An extra point would send it to a second overtime. A two-point conversion wins it.

Boardman calls time out. Mooney calls time out.

Spartans quarterback Zach Ryan goes under center and hands off to O’Horo heading left, but here comes Connor Miller going right on the reverse. Miller looks as if he’s going to beat the Cardinals’ defense to the pylon. A couple of Mooney defenders converged on the hard-charging Miller, meeting him and stopping him at the 1.

Cardinal Mooney players celebrated at the final whistle as the Cardinals held off host Boardman in what was like an old-style Steel Valley Conference battle, 28-27, in overtime. Mooney is in the four-team SVC, while Boardman is in the independent tier of the All-American Conference. Both used to be in the SVC years ago.

Staff photo / John Vargo Cardinal Mooney’s Zyere Rodgers (2) avoids Boardman defender Connor Miller Friday night at Boardman. The Cardinals defeated the Spartans by a score of 28-27 in overtime.

“It was the type of night where everybody battles,” Mooney coach P.J. Fecko said. “Our guys were fighting hard. Their guys were fighting hard. It’s pretty fitting for the evening that it came down to that.”

Mooney running back Zyere Rodgers punched it in from three yards out on the first drive of overtime as Mooney (3-2) took a 28-21 lead.

There was some confusion as the game went to overtime as Miller made a spectacular one-handed catch and hauled in a Ryan 41-yard heave with seconds remaining.

Ryan spiked the ball on the next play, which seemed to set up Tommy Fryda to come on for a game-winning field goal from less than 30 yards out — well within the senior’s range.

The only problem was there was a Boardman receiver lined up in the neutral zone, which was after the spike. The clock started on the whistle for play. There was no runoff of the clock. The game went to overtime because of the penalty.

Staff photo / John Vargo Boardman's Connor Miller tries to elude the grasp of Cardinal Mooney's Marco Stilliana.

“We clocked it. They called a penalty on us,” Boardman coach Joe Ignazio said. “We got an iPad right there. Our guy doesn’t even move. I don’t know what he’s even calling a penalty on. It’s frustrating, taking it out of our kids hands like that.”

This was a much better performance from a 1-4 Spartans team, which was sorely disappointed in a loss to Howland in Week 4. O’Horo had 24 carries for 128 yards.

“Our kids don’t quit here,” Ignazio said. “That’s a testament to them, our staff, their willingness to get back up on top and get a W.

“Frustrating … frustrating.”

It was Mooney junior quarterback Pat Guerrieri, who had about 200 yards of total offense, throwing two quick passes for 19 yards to Joe Kordupel and a 20-yard strike to Michael Scavina for a game-tying touchdown at 21 with 57 seconds remaining.

Staff photo / John Vargo Cardinal Mooney's Michael Santisi celebrates after the Cardinals beat Boardman in overtime Friday, 28-27.

The drive was made possible by a Boardman player leading with the helmet with 1:41 left, a 15-yard penalty putting the ball at the Boardman 39 — leading to Mooney’s two passes, a rarity for this run-first team.

“Whatever works for us,” Guerrieri said. “We’ve been passing the last couple of games, so we’re going to stick with it.”

Guerrieri threw to Michael Pastella from 28 yards out with 4:28 left in the third quarter to give Mooney at 14-7 lead.

Boardman countered again with Ryan passing to Cam Thompson from 17 yards out with 20 seconds left, tying it back at 14.

In the first half, the pregame warm-ups were quite indicative of the first couple minutes of Friday’s game.

You could see the host Boardman Spartans air out passes to receivers. Senior Wrentie Martin and Ryan, a sophomore, lofted passes toward the south end zone of Spartan Stadium as the sun started to set.

Mooney kept moving their footwork as the Cardinals’ stout offensive line would eventually exert their force on a young Boardman defensive line.

The Spartans’ flashy offensive took a different twist as sophomore Terrance Thomas took the initial kickoff from the 3-yard line. He found a seam down the right side, parallel to the Boardman sideline. He was bumped by a Mooney defender at midfield, but it did faze the focused athlete.

Thomas kept his footing and finished his run in the first 15 seconds of the game as the Spartans stunned the Cardinals with a 97-yard kickoff return.

Mooney began to exert its offensive prowess with a stout running game. The Cardinals went 11 plays in 68 yards in 4:54 as sophomore Rodgers ran from 7 yards out to tie the game at 7 with 6:42 left in the first quarter.

Rodgers had 20 carries for 106 yards and that one touchdown at halftime as the Cardinals dominated for about 30 carries for 130 yards, a staple of the Mooney football tradition.

Guerrieri was 2-of-3 for 8 yards on a couple of swing passes.

Boardman could have had the lead heading into halftime, but missed a 26-yard field goal with 2:12 left in the first quarter as the attempt went wide left.

The Spartans had about 80 yards of total offense at halftime as Ryan and Martin split time at quarterback. There were about a handful of dropped passes as Boardman went 2-of-11 in the first 24 minutes.

Friday’s game reminded fans around the Mahoning Valley of old-school SVC-style play.

“That’s what northeast Ohio football is,” Ignazio said. “It’s what you want. You want your kids to play in games like that, play opponents like that.

“You want to come out on top, but we didn’t.”