Cardinal Mooney routs Somerset Academy 55-27

It was a cool night at Sarasota’s Cardinal Mooney Catholic High School’s football field, but that didn’t stop the Cougars from lighting up the scoreboard.

Cardinal Mooney routed the Somerset Academy Canyons High School 55-27 on Friday night, in the regional quarterfinals of the 2A FHSAA Football State Championship tournament. 

Cardinal Mooney took the lead early and never relinquished it, scoring first on a 75-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Devin Mignery to wide receiver Kymistrii Young with 11:37 left in the first quarter. The Cougars added to their lead at the 3:17 mark when sophomore running back Connail Jackson, the team’s primary rushing threat, punched in a touchdown from Somerset’s six-yard line, one of his five rushing touchdowns in the game.

Despite some offensive miscues — Cardinal Mooney turned the ball over three times in the first half alone — the Cougars’ lead only continued to grow as the game progressed into the second quarter. Junior utility man Mason Jordan scampered 18 yards for a score to put Cardinal Mooney up 20-0 with 8:12 left in the second quarter and Jackson added insult to injury when he ran in it from the two-yard line minutes later, making it 27-0 with 4:28 left in the half. 

Somerset’s offense, which surrendered four sacks in the first half, got on the board late in the second quarter with a 12-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Jayden Harrington. Harrington and his unit came alive in the third quarter, when after a nearly four minute drive, they scored on a 22-yard passing touchdown from Harrington to make it a two-score game at 27-14. Cardinal Mooney immediately answered back however, with a 52-yard touchdown run from Jackson to up the ante at 34-14.

While Somerset tried to hold its own — another Harrington passing touchdown brought the score to 34-21 — Cardinal Mooney’s ground game proved to be too strong to match. Jackson scored his fourth rushing touchdown, this time for 42 yards, at the 5:23 mark in the third quarter, and notched his fifth touchdown with 10:28 left in the fourth quarter, ballooning Cardinal Mooney’s lead to 48-21. By halfway through the fourth quarter, the Cougars led 55-21 and Cardinal Mooney. Head Coach Jared Clark had seen enough, pulling his starters with 7:51 left in the game. 

Cardinal Mooney’s win boosted its record to a perfect 10-0 and was its 16th consecutive victory dating back to last season, when it won its first state championship in 51 years. The Cougars will face off against the King’s Academy Lions next Friday in the 2A regional semifinals.