BEREA, OH- The Saint Ignatius Wildcats (1-9) welcomed Football North-Clarkson (6-3) to the United States this past Friday in what was a great showing from both squads. Before the game, the Wildcats celebrated Senior Night, honoring and thanking all the seniors from the football team, SIBN, and the marching band for their dedication and sacrifices during their time at Saint Ignatius. The Wildcats came from a strong showing the week prior in a 31-19 loss to the St. Xavier Bombers, where sophomores Dane Donovan and Trey Haddad had standout performances. Haddad had seven receptions for 165 yards, and Donovan was 18/27 throwing for 312 yards.
The Wildcats got off to a solid start defensively, forcing a three-and-out and taking over after a Football North punt. The Cats were forced to send on the punt team after Football North made a third-down stop on an incompletion. Backed up to the goal line, Jackson Schaffer could not get his punt off as North blocked it.
Football North capitalized on the blocked punt with a 26-yard connection from Winston Chapman to his favorite receiver, Lucas Weir, putting Football North up a score. Following the missed PAT, Football North led it 6-0 with just over seven minutes to play in the first quarter.
The Wildcat's second drive was plagued with mistakes, with a fumble on second down that the Cats did recover but not without losing yards. The next play resulted in a sack, and the Cats again had to punt. The first offensive snap of the drive for Football North was a mistake as Chapman failed to see a pursuing Tristin Hughes, where he jumped a comeback route, picked off Chapman, and brought it twenty yards to the house to give the Cats a 7-6 lead with 3:33 left to go in the first.
The Wildcats would ride this momentum, forcing a three-and-out on defense and stringing together a drive that would bring the first quarter to an end. Right out of the break, the Wildcats would cash in on a strike across the middle to Trey Haddad from Donovan, and the Cats extended their lead. Unfortunately, Schaffer's extra point was blocked, and the game would stay 13-6 with 11:55 left in the half.
The Wildcats would keep up their successful offensive half with two more scores before halftime. Senior tight end Gavin Vollmer found the end zone for the first time of the season, receiving a pass from Donovan. After another missed extra point, though, the score stayed at 19-6 with 3:30 remaining before halftime.
Football North responded right back on an 85 yard pass from Chapman to Zion Grant to get themselves right back into the game, making it a one-score game. The field goal was no good, however, and the score remained 19-12 Wildcats with 2:18 left in the half.
The Cats got the ball back with a chance to capitalize on the two-minute drill. Owen Colwell gave the Cats exceptional field position on his return past the Saint Ignatius 45-yard line and an extra 15 yards on an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty committed by Football North.
The Wildcats would make no mistake capitalizing on the gift of their field position, marching through Canadian territory and scoring on a Luke Simms touchdown via end-around. The extra point gave the Cats a 26-12 lead with 35 tics on the clock. Football North made a late drive downfield, but the Cats made a stop as time expired with a Braeden Drummond interception. The Cats had the 26-12 advantage after two quarters of play.
Both teams started slowly out of the half, but Football North started to heat up. They went down the field with a textbook drive and capped it off with a four-yard touchdown run behind the legs of Shane Keyes-Wilson. Football North elected to go for two after the touchdown, where Chapman found Grant wide open in the back of the end zone, making the score 26-20 with 4:25 left in the third.
The Wildcats' next drive would see success picking up a first down, but they were forced to punt after an incompletion on the third down. With time waning in the third quarter, Football North was faced with a third and long and took a shot downfield. Tristin Hughes continued his solid game with a well-timed pass breakup, and North was forced to punt, ending the third quarter.
The Cats' first drive of the fourth quarter seemed to be rolling but would lose steam on a fourth down when they found themselves out of field goal range and elected to go for it and could not move the sticks.
Football North strung together yet another long drive, picking up many first downs on their way to the red zone and some help on a targeting call that went against Cody Haddad. On a second down and seven, Haddad stepped up and made a huge hit on Zion Grant, forcing a fumble that North did recover but forced a third and long. The Cats forced a stop on third down but were heartbroken to receive a facemask penalty, giving North a redo on third down and five.
On third down, sophomore lineman David Hughes stepped up huge and dropped Winston Chapman for his first sack of the season, leaving North with a fourth down and eight, needing a first down. On fourth down with the game on the line, North jumped early and got flagged for a false start, sending them back five yards. On fourth and thirteen, North was able to convert through the air and would go on to punch into the end zone just one play later on a Keyes-Wilson touchdown. Following the extra point, Football North took the lead with 4:15 left.
Donovan was now tasked with leading a potential game-winning drive. On a third and twelve from the Wildcat side of the fifty, Donovan found Trey Haddad deep downfield inside the 25-yard line, putting the Cats in field goal range. On the next play, the Cats elected to hand to Grant Washington on an HB stretch but would get stopped behind the line.
On second and 17, the Cats looked downfield for Marcus Tekancic, but it fell incomplete, forcing a long third down outside of field goal range. As if things couldn't get worse, Donovan was sacked on third down, forcing a fourth and thirty. Their only hope was a Hail Mary. Donovan looked downfield and delivered a strike to the end zone, but it fell between the hands of Simms in triple coverage, ending the game. Football North got the ball back and would enter victory formation.
The Wildcats dropped their seventh straight game and fell to 1-9 on the year. With the new expanded playoff rule in the OHSAA, the Wildcats qualify as a 16th seed for the postseason and will take on the Mentor Cardinals (10-0). It will be a week two rematch that saw the Cardinals defeat the Wildcats 20-14 at Don Shula Stadium. Spectrum will have the video coverage and the SIBN will have the audio-only broadcast.
