MENTOR, OH - The Saint Ignatius Wildcats (1-10) traveled along I-90 East to take on a familiar foe, the Mentor Cardinals (11-0). The two teams met previously this season in Week Two, where the Cardinals would win 20-14 behind the legs of junior running back Jackson Farley. In that game, Farley rushed for 233 yards on 23 carries and had all three Mentor touchdowns.
With a late-game injury in week 10 against Football North (ONT), Dane Donovan could not play in the Week Two rematch. The Cats would elect to start sophomore Anthony Anghilante. Anghilante started against Archbishop Moeller in Week Eight, where he was 7-of-12 passing for 68 yards in the Cats' 44-0 loss.
The Wildcats won the toss and elected to defer to the second half, meaning Scotty Fox and his offense would get the game started. Mentor would drive with power down the field, picking up multiple first downs on their way to the red zone. On a second down and three, Fox fired a quick screen to Justen Hodge outside the field, and he would take it to the house for a touchdown. Mentor jumped out to a 7-0 lead with 8:50 left in the first quarter.
The Wildcats' first offensive drive started well, with an explosive Grant Washington 15-yard run on first down and another run up the middle to get the Cats into Mentor territory. On the next play, Anghilante got sacked by Julian Solis, draining the drive's momentum. After two plays for a little gain, the Cats had to punt the ball away.
On a second and 11 after a false start penalty on first down, Fox dropped back to throw, and James Conrad came flying through the line and dropped Fox for a sack, forcing a third and 20. The third-down play saw Fox throwing the ball away to avoid pressure, and the Cardinals elected to punt.
The Wildcats' next drive started off slow but was extended on a third-down conversion through the air to Luke Simms. That would be all, though, as a couple of costly penalties set the Cats up for a fourth and 18, and Jackson Schaffer would be on to punt.
Mentor would run one more play on a run to Farley, which would bring the first quarter to an end. It was 7-0 Mentor with twelve minutes in the books. On the first play of the 2nd quarter, Scotty Fox kept it himself up the middle of the field and went 59 yards to pay dirt, extending the Mentor lead to two scores. The score was now 14-0 with 11:47 left in the half.
The next drive was promising to start, with most snaps coming from the Wildcat formation, but stalled out as Anghilante, on a fourth and 4, was tripped up while fighting towards the line to gain and fell short. Mentor would make the Wildcats pay for their turnover, picking up most of their yards on the next drive through the air to Austin Van Huss on a reception that got the Cardinal offense inside the 25. Mentor would capitalize a few plays later with a Farley run up the middle, making the score 21-0 Cardinals with 5:38 left in the half.
The Cats' drive finally found its footing on their next drive. They would go heavy out of the Wildcat Formation on the ground. Quinn Kennedy picked up a nice chunk of yardage on a second and 13 from a nicely delivered pass from Anghilante. Then on the next play, Owen Colwell broke free up the middle to get the Cats into the red zone. On second down, Colwell took a handoff to the one-yard line on an aggressive run.
On the next play, Colwell ran it right up the gut and found a hole in the endzone, giving the Cats their first score. Following the Schaffer PAT, the Cats made the game 21-7 with 2:48 left in the half. Each team would get one more offensive drive that half, but nothing came of it, as the first half concluded with a 21-7 Cardinal advantage.
The second half would be rough sailing for the Wildcats. The Saint Ignatius offense marched into Cardinal territory, getting inside the 30-yard line twice, but turned away from scoring with stands from the Cardinal defense.
The Cats got third-quarter momentum from Jayshon Thomas' interception, but the offense could not find a spark to capitalize.
Mentor would pull away in the fourth quarter as Dylan Tackett hit a 42-yard game-sealing field goal to make the score 24-7 with 5:40 left to play.
Hodge made the score 31-7 on an 11-yard touchdown reception with 2:32 remaining in the game, which would all but end the Wildcats' season. The Cardinals advanced to the OHSAA Regional Quarterfinal and will take on the #8 ranked Strongsville Mustangs on Friday, November 8, at the JTO.
Washington etches his name in the program's history as the eighth leading career rusher. Washington finishes his three-year varsity career with 1,651 rushing yards. He would jump Bobby Grebenc '10 and Jahadge Floyd '18 with his 107 yard performance on Friday.
Although the season didn't go as anyone would have planned, the Wildcats worked hard week in and week out all season long, no matter their circumstance. From as far south of Cincinnati to the shores of Lake Erie in Week One, the Wildcats were honored to wear the Blue and Gold.
An exceptional thank you goes out to all of the seniors that are Anthony Reali, Braeden Drummond, Gavin Vollmer, Grant Washington, Jacob Papesh, Ryan Pieschalski, Cody Haddad, Jackson Schaffer, Gus Magner, Tim Gaunter, Bobby Rosol, Jake Presley, Charlie Young, Ricky Miller, Leo Rick, Charles Glowe, Lawrence Shockley, and Colin Southworth.
As well as our very own SIBN members Peter Fitzgerald, Ryan Pick, and Ty Kinnear. Thank you all for your hard work over the past four seasons and everything you have done to make Saint Ignatius a better place. As we always close on the SIBN, thank you, and go Wildcats!
