Southeast defeats Cardinal Mooney to match last season’s win total
Southeast appears to be back.
The Seminoles defeated Cardinal Mooney 35-31 on homecoming Friday night, passing an important early season test without much trouble. They matched their win total from last year, improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2011 and just the third time since 2004.
But Seminoles coach Rashad West wants to slow things down.
“Oh, no, don’t start that stuff, man,” he said. “We’re 4-0 and it’s good. It’s good for the kids and good for the program. But let’s not start the Southeast’s back stuff yet. We’ve got a ways to go.”
But they’ve got the stuff to take them a long way. The Seminoles, who haven’t had a winning record since 2012, entered the game against the Cougars (1-4) averaging 31.7 points and allowing an average of 6 points a game.
The offense produced once again behind quarterback Alex Taylor. The senior completed 18 of 26 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns. Friday was his fourth consecutive game with multiple touchdown passes, something that comes in just his second year playing the position.
“If he keeps having nights like that, we’ll keep having success,” West said. “Tonight, man, he got rid of the ball, and he held on and got through his progressions. That first touchdown, he got all the way down to the check-down on the backside, which is something he hasn’t been able to do yet, last year especially.”
Cardinal Mooney’s loss comes one day after it received notice that it would have to forfeit two victories earlier in the season because it used an ineligible player. The decision, which the Cougars self-reported, hurts their chances of reaching the postseason.
“In terms of the news we received (Thursday), we understand that all we can do is worry about us right now, continue to get better, continue to love each other, continue to stay strong as a team, as a family, as a community,” Cougars coach Drew Lascari said.
“In terms of the situation, mistakes were made. We discovered the mistake, we tried to do the right thing, we tried to do the classy thing as a program, and we self-reported ourself to the FHSAA as we think a classy program should. We accepted our penalty and we’re ready to move on as a program.”
Cougars quarterback Jack Koscho completed 13 of 27 passes for 156 yards and, along with running back Bryce Williams, spurred a late rally that helped the Cougars narrow what had been a 35-17 deficit midway through the fourth quarter.
This story was originally published October 6, 2017 at 10:51 PM with the headline "Southeast defeats Cardinal Mooney to match last season’s win total."