Any state semifinal clash that involves two well-known football brands across a state will garner attention, and as a result, a massive following behind said matchup.
However, when the two programs that are meeting in said state semifinal have combined to tally over 1,100 victories and a total of 10 OHSAA State Championships, the game itself will certainly draw any fan — casual, general, or the most avid and diehard fans of them all — out to watch.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFriday evening’s OHSAA Division V State Semifinal between D-V, Region 19 Champion Wheelersburg (13-0) and D-V, Region 17 title winner Youngstown Cardinal Mooney (10-2), which will take place at Westerville Central High School at 7 p.m., certainly fits the “clash of Titans” phrase that gets thrown around with many matchups.
Both programs have combined for 1,145 wins and an astonishing 118 winning seasons in the 146 years of football, again combined, between the two storied powerhouses.
With 523 wins, a 69.7 percent winning mark in its history, eight state titles and 48 winning seasons in its 60 years as a program, Cardinal Mooney is certainly a recognizable brand statewide — not only for its success as a program but also for the pedigree of coaches that the program has produced, from the well-known Stoops family tree in Bob, Mark and Mike Stoops, to the Pelinis in Bo and Carl and even Tim Beck, all of whom have or are still enjoying long and successful coaching careers.
So too, is Wheelersburg.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith 622 victories, a 68.5 percent winning line, two state championships and 70 winning seasons in 86 years of football with just one losing season in the last 60 years, the Pirates have not only matched Cardinal Mooney’s past success but have built upon it.
While Cardinal Mooney, with six winning seasons over the last 13, has fallen on harder times comparative to its history as a program, Wheelersburg has enjoyed its greatest run-in program history over the same stretch.
However, Wheelersburg head coach Rob Woodward — who, with 182 victories as the head coach of the program, is the program’s all-time winningest head coach — says that programs like Cardinal Mooney’s, along with the well-known football programs at Coldwater and Steubenville, are what lit his fire and desire back when he first began coaching on the high school scene at Gallia Academy, his high school alma mater, back in the early 2000s.
“When I first started following the high school football playoffs back in 2002, it was the first one that I ever attended, which was my first year helping at Gallia Academy. I decided, ‘You know what? I’m going to follow on to Canton. Where is the state championship? Never seen it. Never heard of where it was. I can’t say it was the first year, but I went up that year, and made sure that I was there for the next 15 to 20 years, learning and gaining as much as I could. I remember seeing Youngstown Cardinal Mooney, who was Division III at the time, playing in a number of those state championship games. You think about the Coldwater’s, the Steubenville’s, and Mooney’s. That’s what I wanted to develop and try to find a way to become a part of. The Lord placed me with the right staff and the right community for those dreams to be possible, and here we are.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWheelersburg certainly is among Ohio’s elite programs. The numbers will tell that to anybody.
Over the last 13 seasons, the Pirates have won 139-31 with 10 regional final appearances. Wheelersburg has won four regional titles during that time span, including its 41-0 win over Nelsonville-York last Friday, and won its lone state title game appearance – the well-known 21-14 overtime thriller against Pemberville Eastwood back in 2017.
Meanwhile, the Cardinals are 71-78 during that same span, with its 48-14 regional final victory over Girard being its first such title since its run to the OHSAA Division IV State Championship Game in 2013, where the Cardinals lost to Clinton Massie.
But Woodward will never sleep on Cardinal Mooney. He knows what the Cardinals are capable of.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFrom the Cardinal Mooney in the 80s that won three state championships and appeared in four overall during an eight-season stretch from 1980 to 1987 under the lead of Don Bucci, to the Mooney of the 2000s and early 2010s that went to an incredible seven state championship games in a 10-season stretch from 2004 to 2013 with four state titles under Bucci’s successor, P.J. Fecko, to now — where the Cardinals have, under first-year head coach Frank Colaprete, turned the corner from a group that went 3-8 in 2024 to its present-day 10-2 record — the program, much like Wheelersburg’s, has a history of resiliency.
“It’s been a great opportunity here at Wheelersburg to get the play the caliber of football that I love,” Woodward said. "There were stats that I was seeing years ago where I was seeing Coldwater and Marion Local play 60 or more games in a season. I just thought, ‘Wow, how remarkable is that to get an opportunity to play in 60 games, especially coming from a guy who never got an opportunity to even play in a playoff game?’ I was guaranteed 40 games in four seasons — 10 games each year."
"By the time they were done with their seasons and state championship runs, programs like that were playing two whole seasons above that," Woodward added, "I just thought that was remarkable. Our staff is aware of the history and the community that is present at Cardinal Mooney, and our players are ready to play another football game.”
Wheelersburg has certainly given each of its opponents the attention that they warrant while building its momentum toward another possible run to the title — which has been led by a punishing defense.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn its 13 games, the Pirates have held their opposition to eight points or less in 10 out of its 13 affairs. Of the 13 contests, Wheelersburg has won 11 affairs by double-digits — and has won contests by an average margin of 30.9 points in 2025, a mark that has since increased to 34.7 when just factoring in the playoff push.
A big reason for that has been the play of the defense, who has allowed an average of just over a touchdown per game (7.15) through 13 games this season.
Collectively, the term “everybody eats” certainly applies, as Wheelersburg has had 41 different players record a tackle with 22 players posting at least double-digit stops. Between the stinginess of the defense and its plus-25 turnover margin, it’s easy to see how the Pirates are holding opponents to less than 148 yards of total offense per game.
“Anytime you’re holding teams to under 150 yards of total offense, you’re doing things right,” Woodward said. “Everybody’s winning their one-on-one battles individually, and then collectively, that’s putting together great numbers.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA key to that play has been the leadership of the linebackers, led by inside backers in Brady Doss and Luke Kouns as well as outside backers Elijah Brown and Hunter Henderson. Doss (81) and Kouns (78.5) are the team’s top two leaders in tackles, while Brown and Henderson have combined for 105.5 tackles, nine sacks, six pass deflections and three interceptions from the outside.
“Those guys are getting tackles for loss, they’re getting pass deflections, they’re getting sacks, and they’re getting interceptions,” Woodward said. “They’re making things happen with the football, and that makes for a great defense.”
Play in the trenches, however, is key to linebackers flowing effectively. The versatility that Wheelersburg has between 6-3, 265-pound Ryan Meeker and 5-11, 210-pound Kaleb Shepherd has caused issues for opponents on the interior of the line, while the unselfishness of Ison Emnett and Landon McGraw — who started their careers playing more pronounced skill positions but have since developed into wrecking balls in various ways — have led to great success. With 46.5 tackles and four sacks, Emnett was ultimately picked as the OPSWA’s SE District Division V Defensive Player of the Year, while McGraw has added in 44.5 stops.
Their collective pressure has led to 18 Wheelersburg interceptions — by 10 different Pirate players.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOffensively, Wheelersburg is again led by a veteran group in the trenches, with Meeker (center) and Shepherd and Emnett (guards), all seniors, heading up the interior. The play of 6-6, 315-pound senior Alex Richey and 6-5, 310-pound junior Hunter Lawson bookend the line — with Emmett telling the coaching staff that Lawson, who gets scout team reps on defense for Wheelersburg in practice, is, pound-for-pound, “one of the toughest linemen” that he’s gone against.
Their play has allowed the offense to pop off. Senior quarterback Braylon Rucker has completed 79 percent of his passes (123-of-156) for 1,549 yards and 15 touchdowns to just one interception, with three individuals — Doss, fellow senior Kenyon Evans and junior Xavier Miller — combining for 97 catches, 1,205 yards and 13 touchdowns in 2025 together. Rushing-wise, Rucker, Brown and Wheelersburg junior Stephen Hall have tallied 1,883 rushing yards and 35 touchdowns on 313 carries for a six yard per carry average — with Brown notching 937 yards and 20 touchdowns on 119 carries on his own.
“We talk about, as you get deeper into the playoffs, controlling the line of scrimmage both offensively and defensively is a must,” Woodward said. “Our guys have been able to control the line of scrimmage, and have done a great job with it. Controlling the trenches has been key to our success.”
With a balanced offense themselves, Cardinal Mooney will not be an easy cover. A junior and senior-laden team with plenty of talent in its own right, the Cardinals have been equally quick and efficient on both sides of the ball.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn its last two victories against Garfield and Girard, senior quarterback Chris Strong has combined to go 14-of-22 through the air for 214 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. The Cardinals also rushed 35 times for 227 yards in those two affairs, with senior back Ike Lake scoring twice while rushing for 84 yards on seven carries in Cardinal Mooney’s 56-14 win over Garfield and junior back Brady Desmond scoring twice more and rushing for 67 yards on six carries in Mooney’s 48-14 win over Girard in the regional final.
From 2024 to 2025, Cardinal Mooney is giving up over three less points per game, on average — while producing nearly two touchdowns more per contest as well.
“Great speed,” Woodward said of Mooney. “They fly around. They’ve got a lot of the same players that have really contributed on both sides of the ball. There’s a lot of team speed back that’s really good. Quarterback is really good, is accurate and gets the ball out to his playmakers. You can tell that they’re coached well. They exploit what defenses give them by taking advantage of opportunities. It’s definitely going to be a test for our team.”
Up to Week 14, however, Wheelersburg has passed every test to this point — and Woodward credits that to collective buy-in from every player on the roster, in particular his 15-player senior class — led by captains Brown, Henderson, Emnett and Meeker — that he says has put in a great deal of sweat equity into the program’s success.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“It’s been all about their mental and physical growth and maturity,” Woodward said. “You’re talking about 15 seniors who have been dedicated. You’re always led by your seniors, and when you have a good senior group that has athleticism in various areas of the field, that always helps. They understand the work that it takes. We put in so much work on Saturdays, particularly Saturday mornings, and with our preparation on Mondays through Thursdays.
Those guys understand it, and they’re carrying that legacy on down to the younger guys. They’ve been the younger guys in the program, and have been called upon a little more than what many of our groups have been earlier on in their careers. In fact, they probably have more clocked hours as a group, as a senior class, than any senior class that I’ve coached at the varsity level. They have a great knowledge base, which comes from their experience, and when you have a group that has the knowledge base that they do, with Elijah, Hunter, Ison, and Ryan leading the group as captains as well as the leadership of our entire senior class as a whole, it’s been tremendous.”
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