Cardinal Mooney clinches playoff berth with win against St. Petersburg Catholic

The Cougars nabbed just their second win of the season Friday in St. Petersburg, but it was enough for Mooney to clinch a spot in the postseason for the second straight year.

Four different players scored touchdowns for Cardinal Mooney (2-5, 2-0 District 3A-5) and the defense pitched a shutout against the Barons (1-6, 0-2) to keep the Cougars perfect in league play.

Vinny Conetta led the way for Mooney with two touchdowns -- one on the ground and one threw the air -- and quarterback Tristan Hillerich connected for a pair of touchdown strikes to go along with a scoring run to spur Cardinal Mooney's blowout. Jake Santiago hauled in Hillerich's other touchdown pass and wide receiver Chad Wilkins scored the Cougars' final touchdown on a run.

Mooney will now play for a district title Oct. 30 against Clearwater Central Catholic on the road.

SEFFNER CHRISTIAN 62, BRADENTON CHRISTIAN 48 -- The Panthers defensive struggles continued against the Crusaders on Friday and Dominick Otteni's 358 total yards couldn't help BCS overcome its deficiencies.

The quarterback competed 14-of-20 passes for 212 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 146 yards on 16 carries. Running back Zack Cooper Jr. added 102 rushing yards on 17 carries for Bradenton Christian (2-5, 1-2 District 2A). Linebacker Brett Gerber also recorded 18 tackles against Seffner Christian (4-3, 1-2).

TAMPA CARROLLWOOD DAY 21, OUT-OF-DOOR 14 -- The Thunder was officially eliminated from the postseason Friday with its loss to Carrollwood Day.

ODA (2-5, 0-3 District 2A-5) is the only winless team left in its district after Seffner Christian beat Bradenton Christian across the county. The Patriots (6-1, 3-0) moved to first place in the league as the only 3-0 team.

-- Herald staff reports

This story was originally published October 17, 2015 at 12:06 AM with the headline "Cardinal Mooney clinches playoff berth with win against St. Petersburg Catholic ."