Cardinal Mooney overcomes slow start to beat Lemon Bay

Cardinal Mooney got off to a slow start but adjusted, recovered and defeated Lemon Bay, 27-14, in a non-district game Friday night at Veterans Stadium.

“It was an interesting night,” Cougars head coach Drew Lascari said. “We got punched in the mouth and we stuck together as a family and continued to play for each other in that regard. But we have got to become a lot better.”

Mooney had two drives in the first quarter during which Lascari said the Cougars were watching how the Manta Rays lined up in different formations. After that, he said, they felt they could take advantage of what they saw.

“I’m proud of how our kids responded to those adjustments,” he said.

Even with the adjustments, it was a see-saw battle until late in the first half. Tristan Hillerich threw two touchdown passes as the Cougars took a 20-14 lead at intermission.

Lemon Bay scored first with 7:56 remaining in the first quarter on a 16-yard pass from Hayden Wolff to Victor Mellor. Summer Rusher made the extra point for a 7-0 lead.

Mooney struck with 9:37 left in the second quarter on a 14-yard run by Bryce Williams. Ryan Blechta’s kick made it 7-7.

Brayden Curry put the Manta Rays back on top with a 5-yard run with 2:45 left in the first half. Rusher’s kick made it 14-7. Hillerich then hit Sean White on a 47-yard touchdown pass a minute later to tie the score at 14-14 after a kick by Blechta.

But after Cardinal Mooney thwarted Lemon Bay on fourth down, Hillerich hit Jack Koscho on a 47-yard scoring pass to put Mooney up 20-14 with 27 seconds remaining. Blechta missed the ensuing kick.

Mooney tried to simultaneously run down the clock and get first downs in the second half, Lascari said. “It was a very emotional situation.”

Hillerich and Williams paced the Cougars on offense.

Hillerich’s 19-yard run capped the scoring with 6:04 left in the third quarter. Blechta’s kick made it 27-14.

“Bryce Williams is a special player,” Lascari said. “He’s definitely the horse of our offense. Even when we thought that they were loading the box to try to stop Bryce, we were committed to continue to run the ball. We trust that he is not going to go down on first contact and he showed that tonight. It wasn’t exactly a pretty game on the ground for us, but that boy worked.”

Of Hillerich and the passing game, Lascari said: “I think Tristan really stepped up tonight. He delivered it in crucial times. It took him a little bit to get going, but once he did he was seeing the field very, very well.”

Overall, Lascari said, the Cougars “need to get better. I don’t feel like we got too much better tonight. We’re going into district play next week. It doesn’t matter what the scoreboard says. It doesn’t matter who we are playing. We need to continue to get better.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 11:03 PM with the headline "Cardinal Mooney overcomes slow start to beat Lemon Bay."