by After months of planning and preparation, not even Mother Nature could stop a premier Week 1 matchup between Medina and Mentor to open the 2020 High School Football season.
On a rainy evening at Ken Dukes Stadium, the Matt Gray era at Mentor began with a bang, as the Cardinals bested the Bees, 37-19 in a Greater Cleveland Conference matchup.
The Cardinals and Bees exchanged jabs in the first half, as Mentor’s Ian Kipp and Medina’s Drew Allar traded touchdowns. But with Allar absent due to an ankle injury in the second half, Medina struggled and Mentor thrived. Kipp and Riley Coughlin’s Cards outscored the Bees in the second half, 14-0, to earn Gray’s first win.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am, particularly of these seniors,” Gray said. “There’s so much unknown, but they came out and played with so much passion. We challenged them all week, and I thought they were unbelievable. It’s not about me, it’s about these guys. They’ve had to fight through so much adversity. I’m so happy with these seniors.”
The weather played an important part early on before fading late. Early on, the rain led to plenty of tomfoolery. The Bees managed just a 12-yard punt after a 3-and-out to start the game. On their first offensive play from scrimmage, the Cardinals fumbled the ball to squander the field position.
As the rain lightened up a bit, Medina marched down the field. Drew Allar completed a nice drive with a 2-yard fade route to Luke Hensley for six. The first extra point of 2020 was blocked, keeping the score at 6-0 Bees.
The Cardinals wasted little time in authoring a drive of their own. Utilizing a powerful run game, Mentor rolled down the field. Ian Kipp finished off the journey with a 2-yard keeper, and Andrew Smith granted Mentor the 7-6 lead with an extra point.
Following an unsuccessful drive, Medina experienced more special teams trouble. A fumbled snap on a punt gave Mentor the ball at the 2-yard line.
The Cardinals needed just two plays to take advantage. Kipp hit Evan Harper on a screen, and the shifty wideout danced into the end zone. Smith’s extra point set the score at 14-6 Cardinals with 2:47 left in the first.
The Bees struck back with back-to-back touchdowns of their own. Allar first fired in a short touchdown pass to Jajuan Jackson on a slant route and then tossed a 13-yard score to Hensley. With 9:29 to go in the second quarter, Medina held a 19-14 advantage.
Increasing rain hindered the Mentor passing game for a time, so Brenden Panhorst and Riley Coughlin helped to shoulder the load until Kipp came alive in the red zone.
The senior signal caller hit a toe-tapping Bryson Gilbert in the corner of the end zone for a 7-yard TD with 2:45 remaining in the half. The Cardinals could not convert the 2-point conversion, but still possessed the lead, 20-19.
With 2:07 left in the half and facing a 4th and 1 from their own 27, the Bees opted to go for it. The bold move did not pay off, and set up the visitors with marvelous field position.
Mentor couldn’t gain much traction, but it didn’t matter, as Andrew Smith boomed a beautiful 46-yard field goal. The Cardinals took the 23-19 advantage into halftime.
“It was exhilarating, but it was rough with the wind,” Smith said of his career-best field goal. “It was a bit against me in the rain. I had to use a different QB ball, but that didn’t affect me. I got a good piece of it and you saw the rest.”
Following a 12-minute break, the offense slowed significantly. Mentor was hindered by penalties and missed passes, while Medina’s Allar did not return in the second half, leading the Bees to change the offense.
Drew Gillespie entered the game and ran a Maryland-I formation on the first drive before transitioning to an empty set for the next drive. Both approaches proved fruitless, opening the door for the Cardinals offense.
Mentor methodically drove down the field, mixing runs with passes. Following a dynamic catch by Drew Baird, Riley Coughlin weaved his way through Bees to find pay dirt. A Smith extra point set the score at 30-19.
“I’m an offensive line coach, I’m a run-first type of guy,” Gray said. “We’re going to establish the run and take it to the defense.”
Coughlin loves being a bellcow in the offense. The senior figures to be a centerpiece of the Mentor offense this season. On Friday, he finished with 115 rushing yards on 19 carries.
“The offensive line was definitely the key. I knew we were going to run the ball a lot,” Coughlin said. “It means a lot to me [to get Coach Gray’s first win]. He’s been a great coach to me, so I’m going to do my best for him. He knows what I like, he knows my strength and weaknesses, so he’s trying to build off that.”
Medina showed signs of life midway through the fourth, with a wide receiver pass from Luke Hensley to Matt Rudolph setting up Medina deep in enemy territory. But Mentor’s defensive backs came up with clutch plays when needed, ending the opportunity.
Mentor’s rookie head coach couldn’t be prouder of his defense for shutting down the Bees in the second half.
“They met the challenge,” Gray said. “Last year, Medina ran 44 plays and passed 41 times. We knew we were going to be challenged in a lot of ways. They have a lot of receivers and a big-time quarterback who can run and pass. We challenged our guys all week and they did a great job today. The thing that was most impressive about the defense was that they responded back.
They made a couple really nice plays early on. Noah Gladish, in his first game back after a year-plus off, was relaxed and played the way I knew he could in the second half. That speaks to the type of character we have in the program. That’s why the program is so successful.”
Down the home stretch, the short passing game and strong running by Coughlin and Panhorst chewed clock and yards. Coughlin completed the sojourn down the field with a 15-yard score to set the final score at 37-19.
Looking ahead, Mentor will hope to get Allar healthy for next week. But if not, the Bees have confidence in Gillespie.
“Ryan will be fine if he has to be the guy next week,” said Medina head coach Larry Laird. “We have confidence in him, he was the starter at the beginning of last year. He just didn’t get the #1 snaps this week.”
The Bees did battle well throughout the game, led by Hensley, who finished with 10 catches for 104 yards and 2 scores, along with a 26-yard pass.
“I like the way our kids battled,” said Laird. “Last year, we did not battle as well as I would like to have seen. This year, we stood toe-to-toe with them for three quarters. You haven’t heard the last of the Bees.”
Mentor player of the game: RB Riley Coughlin: 19 carries for 115 yards, 2 TD; 1 receptions for 2 yards
Medina player of the game: WR Luke Hensley: 10 receptions for 104 yards, 2 TD; 1-1 passing for 26 yards
By Joe Ginley
