Pirates’ defense comes up big in win over Cardinal Mooney
Garaway’s Jayce Wallick, shown here defending a pass against Waynedale earlier this season, was a wrecking crew versus Youngstown Mooney, churning out big play after big play to help the Pirates thwart countless Mooney threats in a 14-13 victory for Garaway.
Coming into the 2024 high school football season, Garaway Pirates head coach Jason Wallick and his staff had a ton of unanswered questions regarding the team’s defense, a defense that had set records the year prior but had lost nine of its starters.
With a week four game versus a wildly athletic and dangerous Youngstown Cardinal Mooney team, the Pirates knew they were about to find out.
What they found out was this new crop of defenders maintained that same bend but don’t break mentality that has infiltrated this program the past several years, and when the final horn had sounded, the Pirates had managed to fend off numerous Mooney efforts to forge ahead in what eventually turned out to be a 14-13 Pirates’ victory.
“That was a challenge,” Wallick said. “We won’t see anyone more athletic than that team this season.”
Taking advantage of a handful of Mooney miscues early on, Garaway took a first-series turnover created by Jayce Wallick that was recovered by Bronson Speedy and manufactured it into a 29-yard scoring drive capped off with a Brady Geibel sneak.
Mooney then began to drive until Dillon King made a huge sack to thwart that effort, and later in the first half, the Pirates capped off a second scoring drive when Geibel found Wallick on a crossing pattern for a 15-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
After that Mooney would put the clamps on any type of Pirates offense, limiting Garaway to minimal yardage.
It would be up to the defense to win this one, and it proved up to the challenge.
“It was a signature game for our defense,” Wallick said. “We did the little things extraordinarily well, and we didn’t miss tackles. I still think we haven’t played our best ball, but this definitely shows what we’re capable of doing.”
Mooney would score to open the second half to trim the deficit to 14-7, and when Carlos Gomez tore through the Pirates’ punt coverage for a 65-yard punt return, it seemed to even things up, but a missed conversion on the kick left Garaway leading 14-13.
Mooney then would go on a relentless mission to gain the lead, stumping Garaway’s offense and attacking on its own offensive possessions.
Each time Mooney got close, Garaway found a way to stymie all efforts.
Wyatt Reifenschneider and Brandon Raber came up with key stops.
Mooney worked its way to Garaway’s 9-yard line, where Colson Keller made a monster stop behind the line to prevent a score and force a passing situation. Twice Wallick stormed in on the quarterback to force errant passes, and Raber would tip the ensuing field goal attempt to keep the Pirates in front early in the fourth quarter.
Mooney would again regain possession and bully its way to Garaway’s 34. After Reifenschneider barely missed an interception and a 7-yard run set up a third and short, Mooney tried not once but twice to jam it up the middle on runs, but each time a hoard of Pirates stormed the beachhead and stopped progress short of a first down.
Garaway went nowhere on offense, and a short punt left Mooney on Garaway’s 30.
With 7:30 to play, after gaining a first down and a pair of short runs, Mooney was knocking on the door again, but two incompletions with Wallick breathing down the quarterback’s neck once again left the Pirates clinging to the lead.
Geibel would locate Speedy on a nice 23-yard gain, but Garaway couldn’t move the ball beyond that, and this time Wallick’s punt sailed toward the end zone, where Dillon Soehnlen made an athletic play to down the ball on a short-hop at Mooney’s 6-yard line.
With three minutes to play, Mooney had time, but the Pirates’ defense held. After a pass to Gomez moved the ball to the Mooney 30, Vann Tango made a play on the ball to knock away a deep threat. On third down Mooney looked like it had advanced it to midfield on a great pass play, but a crack-back block nullified that gain. On third and 6, Raber knocked down an attempted pass across the middle, setting up one final hope for Mooney.
However, King and Keller broke through, plowing their way to the quarterback. His forced heave was nowhere near anyone, and the Pirates’ defense, which had bent all night but not broken, had sealed the deal in remarkable fashion.
“I told our kids afterward that we had our backs against the wall the entire second half and we stood tall,” Wallick said. “They understand the culture we’ve built, and they don’t want to lose, and they showed that with their effort.”