I was at the game. Mooney was very fortunate to win this game. I'm very impressed with their defense(Johnny Simon is as good as advertised, though he needs to work on his technique a lot. He's mostly potential based on his size and athleticism), but their offense leaves a lot to be desired. They basically just out athlete you, which is a fine strategy at the high school level where there will be huge differences in athleticism between teams, but it will catch up to them eventually IMO.
St. V bottled up Mooney's offense for three quarters. Against good, well coached teams like St. V and Steubenville, Mooney will have a lot of trouble if they play the way they did tonight.
Very exciting game though, even if my team didn't come out on top.
Edit: To add to this, I'll give some of my thoughts on the Mooney players.
Firstly, if I had to rank them as prospects, I'd go Simon, McCarthy, Hill, Beachum, and Zordich.
John Simon has a very good frame and superior athleticism. He's a tremendous bull rusher and is good at recognizing plays(spotting pass plays and following plays away from him). He was rarely taken out of the play by St. V's offensive line. I didn't focus on him for too many plays, but I think it's obvious how good he is. He really holds the point of attack, but most of the time he's penetrating into the offensive backfield. I definitely think he needs to work on his technique, but with good coaching to go along with his ridiculous work ethic and measurables, he's a can't miss recruit IMO.
McCarthy was easily the best athlete on the field, but was definitely not the best quarterback. His speed is something else. One play the St. V running back(Carnell Evans) busted through the Mooney line and looked like he was going to hit pay dirt, but McCarthy ran him down from behind and tried to unsuccessfully rip the ball out. He was all over the field, recoving a fumble and making an interception(albeit an Anderson Russel special, though McCarthy was at least able to catch it). St. V didn't pass a whole lot, so it's hard to gauge how McCarthy is in coverage, but at the very least he's a special teams contributer year one and a contributer at safety in year two.
Hill was a lot more than I expected. Very good athlete that plays with tremendous intensity. He reminds me a lot of Walter Dublin, though probably a little bit smaller. He could end up being a Thad Gibson type player(though not as good as Thad IMO) for Oklahoma.
Beachum was also very impressive. He's an ok runner, though I don't see the vision or wiggle you'd expect for a division one back. I think he'd be an amazing rushing and receiving fullback, but I'm not sure I buy him as a runningback. He's a bull to bring down, and he loves to take and deliver hits(which he'll do a lot of running behind a PSU O-line). At linebacker, Beachum was also very impressive. From what I recall, he wasn't as active as Hill, but he was still in on a lot of plays. I like him at linebacker a lot. He's a poor man's Jordan Whiting IMO, though not by a whole lot. Don't be surprised when Beachum starts two years at linebacker at Penn State.
Zordich had a very pedestrian game. He was tackled easily even though he's a lot bigger and stronger than every player on St. V's defense. At linebacker, he made a few plays, but not nearly as many as McCarthy, Hill, Simon, or Beachum. I don't recall a single spectacular play that you expect players of his caliber to make. Probably just a bad game, but I just wasn't impressed.
