This Week in Benedictine Football History, Week 5

September 22, 1972

Benedictine 21, Collinwood 18

It is ironic that the first victory as an independent team for Benedictine came at the expense of an old East Senate rival.

Benedictine dropped out of the East Senate at the end of the 1971-72 academic year. The school had been a member of the Cleveland Senate since 1937 when the league expanded. Collinwood had been a worthy rival through the Senate years.

It was a rough start to independence in 1972 for the Bengals losing to Massillon (15-6) and Willoughby South (6-0).

This game with Collinwood was played at West Tech Field.

The Bengals fell behind early. Railroader quarterback Marc Mauser provided most of the damage.

Collinwood jumped to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter on a 67-yard run by Mauser and later throwing a 24-yard scoring pass to Andy Jordan. Both extra point conversions failed.

Benedictine got on the board in the first when senior Mike Woods scored on a three-yard run. Junior soccer-style kicker Tom Seres kicked the first of three extra points following this touchdown.

Collinwood held a 12-7 halftime lead.

But not for long.

The Bengals senior back Pat Moriarty took the second-half kick-off a school-record 95 yards for the touchdown.

Seres kicked the conversion that gave the Bengals a 14-12 lead.

Later in the third, Woods got his second touchdown on a nine-yard pass from junior quarterback Al Keller. That score finished a 72-yard drive. Seres once again converted for a 21-12 lead.

Collinwood’s Mauser got the final Railroaders score in the fourth on a two-yard run, but the conversion run failed.

The Bengals had gained their first win as an independent. Both Benedictine and Collinwood each scored three touchdowns. The difference came on the foot of the one of the smallest players on the field, Tom Seres, a 5-6, 122-pound kicker.

It was the first year of the state playoffs and the Bengals, with a 5-4-1 record, finished out of contention in the season-ending rankings.

NOTES:

*The two players who scored the Bengals touchdowns in this game were elected to the Benedictine Hall of Fame. Mike Woods earned All-American honors as a linebacker at the University of Cincinnati and later played for the old Baltimore Colts. Pat Moriarty played at Georgia Tech and was signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns and played during the 1979 season. Currently Moriarty is the VP-Football Administration for the Baltimore Ravens in the National Football League. Sadly, Woods died in 2009.

*Tom Seres also provided the difference as a sophomore in the 1971 Cleveland City Championship game. His fourth-quarter field goal gave the Bengals a 9-7 win over Holy Name.

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Wally Mieskoski ’71

Benedictine Football Historian