Cardinal Mooney uses late-game heroics to capture Class 1S state football championship

TALLAHASSEE − Cardinal Mooney offensive line coach Dave Marino talked about a championship drive when the Cougars took over at their own 32-yard line trailing by three points with 64 seconds remaining.

Attempting the game-tying field goal and going to overtime was not in the plans.

“Oh yeah,” Cardinal Mooney head coach Jared Clark said. “You get down there and you make a decision, but we were trying to score. No question.”

The Cougars covered the 68 yards with two plays and a penalty, and then held Trinity Catholic out of the end zone in a thrilling 31-27 victory over the Celtics in the Class 1 Suburban state championship game in front of 1,320 fans Friday at Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the campus of Florida A&M University.

It was Cardinal Mooney’s second state title with the first coming in 1972.

Chris McCorkle had a hand or two in both the scoring play and the final play of the game. The junior caught the game-winning touchdown pass with 53 seconds left in regulation and then recorded an interception in the opposite end zone to set off a wild celebration for a program that had not won a football championship in 51 years.

“I’m grateful for everything out here,” McCorkle said.

More: New Cardinal Mooney state champion DB Teddy Foster: "I'm locked in. I'm a Gator."

A 49-yard field goal by Cooper Badics gave Trinity Catholic (6-8) a 27-24 lead with 1:10 remaining in the game.

A 21-yard kickoff return by Mason Jordan gave Cardinal Mooney (12-2) possession at its 32-yard line. Quarterback Michael Valentino, who returned at the end of the regular season after suffering an injury in Week 4, connected with Teddy Foster on a quick out to the right for 14 yards.

On an incomplete pass, the Celtics were flagged for roughing Valentino, tacking on 15 yards, and placing the Cougars in Trinity Catholic territory at the 39-yard line.

Finding success with the long passing game early and then going away from it in the middle two quarters, the Cougars went back to what worked early.

McCorkle got behind the Celtics’ defense and was wide open when he hauled in the Valentino strike.

“Double post. The safety came down for Bo Daniel and Chris is pretty good and we got it to him,” Valentino said. “That was the plan, just look the safety off and I knew Chris would get open.”

“Ball control. Eyes, hands, feet,” McCorkle said. “Use your eyes. It’s just me. I’m an athlete. I train for this every day. Great work, hard work, dedication.”

Nico Schuetz’s all-important PAT kick was good, putting Cardinal Mooney ahead 31-27 and meaning Trinity Catholic needed a touchdown to win.

The Celtics worked their way from their own 27-yard line to the Cougars’ 45 with 4 seconds remaining. Quarterback Preston Wright heaved the ball to the end zone, but McCorkle was there, lept and made the game-ending pick.

“(I saw) the ball go up. I told myself I’m going to go get it,” McCorkle said. “And I went up and got it.”

Valentino was happy to see McCorkle on defense right after he caught the touchdown pass.

“Every day at practice I’m happy to see him,” Valentino said. “I’m very happy I get to play with him.”

Trinity Catholic got off to a quick start. The Celtics won the coin toss and elected to receive. Thanks to a facemask penalty on the opening kickoff, they started on the Cardinal Mooney 44. They covered the 44 yards with eight rushing plays and with the help of an encroachment penalty on a field-goal attempt on fourth down.

After the opening drive, Trinity Catholic had 32 rushing yards the rest of the game.

“We didn’t really make that many adjustments; we just knew what we had to do,” Cougars senior linebacker George Leibold said after making eight tackles, second to teammate Zeshon Casimir’s game-high 13. “We knew our skill was better than them.

“Just fly around and play Mooney football.”

“Our guys figured out that we’re pretty good and we could play with these guys,” Clark said. “So we were able to stop the run and make them one-dimensional.”

The Cougars had a quick answer, highlighted by McCorkle’s first big play of the game. McCorkle hauled in a 77-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Devin Mignery, who got the start.

“He’s a dog. I love that kid,” Leibold said of McCorkle. “That kid is special. If you don’t know the name Chris McCorkle, you do now.”

“We are very skilled at the skill positions, the secondary and wide receiver,” Clark said. “They know who Teddy (Foster) is and they know who Zy(’Marion Lang) is and they were trying to take those guys away. We’ve got another one. His name is Chris McCorkle. He’s pretty good. He had a heckuva game today.”

On the first play of the second quarter, Carson Beach pounded his way into the end zone from four yards out for his 11th touchdown in the past four games and 27th on the season to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead.

On the next possession, Cardinal Mooney went up 21-7 as Valentino hooked up with Foster for an 82-yard scoring pass.

“I told coach we can throw and we were able to throw,” Valentino said.

The Cougars had a difficult stretch before halftime, and Trinity Catholic tied the game.

Defensive lineman Zack Johnson tipped a pass at the line of scrimmage and made an interception leading to a short rushing touchdown. After a Cougars’ 3-and-out, the Celtics used four completions to tie the game.

The second half was not as wide open as the first. Schuetz kicked a 31-yard field goal on Cardinal Mooney’s first possession of the third quarter to make it 24-21.

Badics had a 30-yard field goal to tie it at 24-all before breaking the deadline with his 49-yarder.

And then the West Virginia-born and raised McCorkle took over.

“This means everything,” he said. “I love these boys with all my heart. I came here from out of state and they treated me like family.”

“He’s an exceptional athlete,” Clark said of McCorkle. “You watch him run and it doesn’t look like he’s running that fast, but he’s running by people. I’m so happy for him to have probably his best game of the year on the biggest stage of the year.”

And Valentino came back from what appeared to be a season- and high school career-ending injury to go 5-for-11 for 174 yards. Cardinal Mooney threw for 312 yards with Mignery completing 3-of-4 for 138 yards.

“It’s crazy. I have no one to thank by my family and my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,” Valentino said. “Not how I planned this year to go at all. It was all worth it. I have to praise him for all of it.

“At first they said six months. They told me I wouldn’t play this year. Once I got out, they said maybe we can get it down to six weeks. I did the rehab and five weeks later I was ready.”

Clark took time to reflect on two mainstays with the program, former coaches Mike Dowling, who died in 2019, and his high school quarterback coach Kerry Baker, who passed away Monday.

“Since I started playing high school football in 1995, you always dream about winning state championships,” said Clark, who completed his fourth season. “We didn’t get it done in high school. It’s one of the major reasons I came back here.

“How cool is it that those two guys are in heaven right now watching this game. They’re celebrating up there.”

Leibold, a senior who played all four seasons with Clark, said, “I believed. I’ve been here for four years with Coach Clark. It’s been amazing. We believed we were going to get it done. Everybody bought in and believed.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Cardinal Mooney Catholic football captures 1st state title since 1972