BEREA, OH - After a tough one-point loss to Toledo Central Catholic (6-1) last week, the Saint Ignatius Wildcats (1-6) returned to Baldwin Wallace University to take on their longtime rival, the St. Edward Eagles (4-3).

Both teams came in struggling lately. The Wildcats' only win came against the Dublin Coffman Shamrocks (1-6) in Week Three, while the reigning Division I State Champion St. Edward Eagles had lost two straight and held a 3-3 record, fighting to stay above .500. 

The Eagles won the coin toss and elected to start the game with the football. The 65th match up between these two teams began with a consistent series of five or more yard rushes against the Cats' defense, and also completed two of three passes. Senior quarterback Thomas Csanyi capped off an impressive first drive with a 17-yard passing touchdown to the senior running back Bradley Eaton, producing an early 7-0 lead following the extra point with 7:50 remaining in the first. 

The first four plays for the Wildcats were carried by Minnesota commit Grant Washington, who totaled 41 yards. A loss of three, a false start, and an incomplete pass resulted in the Wildcats punting away the football.
With momentum swinging their way, the Eagles wasted no time to score. All it took was a couple of solid rushes and a second passing touchdown from Csanyi to Eaton for the score. With 2:16 left in the first, the scoreboard read 14-0 in favor of St. Edward.

After the kick return from Colwell, the Cats quickly found themselves on third down. A holding call on the Eagles allowed Saint Ignatius to get a first down. Junior Jake Bobinski rushed for four, and the first quarter ended. There was no success following this gain, as there were two incompletions from sophomore quarterback Dane Donovan. They were forced to punt it away. 

The Eagles looked as if they would repeat what they did on their first two drives as they continued to dominate with their rushing. Eagles' Keller Moyer was forced to attempt a 40-yard kick that went to the right from the uprights and was no good, keeping the St. Edward lead 14-0. 

In a moment where all Wildcat fans held their breaths, a fumbled snap resulted in an 18-yard loss, creating second and forever. Nothing came off the drive, and Saint Ignatius punted yet again. The Wildcats did force a punt, but a little Deja vu kicked in. On third down for the Cats, there was another fumble for this offense, and Schaffer inevitably punted it again. 

To end the half, the Wildcats got the ball back, and Trey Haddad made a good play for a first down. Donovan completed a few passes to Quinn Kennedy and Marcus Tekancic, but an Eagles sack forced the Cats to end their half scoreless.

The third quarter started slow, as the Wildcats couldn't do anything with their drive to open the second half, and neither could the Eagles. Another punt from the Cats made the game stale at the beginning of the half. 

However, after the Wildcat defense forced a punt, standout sophomore James Conrad came out of nowhere to make one of the biggest plays of the game, in which he blocked a punt to give the Wildcats positioning at the Eagles' 30-yard line. On second and 13, Donovan fired a 23-yard touchdown to Haddad, which ended up being the only score for the Wildcats. Schaffer's extra point hit off the uprights, and the score stayed 14-6 with 3:42 left to go in the third. 

Following the score, it took the Eagles only one play as Eaton went 60 yards to the house to give St. Edward a 21-6 lead with 3:22 remaining in the third quarter. As the third quarter wound down,  Donovan made a big rush for a first down but took a huge hit that would penalize the Eagles on an unnecessary roughness call. Donovan had to exit the game, and backup sophomore quarterback Anthony Anghilante had to come in to finish the game.

After the Eagles scored on a 46-yard Zach Hackleman touchdown reception, the 28-6 score stayed for the remaining 6:55 of the game. It was a slow, quiet fourth quarter for the Wildcats.

It was yet another tough night for Saint Ignatius. The Cats fall to 1-6 on the year for the second straight season. The Eagles eighth straight victory in the rivalry dates back to the 2018 season and ties the longest streak that goes back to the 1971 to 1978 season. St. Edward pulls even with the Wildcats in the series history, and the record is now 32-32-1.

Even though the Wildcats lost, Washington had a 100-yard night, and Trey Haddad had one of his better nights, scoring his first varsity touchdown. 

The Wildcats face Archbishop Moeller this Friday and return to Byers Field in Parma. The SIBN will have audio-only coverage, while FanVu will have the video stream.