UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH - The Wildcats (0-2) made the short trip to John Carroll University this past Friday to take on one of their rivals, the Mentor Cardinals (2-0). This would be the Cats' first home match up against the Cardinals since the 2022 game at Cleveland Browns Stadium, where Saint Ignatius would win in three overtimes by a score of 26-20. The Cats also defeated the Cardinals twice last year, once in week two by a score of 16-14 and again in the first round of the playoffs by a score of 10-7. The Cats were looking to win their fifth straight against Mentor coming into Friday night. 

Looking at the Cardinals, it would be a challenging task for the Wildcats. Mentor rosters an abundant group of highly rated high school prospects, most recognizably senior quarterback Scotty Fox and junior wide out Justen Hodge. Fox, standing 6'2", 215 pounds, is a three-star recruit committed to the University of West Virginia. Fox has thrown for over 4,900 yards and 52 touchdowns in his career, with 2,275 yards coming last year as a junior. A three-star recruit, Hodge holds Divison I offers to top-tier schools like The Ohio State University and Michigan State University. 

With Mentor having won the coin toss and deferring to the second half, The Wildcats would send out their offense first for the second straight week. Mentor kicker Dylan Tackett sent his kickoff through the back of the end zone, setting the Wildcats up at their 20-yard line. On the game's first play from scrimmage, the Cats would elect to call Ohio State commit Cody Haddad's name on a jet sweep, but Mentor's Gavin Briggs would drop Haddad in the backfield for a loss on first down. 

On second down, the Cats would make a statement through the air as junior signal caller Daniel Chalhoub found Haddad wide open on a seam across the middle that went 83 yards for a Wildcats touchdown. Jackson Shaffer's point-after attempt would split the uprights and push the Wildcat lead to 7-0 with 11:05 to go in the first quarter. 

Fox and his offense would give out a sense of Deja vu on their first drive, as after their first down screen pass to junior running back Jackson Farley was stopped for short yardage, Mentor would go right back to Farley on the ground, where he carried the rock 78-yards for a touchdown of his own. Tackett would tack on an extra point as the score would be 7-7 with only a minute and a half dent into the clock. 

After a Saint Ignatius three and out, The Cardinals' offense would get right back to work. Matt Gray and his staff would call a healthy mix between the ground and air game to march into Wildcat territory. On a first down inside the fifteen, the Cats' defense began to show some strength as senior linebacker Jake Presley would swallow up Fox in the backfield on a broken read option play. Two plays later, Fox found Farley open in the flat for a walk-in six-yard touchdown to put Mentor up a score. However, Tackett would shank his PAT attempt wide-right, so the score stayed 13-6 Cardinals with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter. 

The Wildcats' third drive seemed promising, starting with a nine-yard third-down conversion through the air to junior receiver Luke Simms to move the sticks, followed by a fourth-down conversion by Chalhoub on a quarterback sneak. Grant Washington would find his footing on the following downs, breaking a run into the secondary on a second down. 

Two plays later, Washington would again pick up a solid gain, giving the Cats a much more manageable third down, and ultimately pick up the first down on the next play. On third down and goal from the 3-yard line, the Wildcats would try through the air, but Chalhoub's pass was batted down at the line by Mentor's Spencer Barninger to force a fourth down. The Cats would send out Schaffer to attempt a 20-yard field goal from the right hash, but he would push it wide right, leaving the red zone empty-handed. 

Mentor's next drive would end on a fourth down attempt through the air, countered by relentless defensive pressure that forced Fox to throw the ball away to avoid a sack. The following Wildcat drive would start from their 38-yard line with two minutes until halftime. After a first down picked up by Chalhoub, he would air it downfield on the next play to Trey Haddad, but it would fall incomplete. This would start a trend of three straight incompletions as the Cats would stall and be forced to punt. 

The score at the half would be Cardinals 13, Cats 7. 

The Cats' kickoff team would make a statement play out of the half. After a miscue between Mentor's Grant Cerny and Dominic Burns on the kickoff, the ball caromed inside the five, where Burns retreated to gather the kickoff. As Burns picked up the ball, a blue and gold streak in junior Aiden Roche came flying in to make the tackle inside the five-yard line. Despite the dreadful field position, Mentor would get the ball moving quickly. They would march into Wildcat territory but were held on a third and five, where Tackett would be on to attempt a field goal. Tackett's 44-yarder ended up wide left for his second miss, keeping the score at 13-7 with 7:06 to go in the third. 

After another Cat's three and out, Mentor would trek down the field gracefully and cap off their drive with a nine-yard rush by Farley for his third touchdown, making the score 20-7 with six seconds to go in the third quarter. On the last play of the quarter, Owen Colwell was able to return a kickoff to the 44-yard line, but was called back due to a holding call. 

Washington would get the Cats' drive going on a second down, 22-yard rush to get the Cats into Cardinals territory. Washington kept rolling as he picked up another first down on the next play. Colwell would find the red zone on a carry, and the junior Jake Bobinski would move the Cats inside the five on his first varsity carry. After being stopped three times, the Cats would go for it on fourth down on a give to Washington, but he was stopped short, turning the ball over on downs with under seven minutes to play. 

The Cats defense made a stop and gave the ball back to the offense with four minutes to play. The Wildcats capitalized on a three-yard QB sneak from Chalhoub to score 20-14 in favor of the Cardinals with 3:16 to go in the ball game. The Wildcats lined up for an onside kick, but Schaffer's attempt did not travel the necessary ten yards to become a live ball, and Mentor took over. 

The Cardinals would pick up multiple first downs with Farley to drain the remainder of the game clock. Farley would rush for 191 yards on 19 carries and was responsible for all of Mentor's scoring. 

The Cardinals would go into victory formation and the Cats dropped their second straight to start the season, losing their first game in three years to the Cardinals by a score of 20-14. 

Washington did show out for the Wildcats, rushing for 144 yards on 19 carries, but the Wildcat offense could not convert in the red zone. The Wildcat defense could not make crucial third-down stops, as Mentor's run game proved to be the Achilles Heel for the Wildcats, combining for 318 yards on the ground. 

The Cats begin a three-game road stretch next week against the 1-1 Dublin Coffman Shamrocks. The SIBN will have video and audio coverage of the team's first meeting in school history. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from Coffman Stadium.

Mentor rushes for 318 yards as they hold on to defeat the Wildcats 20-14 in the 30th overall meeting.