UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO - The Saint Ignatius Wildcats (1-5) returned to JCU (5-1) this week to take on the Benedictine Bengals. This was the 34th meeting between the two teams, the first since 2004, when the Wildcats won 43-6. The Bengals and Wildcats have a rich history, meeting in the Charity Game and the Cleveland city championship ten times, with the Bengals claiming most of those games with a 7-2-1 record. The Wildcats lead the overall series with an 18-15-1 record.
Entering this week, the Wildcats were coming off their first victory of the season last week against Painesville Riverside by a score of 45-33. Despite a 13-point deficit mid-way through the second quarter of that game, the Wildcat offense started to click, scoring 28 second-half points on their way to victory.
Benedictine entered the game with a low-scoring loss to the Lake Catholic Cougars in week five. The Cougars scored their lone touchdown in the first quarter, and then Benedictine answered with a 31-yard Nate Majors field goal. That was all the scoring that night; however, Lake Catholic collected a 6-3 victory, handing the Bengals their first loss of the season.
This week was also Senior Night for the Wildcats, a celebration of all the hard work and dedication that have characterized their four-year careers at Saint Ignatius. Members of the football team, the SIBN broadcast crew, the athletic training staff, and the band were recognized.
Benedictine got the ball first in the game and made no time getting to work. On their first play from scrimmage, quarterback Giovanni Iacampo delivered a strike to Tramell Reese across the middle of the field, which went 74 yards for a Benedictine touchdown. The Bengals jumped out to a 7-0 lead with only 16 seconds off the clock.
The Wildcats' first drive started strong, with Owen Colwell gaining a first down on a pass to him out of the backfield, but they failed to gain momentum and punted.
Benedictine's next drive seemed to have been over, but on a Nate Majors punt, Owen O'Brien was penalized for a roughing the kicker penalty, extending the Bengals' drive. Benedictine took a penalty of their own on their next set of plays, setting them up with a third and 13. On the third down play, Jonathan Spikes found open space but was tripped up two yards shy of the marker to force a fourth down. The Bengals decided to go for it on fourth down in the Wildcat half of the field, but Quinn Kennedy blew the play up as he collected a sack to force a turnover.
On their next drive, Saint Ignatius looked to have fired up the offense with a Luke Simms catch, getting them down to the Benedictine 30-yard line. However, the drive stalled out, and the Wildcats brought on Griffin Roberts to punt the ball away. The punt resulted in a touchback.
After another Nate Majors punt, the Wildcats were set up with excellent field position, although a Billy Cole return was negated due to a holding penalty. Still, the Wildcats started at the Benedictine 40-yard line.
The Wildcats took a shot toward Luke Simms on first down, and he drew a holding penalty to move the Wildcats up 10 yards to the Bengal 30. Almost immediately, however, the Wildcats moved themselves back with a negative play and a pass interference penalty, pushing the Wildcats back to the 35-yard line despite starting their set of plays inside the red zone. On third and 32, Jacob Mikin overshot Trey Haddad across the middle, and the Wildcats were forced to punt again.
Following the punt for a touchback, the Bengals picked up momentum from a former Wildcat, Xander Smith, as he hauled in a reception to flip the field. However, the Bengals' penalties pushed them back, and the Wildcat defense forced another punt.
After another fantastic Billy Cole return, the Wildcats started their drive from their 45-yard line. The Wildcats' offensive struggles continued; however, an incompletion on third down sent the punt team back out. This time, JT Hummer trotted out as the punter, and the Wildcats ran a designed fake punt that saw Hummer throw the ball to Kennedy. However, Kennedy dropped the pass in open space, resulting in a turnover.
The Bengals drove down the field on their next drive while draining the clock. After a push in the endzone led to fourth down with 12 seconds left, the Bengals trotted on Nate Majors to attempt a 31-yard field goal. Majors drilled it, extending the Bengals' lead to 10-0 as the half wound down.
The second half continued to see struggles from both the Wildcats and Bengals. On a third-and-10 from the Wildcat 31-yard line with 5:03 left in the third, Haddad gave the Wildcats a spark on a crossing route near midfield. He cut to the sideline and scamper into the endzone for a 69-yard score, cutting the Bengal lead to three.
The Wildcat defense forced a Benedictine punt on the ensuing drive, and a 22-yard connection from Mikin to Simms put the ball in Bengal territory at the 42-yard line with 1:50 remaining in the third. But the Wildcats brought in some trickery on the next play, with a designed pass play for Marcus Tekancic. Benedictine was not fooled, and put pressure on Tekancic who threw into double coverage that was intercepted by Kellen Donnelly.
Saint Ignatius' defense continued to deny the Bengal offense, keeping the Cats alive in the fourth quarter. For the first time in the game, the Wildcats took a lead after a one-yard touchdown run from Colwell. With 4:40 left in regulation, the Wildcats led 14-10.
But the Wildcats would not hold the lead for long. On the ensuing kickoff, Tramell Reese would go 95 yards for a score. Jayshon Thomas would block the PAT, and Benedictine again led 16-14 with 4:29 remaining in the game.
As the clock ticked under three minutes, the Wildcat offense looked to get into field goal range. But a sack on second down put the Cats back to a third and 14. After an incomplete pass, the Wildcats faced a fourth and long from their 36-yard line. Mikin rolled out, couldn't find an open man, and went down for the second sack of the drive.
The Cats had two timeouts remaining and would force a turnover on downs on the Bengals with five seconds on the clock. The Wildcats ran two plays, an incomplete pass to Simms, and Mikin was sacked at the end of the game. The Bengals pulled off a 16-14 upset to drop the Wildcat record to 1-5.
The Wildcats will travel to Lakewood on Friday to take on the St. Edward Eagles (5-1) at 7 p.m. from First Federal Lakewood Stadium.
