- November 23, 2024
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The only thing harder than winning a championship is winning it again.
It's a maxim sports teams have held for ages, and one that the Cardinal Mooney High football team has at the top of its mind. In 2023, the program won its first state title in 51 years by taking down Trinity Catholic 31-27 in the Florida High School Athletic Association Class 1S championship game in Tallahassee, an exclamation point on the team's 12-2 season.
Things look different heading into 2024. Not only have the Cougars had to pinpoint and develop replacements for several now-graduated starters, but the team finds itself in a new class. In December, the FHSAA voted to scrap the Metro/Suburban/Rural classifications it had used for two seasons, going back to an eight-class system determined by school enrollment — 7A (biggest) through 1A (smallest), plus a rural class — that puts it in line with other popular sports like basketball and baseball/softball. All football programs are affected by the change to an extent, but especially Mooney, which lands in Class 2A alongside programs like Cocoa High, the defending Class 2S champion, and Berkeley Prep, the defending Class 2M champion. In MaxPreps' preseason rankings, Cardinal Mooney is 13th in the class.
It's not where a defending champion typically finds itself. But Mooney is not worried about preseason rankings. The Cougars believe that if all goes like they plan it, they'll will once again be contenders for the crown.
"We have set a high standard," junior quarterback Devin Mignery said in July. "I think this year we have the most athletic team we have ever had, just in terms of pure skill. It's up to us to find a way to use everybody in the right way and make it all work."
The Cougars have plenty of new faces, but Mignery will be a returning anchor under center. Mignery began the 2023 season as a backup to Michael Valentino, but took over the position when Valentino was injured in an early-season game against Riverview High. When Valentino returned, the two players split reps, for coaches were impressed with Mignery's play and wanted to keep giving him opportunities. Mignery finished the year with 1,303 passing yards, 896 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns to just four turnovers (three interceptions, one fumble). With Valentino now playing for Florida Atlantic University, the job at Mooney is Mignery's full-time.
Mignery will have a plethora of offensive weapons at his disposal. In a preseason game against Booker High on Aug. 16, sophomore running back Connail Jackson quickly made a name for himself, rushing for 137 yards and a touchdown, with many of those yards coming through the teeth of the Booker defense; Jackson showed an ability to break tackles and stay on his feet. On the outside, junior receiver Rymen Mosley, a transfer from Parrish Community High, hauled in the game's first touchdown pass, a 38-yard strike from Mignery that Mosley caught before somersaulting into the end zone. Junior Kymistrii Young, another Parrish transfer, also had a big game, nabbing a 63-yard touchdown and finished with six catches for 133 yards. Senior Marcus Galloway, a Braden River High transfer, also caught a touchdown. Those additions are on top of returning talent like junior receiver Bo O'Daniel.
On defense, the team is headlined by its star-studded secondary. Senior defensive back Chris McCorkle, a consensus three-star recruit who committed to the University of Kansas on Aug. 3, will man one side of the field. He will be joined in the secondary by Laron Dues, a junior defensive back transfer from Hurricane High in West Virginia who holds offers from West Virginia University and the University of Memphis among other schools. In the middle, junior safety Macaiden Brown has offers from the University of Auburn and the University of Louisville among other schools. Brown had nine tackles, two sacks and a blocked extra point in the team's 45-32 preseason win over Booker.
In the front seven, junior defensive end Bryce Fulda provides good tackling ability and can run down ballcarriers in the backfield. He had 11 tackles for loss (43 total tackles) in 2023. Junior linebacker Blake Roulund is the team's leading returning tackler (58 tackles, 10 tackles for loss).
The team's schedule will be as difficult as ever. Games against the Community School of Naples (8-2 in 2023), Bishop Verot High (11-2), and Tarpon Springs High (8-1) will test the Cougars, as will a game against Riverview High — which finished 8-5 in 2023 and beat Mooney 35-7.
Cardinal Mooney would not want it any other way.
"We are looking forward to putting it all out there," Mignery said.
