Preps

Cardinal Mooney 37, St. Petersburg Catholic 31

By NATHAN COWAN, Times Correspondent
Published September 29, 2007

St. Petersburg Catholic fell behind 17-0 at halftime but staged a gallant second-half comeback that just fell short in losing to Sarasota Cardinal Mooney 37-31.

"We came up just short and the kids deserve the credit," Barons coach Tod Creneti said. "The little things hurt us."

St. Petersburg Catholic committed 12 penalties for 90 yards on the night.

Neither team scored a touchdown in the first quarter but Cardinal Mooney scored 17 points in the second quarter. Brandon James kicked a 37-yard field goal and, after the Barons missed a field goal, Cardinal Mooney took the ball 80 yards and ended the drive with a Steve Ierulli 5 yard run.

Robby Lyons found Clayton Hazeltine on a 37-yard touchdown pass to end the half.

Cardinal Mooney opened the half with a 55-yard Lyons pass to Joe Ceravolo, making the score 24-0.

"We knew we could throw the ball on them since they put eight guys in the box," Cardinal Mooney coach Josh Smithers said. "We got the guys that can get it done."

Then the Barons started their comeback.

St. Petersburg Catholic drove 70 yards and scored when Chris McKay went in from 2 yards out. Kevin Tapp found Courtney Feazell for the two-point conversion.

After a Hazeltine 49-yard TD run, Mooney missed the extra point.

St. Petersburg Catholic came back when Keelyan Bryant caught a 10-yard pass from Tapp. The two-point conversion made the score 30-16.

Ierulli opened the fourth quarter with a 4-yard touchdown run that seemed to put the game away but St. Petersburg Catholic answered with two touchdowns.

On fourth-and-16, Tapp found Cameron Hall for a touchdown. The Barons pulled within 37-31, when Feazell hit Darin Hess on a 32-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-10.

The comeback ended after Cardinal Mooney recovered an onside kick.

"We played more aggressive in the second half," Creneti said. "The kids played their guts out.

[Last modified September 28, 2007, 23:32:37]