Cardinal Mooney routs North Florida Christian to advance to state title game

SARASOTA — The celebration was just as good as the start for the Cardinal Mooney Catholic football team.

The Cougars scored the first 27 points of the game and then celebrated like it was 1972 after defeating North Florida Christian Academy out of Tallahassee, 41-14, in the Class 1 Suburban state semifinal on Friday at John Heath Field at Austin Smithers Stadium.

Cardinal Mooney (11-2) will play for its second state championship and first since 1972 when it takes on Trinity Catholic of Ocala, a 51-36 winner over First Baptist of Naples at 10 a.m. Friday at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee.

With warmer temperatures this week, the Gatorade bath was much more appealing to Cougars coach Jared Clark.

“Not as cold,” he said. “Saw that one coming.”

Cardinal Mooney made an impression on the scoreboard 45 seconds into the contest. Three straight incompletions, two drops and a pass breakup by Zy’Marion Lang, forced the Eagles (9-3) to punt.

Zeshon Casimir came crashing in from the right side and blocked the punt. To make it even better, teammate Jacob Brown picked up the loose ball and went 22 yards to the end zone for a quick 7-0 lead.

“We were practicing over and over,” Casimir said. “Coach was like, ‘You’re gonna get it or Scott Silva, our D end, is going to get it.’ I just got off the ball and I did my job. That’s all there was to it.”

Casimir said it was his first punt block, but he said he had been “really close” on other occasions.

“We thought we could block one and we got one tonight,” Clark said. “We’ve been close on a lot. I told Z if they do what I think they are going to do, you’re going to block one. He believed and came off the edge and got it. We had the advantage running the football and with special teams.”

After his block, Casimir had an interception on the Eagles’ second drive and the first of three against North Florida Christian quarterback JP Pickles.

“We were kinda scrambled around,” Casimir said. “I was the QB spy and I read his eyes and dropped back into coverage and got the pick. QBs eyes tell everything.”

All the Cardinal Mooney running game did was pile up 356 yards on the ground and get four more touchdowns from senior Carson Beach, who had 161 yards on 30 carries.

The Cougars made it 14-0 in the middle of the second quarter on an end around to Lang, who scored from 9 yards out.

After forcing a three-and-out, Cardinal Mooney went 90 yards in 12 plays, all on the ground with Beach scoring his first on an 8-yard run 59.4 seconds before halftime.

But the Cougars were not finished. Before the first half ended, Lang picked off Pickles, and Beach cashed in again from two yards out with 8.1 seconds left to make it 27-0 at halftime.

Chris McCorkle had the third interception for the Cougars midway through the third quarter before North Florida Christian got on the board.

Pickles, a senior headed to Austin Peay, connected with Terrion Martin for a 6-yard score. The 2-point conversion pass failed and it was 26-7.

It took Cardinal Mooney two plays to get the points back and then one. Quarterback Devin Mignery burst up the middle 54 yards, and Beach got the final yard. With Nino Schuetz’s PAT kick, the Cougars were up 34-6.

The teams traded touchdowns in the fourth quarter: Major Harris II scored from six yards out for the Eagles, and Beach got his fourth score and 26th of the season and 10th in three playoff games.

McCorkle then recorded his second interception of the game and third of Pickles on the evening to ice it.

“That quarterback is a good quarterback,” Clark said of Pickles who was 29-for-49 for 271 yards and the three picks. “They get going a little bit and it gets a little scary. Our defense played their butts off. We bent a little bit. They were going to make some plays.

“The defense played pretty much lights out. So proud of those guys.”

“In practice we all come with energy every time,” Casimir said. “The defense comes out, we kick the door down and run onto the field. That’s how the defense rolls. We come with energy every time in practice and walk throughs and definitely in the game, as you saw.”

Cardinal Mooney is playing its best football at the right time of the season.

“We played really, really well,” Clark said. “There were certain things they didn’t allow us to do, but there were certain things we did comfortably.”

Cardinal Mooney picked up 441 yards of total offense, 356 on the ground. Quarterbacks Michael Valentino (4-for-5, 48 yards passing 6 carries, 37 yards rushing) and Mignery (5-for-6, 37 yards passing, 8 carries, 97 yards rushing) were nearly perfect.

“Now we celebrate for a day and we prepare for one more. We’ve got to finish the season.”

The Cougars will take on a 6-7 Trinity Catholic team that played the 26th toughest schedule in the state and comes in with a three-game winning streak.

“We knew we had the talent to play for a title, but you’ve got to have things go your way,” Clark said. “We’re healthy. We came into this game very healthy. That has a lot to do with it. The injury gods smiled on us at the right time. I thought we had the talent to play for a state championship.”

“It means everything,” Casimir said. “We’re not finished. We’ve got one more game to go. It’s been too long without a state championship. We’re gonna get it.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Cardinal Mooney advances to Class 1S football state title game