OHIO CITY, OH - This past Friday, the Saint Ignatius Wildcats (6-5) were at Wasmer Field for the fourth and final time this season, as they took on the Berea-Midpark Titans (6-5) in the 8 vs. 9 matchup in round one of the OHSAA playoffs, with the winner set to face the St. Edward Eagles (9-1) in round two. Saint Ignatius was looking to carry the positive momentum from last week's 38-20 victory over Football North into Friday night's action, a game which snapped their three-game losing skid. Meanwhile, Berea-Midpark was looking to get back in the win column after suffering a tough 31-27 defeat to Avon Lake a week prior, a game in which they blew a 21-10 lead in the third quarter. After a 4-1 start and 4 straight wins, Berea-Midpark went 2-3 in their last five games, finishing the regular season 6-4 and 4-3 in conference play. This game was the first-ever meeting between Berea-Midpark and St. Ignatius, and it was also the first-ever football playoff game hosted at Wasmer Field.
Saint Ignatius won the toss and deferred, meaning the Titans would get the football first to start Friday night's action. The first drive for Berea-Midpark was on the move despite a first-down sack by
Matthias Michalek early in the drive, as Nick Reece made a nice grab over the middle of the field to put Berea-Midpark just inside Saint Ignatius territory. However, penalties put Berea-Midpark behind the sticks, and on second-and-long, quarterback Dylan Papushak was intercepted by
Anthony Anghilante. The interception was Anghilante's fifth on the year, and it put the Wildcats just inside Titans' territory to start their first drive.
Saint Ignatius would cash in on the short field, as
Dane Donovan capped it off by doing it himself, taking it in from about seven yards out and giving the Cats an early 7-0 lead. On Berea-Midpark's second drive, a big one-handed grab by Reece on third down put the Titans in Wildcat territory; however, a false start later in the drive on third-and-one, followed by an offensive pass interference, put Berea-Midpark way behind the sticks, and as a result, they had to punt on fourth down. The second Saint Ignatius drive was on the move courtesy of a first-down scamper from Donovan and some nice runs by Ty McMillon, but before the drive could come to a close, the first quarter ended with the Wildcats leading 7-0.
The drive continued for Saint Ignatius into the second quarter, and once again the Cats kept it moving by leaning on the run game and McMillon. However, the Cats were put in a second-and-long situation due to a holding penalty, and the Cats could not convert on third-and-ten, leaving
Griffin Roberts to attempt a 41-yarder, which he put through the posts, matching his season-long, and giving the Cats a 10-0 lead in the second quarter.
The next Berea-Midpark drive got up near midfield after a third-down conversion courtesy of running back Xaviere Harden; however, a combined sack by
David Hughes III and
Nathan Hay, resulting in a loss of 12 yards, quickly ended any hopes Berea-Midpark had for the drive, and the Titans had to punt. What followed was a long scoring drive for the Cats that started back up inside the Cats' own 10-yard line after a penalty on the first play of the drive. However,
Teague Deinhart had a huge drive that would ultimately turn into a big night out the backfield; a pick up a fourth-and-three on the Saint Ignatius side of the field got the Cats in scoring position, which they cashed in with a 14-yard touchdown run courtesy of Deinhart. The Cats went for two and were denied, so with 0:57 left to go in the first half, it was 16-0 Cats.
Two penalties from Saint Ignatius got the Titans in Wildcat territory, and on third down at the Ignatius 45, Papushak zipped one in to Andre Alexander for a 20-yard gain. Reece got the Titans even closer, and with 15 seconds left and no timeouts, Papushak found Alexander again, this time in the endzone for a 19-yard score. After a successful two-point try where Papushak connected with Reece, it was suddenly a one-score game, but it was here the biggest flip in the game likely happened.
Following the two-point try, Berea-Midpark was flagged for excessive celebration that was to be enforced on the kickoff, meaning the Cats would have an opportunity for a potentially dangerous return. With only 11 seconds on the clock, Berea-Midpark kicked it away to
Trey Haddad for the first and final time that night, as Haddad picked the ball up along the sideline and did all the work from there, taking it 77 yards for a Saint Ignatius touchdown with all zeros on the clock. A huge flip in this game, as after one half, it was 23-8.
Both offenses were clicking as the second half began. First for Saint Ignatius, they came out of the locker room hot, as a connection from Donovan to Haddad and a big run from Donovan, along with some assistance courtesy of penalties, got the Cats deep into Berea-Midpark territory. It was here Donovan would refuse to be denied, as he stayed on his feet and kept the pile pushing from six yards out, leading to a quick Wildcat score right out of the locker room.
Berea-Midpark was backed up near their own ten on offense after their return game was limited due to a penalty enforced on the kickoff against them on the Saint Ignatius scoring drive. However, the Titans were able to completely flip the field when Papushak found sophomore receiver Denym Gray wide open downfield, who would have had a touchdown if he wasn't chased down and wrapped up by the shoestrings by Anghilante at the Saint Ignatius nine-yard line. However, this would end up being a moot point as Berea-Midpark was able to break through on fourth and goal from the four-yard line, as Papushak found Alexander in the endzone for his second touchdown of the night. The two-point conversion was unsuccessful as
Coen Luecke broke up the pass in the endzone, and the game remained 30-14.
A kickoff to the up-man
Will McNett on the kickoff in order to stay away from Haddad returning the football, and two personal foul penalties on Berea-Midpark put the Cats in business to respond right back to what the Titans did on their last drive. The Cats wasted no time, as McMillon continued what was a great night for him by cutting upfield and getting into the endzone from 23 yards out, reextending the Saint Ignatius lead. The PAT from Roberts was wide-right, so the score stayed right there at a 22-point Saint Ignatius lead, with still less than five minutes gone in the third quarter.
The Berea-Midpark offense, which had found its groove in this ballgame, hit a snag and went three-and-out, giving the Cats an opportunity for great field position and more points.
Billy Cole took the punt back into the end zone; however, it was called back, and the points were taken off the board. This would end up being a footnote, however, as Donovan connected with Haddad on third-and-11 to pick up a Wildcat first down, and the drive was capped off by Deinhart picking up his second rushing touchdown of the night, this time from five yards out to give the Cats a 42-14 lead, which stayed after Donovan was intercepted by Gray in the endzone on the two-point conversion.
Berea-Midpark had no answers at this point, as they went three-and-out again, and the Cats would again set up shop around midfield. McMillon continued to turn and burn on the ground, getting the Cats down to the Titan five before the third quarter came to a close, with this game being all but over with Saint Ignatius leading 42-14 and driving after three quarters.
To start the fourth, McMillon capped off his big day with a five-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving Saint Ignatius a 49-14 lead after the PAT and causing a running clock to take effect in the fourth quarter. With the running clock, the fourth quarter went by relatively quickly, and the Cats were able to give their starters a much-needed breather. Neither team was able to score in the fourth quarter due to the fast-paced nature of the clock, but there were a couple of notable plays.
Papushak, who played his heart out in this game, this season, and in his career at Berea-Midpark, went down with a late injury, leaving Reece as QB for the remainder of the game. On his first snap as QB, Reece fumbled the snap, and
Kishawn Brown picked it up for Saint Ignatius. Neither team could get much going, and the clock hit all zeros in the fourth, with Saint Ignatius moving on with a 49-14 victory, and Berea-Midpark officially being eliminated.
The Cats got meaningful contributions from many different guys on both sides of the football. The stars on both sides of the football showed up as usual, but the Cats also showed the strength of their depth tonight as well. Most notably, Deinhart has had his two best games of the year at the right time. On the defensive side of the ball, the Cats showed the depth they have defensively, particularly on the defensive line, as both
Jack Favret and
Alex Luck had strong performances off the edge, with Luck picking up a TFL and Favret notching his first varsity sack. Greg Love also was stout up the middle. Overall, the last two weeks for the Cats have been strong, helping them notch back-to-back victories.
However, the Cats will need their strongest performance of the year next week as they travel to Lakewood to do battle for the second time this year with the #1 seed in the region, the St. Edward Eagles, who had a first-round bye this past Friday. The Cats will look to snap a 10-game losing streak spanning nearly 3,000 days against St. Edward, and they will also look for better fortune than their 31-14 loss in Week 7.
Kickoff will be at 7:00 p.m. this upcoming Friday at First Federal Lakewood Stadium. The winner will advance to the OHSAA Regional Semifinal and play the winner of #4 Massillon Jackson/#5 Hudson.
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