play college ball, 17 of them at the D1 level and of course that does not include underclassmen like Mr. Crable who may have started for them. I have seen a lot of dominant teams at the AAA or D1 level, 2004 Colerain comes to mind as well as a few other Moeller, St. Ignatius and St. Edward teams, but that 76 Moeller team was right there among the best.

	1976 MOONEY
CANTON McKINLEY W 6-3
EAST LIVERPOOL W 17-0
BOARDMAN W 28-19
HOWLAND W 7-0
CAMPBELL W 41-0
FITCH W 22-0
STRUTHERS W 34-0
URSULINE W 7-2
HUBBARD W 42-0
CHANEY W 14-6
CINCINNATI MOELLER L 0-48*
*PLAYOFFS
10-1		7-0 SVC

College players I know of:

1st team Offense:

QB - Jeff Bruno - Mooney - Texas-Arlington
RB - Joe Croft - Mooney (Led the SVC in rushing & scoring) (AAA 3rd team All-State at RB) - S. Illinois - Mr. Croft led the SVC in rushing for the 3rd consecutive season. He finished his Mooney career as the 2nd leading rusher in school history with 3,085 yards. That total is still good for 4th on the all-time rushing list for Mooney
RB - Jack Loew - Mooney - Jr. - S. Colorado - Long-time area boxing trainer & promoter and middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik's trainer.
RB - Russ Spitz - Boardman - Jr. - Syracuse

2nd team Offense:

End - Dan Beaver - Struthers - Soph. (led the SVC in receptions) - YSU
End - Jerry Kernan - Ursuline - Hiram

1st team Defense:

DE - Myke Clarrett - Mooney - BGSU
IL - Mike Trgovac - Fitch (AAA 1st team All-State at DT, State champion wrestler in Unlimited weight class) - Michigan (All Big 10 there) - Long time coach at the collegiate and NFL levels, including as DC for the Carolina Panthers.
IL - Lou Nudo - Mooney - YSU & Kent St.
IL - Mike Chizmar - Ursuline - Miami (O)
LB - Len Bartlemay - Mooney - Jr. - Cincinnati
DB - Gary Komsa - Mooney - Toledo & YSU
DB - Larry Grist - Fitch - YSU
DB - John Burns - Howland - Northwestern

2nd team Defense:

IL - Mike Collins - Ursuline - Jr. - S. Illinois
DB - Chris Romano - Hubbard - Wooster
DB - Bob Stoops - Mooney - Jr. - Iowa

 

[Gardens35]

Paragraph #1

It was a good year for the BIG guy wrestlers. Trgovac won the AAA Unlimited Championship, and Kenny Christello of Brookfield won the AA title. Boardman's Greg August was a pretty good one too.

 

[nupanther]

In addition to Jack Lowe, I see at least a couple others boxers. Clint Longmire and Ray Mancini ( spelled Mancino) Of all of the great athletes from Mooney, I dont believe anybody else has a street named after him

 

[coldshoulder]

In addition to Jack Lowe, I see at least a couple others boxers. Clint Longmire and Ray Mancini ( spelled Mancino) Of all of the great athletes from Mooney, I dont believe anybody else has a street named after him

Ya, funny that the (eventual) most famous guy had his name misspelled; and a few other notables from that great Mooney team were: Myke Clarrett, father of future OSU star and NFL player Maurice Clarrett; underclassman Ed Muransky, future Michigan and NFL player; Bob Stoops, future great collegiate coach, primarily at Oklahoma; coach Bo Pelini's brothers (?) Vince and John; and Youngstown area builder/developer Dominic Marchionda.

 

[Impalaman]

Mooney won the 1976 SVC championship and finished the season at 10-0. They qualified for the AAA playoffs and once again had to travel to SW Ohio to play Cincinnati Moeller. The game was played in Dayton this time, at Welcome Stadium, where an exceedingly lucky Crusader team escaped and advanced to the AAA state championship game by eking out a 48-0 victory over the previously undefeated Cardinals. Mooney was the victim of horrendously bad officiating, every call went Moeller's way. For example trailing 14-0 Mooney advanced to the Moeller one-yard line where I have no doubt in my mind that QB Jeff Bruno scored on 3rd down but he was marked short. Joe Croft was then stopped on 4th down, another very questionable call I must add. Had that TD been called, as it should have been, it may have been a much different outcome......I don't know maybe like......48-7!

In all seriousness that 76 Moeller team was one of the best HS football teams I have ever seen. Mooney was not an offensive juggernaut by any means winning games by scores like 6-3 (Canton McK), 7-2 Ursuline and 7-0 (Howland) but the Cardinals had only allowed 30 points in 10 games. Led by Ohio AAA Back of the Year QB Tim Koegel (Notre Dame) and AAA Lineman of the Year Jim Brown (Penn St.) Moeller shredded the Cards for 48 points in 4 quarters. Both of those gentlemen were also Parade All-Americans. They had a 3rd Parade AA in Jr. LB Bob Crable (Notre Dame, NY Jets). He made the Parade team in 77 but he started on that 76 team. He was also named the Ohio AAA Lineman of the Year in 77.

Maybe it would be more accurate to say that the 1976 Moeller team was one of the most dominant I have seen. In their 12 games that season they outscored their opponents 490-40. That includes two playoff games against teams, Mooney and Gahanna Lincoln, that were a combined 21-0 and had allowed a total of 59 points in those 21 games. Moller beat them by a combined 91-5. Mooney had registered six shutouts and Lincoln five including a 28-0 blanking of Lakewood St. Edward in the other semifinal. With their 43-5 victory over Gahanna Lincoln in the title game Moeller became the first team to repeat as champions at the AAA level.

According to their website the 1976 Crusader team had 21 seniors who received football scholarships to play college ball, 17 of them at the D1 level and of course that does not include underclassmen like Mr. Crable who may have started for them. I have seen a lot of dominant teams at the AAA or D1 level, 2004 Colerain comes to mind as well as a few other Moeller, St. Ignatius and St. Edward teams, but that 76 Moeller team was right there among the best.

View attachment 54455

	1976 MOONEY
CANTON McKINLEY W 6-3
EAST LIVERPOOL W 17-0
BOARDMAN W 28-19
HOWLAND W 7-0
CAMPBELL W 41-0
FITCH W 22-0
STRUTHERS W 34-0
URSULINE W 7-2
HUBBARD W 42-0
CHANEY W 14-6
CINCINNATI MOELLER L 0-48*
*PLAYOFFS
10-1		7-0 SVC

View attachment 54457
View attachment 54458

College players I know of:

1st team Offense:

QB - Jeff Bruno - Mooney - Texas-Arlington
RB - Joe Croft - Mooney (Led the SVC in rushing & scoring) (AAA 3rd team All-State at RB) - S. Illinois - Mr. Croft led the SVC in rushing for the 3rd consecutive season. He finished his Mooney career as the 2nd leading rusher in school history with 3,085 yards. That total is still good for 4th on the all-time rushing list for Mooney
RB - Jack Loew - Mooney - Jr. - S. Colorado - Long-time area boxing trainer & promoter and middleweight world champion Kelly Pavlik's trainer.
RB - Russ Spitz - Boardman - Jr. - Syracuse

2nd team Offense:

End - Dan Beaver - Struthers - Soph. (led the SVC in receptions) - YSU
End - Jerry Kernan - Ursuline - Hiram

1st team Defense:

DE - Myke Clarrett - Mooney - BGSU
IL - Mike Trgovac - Fitch (AAA 1st team All-State at DT, State champion wrestler in Unlimited weight class) - Michigan (All Big 10 there) - Long time coach at the collegiate and NFL levels, including as DC for the Carolina Panthers.
IL - Lou Nudo - Mooney - YSU & Kent St.
IL - Mike Chizmar - Ursuline - Miami (O)
LB - Len Bartlemay - Mooney - Jr. - Cincinnati
DB - Gary Komsa - Mooney - Toledo & YSU
DB - Larry Grist - Fitch - YSU

2nd team Defense:

IL - Mike Collins - Ursuline - Jr. - S. Illinois
DB - Chris Romano - Hubbard - Wooster
DB - Bob Stoops - Mooney - Jr. - Iowa

John Burns, like Tom Ahern from the previous year, also played for Northwestern, one of at least 6 Tigers to play for the Wildcats over the years. he was moved from WR to HB near the beginning of the Fitch game and absolutely destroyed the Falcons that night.

 

[YTOWN]

John Burns, like Tom Ahern from the previous year, also played for Northwestern, one of at least 6 Tigers to play for the Wildcats over the years. he was moved from WR to HB near the beginning of the Fitch game and absolutely destroyed the Falcons that night.

Thanks for the info on Mr. Burns and Northwestern but I must be missing something about his game against Fitch. The Falcons beat Howland 7-0 in 1976 did they not? To my knowledge Howland has only beaten Fitch 4 times and none of them happened while Mr. Burns was at Howland, he was a senior in 1976 correct? Howland did beat Fitch, 6-0 the next season.

Anyway on to 1977:

1977 SVC champion Cardinal Mooney opened the season with a loss to first time opponent Mentor Lake Catholic, the Cougars would also defeat Ursuline in week two. Mooney then reeled off eight victories in a row before losing to Chaney in week 10, finishing at 8-2 overall, 7-0 in the SVC. It was a strange year in the SVC in that every other team had at least three losses in the loop. Hubbard, Boardman and Howland all tied for second place with 4-3 SVC marks. Hubbard had the best record of the three at 7-3.

There was big news in Campbell in 1977 however as the Red Devils finally snapped its long winless streak, which had reached 43 games. Campbell had two ties in that stretch, with Girard and Rayen, but they had not tasted victory in almost five full seasons. Their last win was over Mooney in week 8 of the 1972 season. In week three of the 77 season Campbell invaded Spartan Stadium and came away with a 12-9 victory over Boardman when Campbell's Jim Schrieber picked up a Boardman fumble and returned it 78 yards for a TD with about 8 or 9 minutes left in the game. The Devils would add a win over Rayen in week ten and finish at 2-8.

For the second time in the playoff era no local teams qualified but in keeping with mentioning the Parade All-American team Youngstown North RB. Anthony "A. J." Jones made the team. Cincinnati Moeller became the first team in playoff history to "3-peat" when they won the Class AAA title with a 14-2 victory over Canton McKinley. The Cincy area added the AA title when Cincinnati Wyoming defeated defending AA champion Elyria Catholic, 26-14. For the second consecutive year Ashtabula St. John was the Class A runner-up losing to Crooksville, 8-7.

	1977 MOONEY
MENTOR LAKE CATHOLIC L 12-20
EAST LIVERPOOL W 40-6
HOWLAND W 7-0
CAMPBELL W 45-0
FITCH W 7-0
STRUTHERS W 34-3
URSULINE W 18-14
HUBBARD W 13-6
BOARDMAN W 40-0
CHANEY L 13-21
8-2		7-0 SVC

College players I know of:

1st team Offense:

End - Bob Stoops - Mooney (Led the SVC in receiving yardage, AAA 2nd team All-State) - Iowa - (capt, there. All-Big 10 DB and the Hawkeyes MVP in 1982) ( Winningest coach in Oklahoma U. history, including a BCS National Championship game win and victories in all four BCS Bowl Games becoming the first coach to do so. ) (Member of the College Football HOF)
OT - Ed Muransky - Mooney (AAA 3rd team All-State) - Michigan (All-American there) Drafted by the Raiders, won a Super Bowl Ring with them. Also played with the Orlando Renegades in the USFL.
OG - Mike Moore - Howland - Hiram
QB - Lester Pakalnis - Mooney (Led the SVC in passing yardage & TDs) - YSU
RB - Russ Spitz - Boardman - Syracuse
RB - Jack Loew - Mooney - S. Colorado
RB - Walter Poole - Hubbard (Led the SVC in rushing, scoring & total offense) - S. Illinois - Played with Chicago and Houston in the USFL

2nd team Offense:

End - Duane Sell - Hubbard- Jr. (Led the SVC in receptions) - BGSU
End - Ed Blott - Fitch - Hiram
QB - Mike Mazzone - Fitch (Led the SVC in completions) - B-W

1st team Defense:

DE - Bill Byrdy - Howland - Louisville
IL - Mike Collins - Ursuline - S. Illinois
IL - Al Mohammed - Ursuline (AAA 2nd team All-State) - Arkansas
LB - Len Bartlemay - Mooney - Cincinnati
DB - Brian Halfhill - Ursuline (Led the SVC in punting) - YSU & Indian River St.

2nd team Defense:

IL - Neil Lowry - Mooney - Clemson
IL - Dan Benish - Hubbard - Jr. - Clemson (Member of Clemson National Champions) - Falcons & Redskins in the NFL
DB - Mark Wilson - Mooney - Louisville