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Cardinal Mooney 45, Berkeley Prep 21

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 20, 2007

TAMPA - In a crucial Class 2B-District 6 matchup, Berkeley Prep couldn't hang on to the ball or their playoff hopes as Sarasota Cardinal Mooney ruined homecoming Friday night with a 45-21 victory.

Berkeley Prep (3-4, 0-2) had four turnovers, three coming in the second half and the Cougars took advantage of their opportunities. Cardinal Mooney (4-4, 1-1) scored 28 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as the Bucs had to play without starting quarterback Archie Barnes after he left the game with a shoulder injury in the fourth.

'When you are playing in a playoff-type game, you can't fumble the ball and make mistakes,' Berkeley Prep coach Dominick Ciao said. 'We did that, but give them credit because they were running the ball and blocking hard.'

The Bucs defense struggled in containing Cardinal Mooney running back Steve Ierulli, who rushed for 133 yards on 26 carries with three touchdowns. Ierulli had touchdown runs of 10, 66 and 11 yards.

When asked if he had ever seen a 28-point outburst this season, Cardinal Mooney coach Joshua Smithers had an interesting answer.

'From us no, but I've seen it from other opposing teams,' Smithers said. 'This is the most explosive that we have been this late in games all season long.'

With the score tied at 14 at halftime, the Cougars opened the second half with an 11-play, 65-yard drive that culminated in an 18-yard Brandon James field goal. Berkeley's defense had a goal-line stand after the Cougars got inside the 5-yard line when quarterback Robby Lyons hit Daniel Lustro on a 42-yard pass.

'They had some big plays in the game that were crucial,' Ciao said. 'We've got to be able to make big plays with the game on the line.'

Berkeley Prep answered by driving down the field with ease to take a 21-17 lead as Kevin Yent capped the drive with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Barnes finished the game with 122 yards on 16 carries, but struggled throwing the ball, going 3-for-9 for 26 yards and one touchdown. Running back Julian Crockett had 87 yards on seven carries, including an impressive 45-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

BP - Crockett 45 run (Laddon kick)

CM - Lustro 49 pass from Lyons (James kick)

BP - Myers 12 pass from Barnes (Laddon kick)

CM - FG James 18

BP - Yent 5 run (Laddon kick)

CM - Kwarcinski 4 pass from Lyons (James kick)

CM - Kwarcinski 18 pass from Lyons (James kick)

CM - Ierulli 66 run (James kick)

CM - Ierulli 11 run (James kick)

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