Week 8- Cardinal Mooney (5-2) @ Warren G. Harding (3-3)

This past Friday night, Warren G. Harding wore their old school red, white, and black uniforms to honor the period of time when they were known as the “Panthers” from 1948 until 1989 (prior to that, they were known as the “Presidents”).  In particular, the 1971 Harding squad finished 10-0 and was awarded the final UPI Class AAA Poll state champions while the 1974 squad won the 1974 OHSAA Class AAA state title.  The third (large school) one ever won via playoff system in Ohio.

Warren G. Harding junior Justice Dukes record a sack against Boardman on 10/03/2025.

However, the Boardman Spartans ultimately spoiled the celebration as they narrowly escaped Mollenkopf Stadium with a 14-10 victory.  While that snapped their six-game losing streak to the Raiders, it was the fourth game within that time span that was decided by single digits.  This year’s Harding squad is learning how to win in real time and across the board, the schedule leaves minimal room for error.  Despite the loss, Harding continues to find several things to build on for not only the sake of this season, but for their long term future moving forward.

Harding sophomore linebacker Asa Burch (#7) runs down the Boardman ball carrier in the backfield on 10/03/2025.

While this year’s group of Raiders have been bitten by the injury bug on more than one occasion, head coach Matt Richardson and his staff haven’t made any excuses.  Rather, they’ve prepared their young men for battle every week and while the final result against Boardman isn’t what they hoped for, several athletes continue to shine bright in the early stages of their careers.  In week 6 against Erie (PA) McDowell, it was sophomore Makhai Brogdon rushing for a career-high 103 yards with a career-long 80-yard touchdown.  Against Boardman, it was freshman Satavian Hill who set career marks with 66 rushing yards and a 42-yard score.

Harding freshman Satavian Hill breaks loose for a career-long 42-yard touchdown run against Boardman on 10/03/2025.

From a traditional standpoint, kicking hasn’t been much of a hot topic regarding Harding’s football program.  However, the last few years have started to make people take notice as Noah Murry (9 in 2019), Jake Daugherty (6 in 2020), and now junior Jaron Edmonds (6 thus far in 2025) are now the only Raiders this century that made at least six field goals in a single season.  Former Raider and Youngstown State Penguin Kosta Karapetsas nailed six field goals in his junior season in 1996 and prior to that, you have to go back another 13 years to find a Harding player who accomplished that feat as Tod Bartholomew did in the 1983 season.

Harding junior kicker Jaron Edmonds nails a career-long 34-yyard field goal against Boardman on 10/03/2025.

While the hiccup against Boardman was tough, Harding closes the season with three big games that will determine their postseason fate.  Victories in at least two of them would all but guarantee a spot in the OHSAA Division II: Region 5 playoffs while one would put them on the bubble.  However, if the Raiders can take all of the positives from each game and apply them in 48 strong minutes every game night, they can ultimately decide how high their ceiling really is.  Time will tell just how far their growth will take them, but it will begin with another longtime rival who is currently in the midst of a re-emergence of their own.  

Harding senior linebacker Tyler SMith (#3) stops Boardman's Vince Butto in his tracks at the goal line on 10-03-2025.

In the OHSAA football playoff era (1972-present), only Marion Local (15), Cleveland St. Ignatius (11), and Archbishop Moeller (9) have won more state championships in the sport than Cardinal Mooney as they are currently tied with Newark Catholic for fourth in state history with eight (1973, 1980, 1982, 1987, 2004, 2006, 2009, 2011).  Unfortunately for the Cardinals, their impressive number of state crowns equals their total amount of combined wins over the two seasons prior to this fall.  That fact called for the traditional juggernaut to move in a different direction and as is the case for many high schools and colleges throughout the country, they looked at the resumes of alumni who once walked the halls at Mooney.

Cardinal Mooney junior defensive lineman Dominic Letlow, who has already collected Power-4 offers to play at the next level, records a sack against Boardman on 09/26/2025.

To date, 52 former Cardinals have either been a head coach at the high school level, coached at the collegiate level, or have done both.  In fact, that list includes current Harding Athletic Director Rick Shepas, who graduated from Mooney in 1983.  This past January, Mooney looked to their class of 1992 for their next head football coach as they named Frank Colaprete as the new leader of the program moving forward.  He returns to Erie Street after 26 years of coaching at the collegiate level which included stints at Allegheny (1999-2000), Johns Hopkins (2001-2004; 2010-2012), Georgetown (2007-2009), and the College of Wooster, where he served the last twelve years of his career as their head coach.

Mooney junior quarterback Vincent Gentile finds classmate Brayden Bryant for a 51-yard touchdown pass against Chardon on 09/20/2025.

Needless to say, Colaprete wasted very little time making an impact at his old stomping grounds as Mooney heads into week 8 having already won two more games than they won all of last season.  Junior quarterback Vincent Gentile has a firm handle on their offense as he has some major weapons on the outside in wide receivers Kingston Powell and Brayden Bryant, who spent the first two years of his high school career establishing himself as one of the fastest athletes in all of Ohio at Austintown Fitch.  That said, the big hogs up front also pave the way for dynamic senior running back Ike Lake, who enters this week with 947 rushing yards & 11 touchdowns.

Mooney senior tailback Ike Lake breaks loose for a career-long 94-yard touchdown run against Steubenville on 09/12/2025.

Defensively, Mooney has one of the more gifted physical specimens in all of Ohio in junior Dominic Letlow.  The 6-foot-4, 230-pound versatile defensive lineman already holds scholarship offers from Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisville, South Florida, Appalachian State, Akron, Toledo, and Liberty.  Meanwhile, their linebacker unit is headlined by junior Rocco Zabel, who is following up his OHSAA All-Division IV Honorable Mention season of 2024.  The Raiders will also need to be aware of where junior strong safety Brady Desmond is at all times as he constantly flies all over the field making big plays for the Cardinals.  

After originally dropping back into pass covereage, Mooney linebacker Rocco Zabel swarms in to register the sack aaginst Chardon on 09/20/2025.

Speaking of "big plays,” junior cornerback Jaie Manningham just set a new Mooney record as he hauled in four interceptions this past Friday against Youngstown Chaney. Previously, five different Cardinals had hauled in three picks in a game.  That last of whom to do so was Marcus Coleman, who actually did it twice during the 1987 season against both Canton McKinley and Elyria Catholic.

Mooney junior Jaie Manningham returns a punt 53 yards for a touchdown against Boardman on 09/26/2025.