by The Mentor Cardinals gave their homecoming crowd a night to remember, as they top Shaker Heights by a score of 44-29. Both offenses put on a show, as Mentor eventually pulled away in this high scoring affair. A huge night for Mentor Quarterback Scotty Fox gave the Cardinals their 4th win of the season.
The game started slow as both teams traded possessions. Mentor was able to get things started on their second drive of the game. Quarterback Scotty Fox hit Justin Hodge for 25 yards to help setup the Cardinals in the redzone. Two plays later, Fox found Hodge again, this time for a 12-yard touchdown. The Cardinals claimed a 7-0 lead with 4:03 left in the first quarter. On the ensuing drive, Mentor was able to maintain the momentum thanks to senior Antonio Shelley, who intercepted a Raider pass, and gave Mentor the ball at their own 45-yard line. Soon after, Mentor dove into their bag of tricks and pulled out a flea flicker. Jackson Farley took the handoff, pitched it back to Fox, who then uncorked a 40-yard bomb to senior Evan Calderwood to put the Cardinals up 14-0 with 1:39 to go in the first quarter.
Shaker was not discouraged, as they stormed back with a drive of their own. Running back Cornell Beard took a nice 22-yard carry all the way to the goal line to setup the Raiders with 1st and goal to go. The Mentor defense made a few good plays and backed Shaker up to the 5-yard line. On 4th down, senior quarterback Abdullah Ahmad found Trey McNutt on an out route to put the Raiders on the board.
The score was now 14-7 with 7:05 left in the first half. Mentor got the ball back and came out firing. They drove down to the redzone quickly. Fox found an open Austin Van Huss from 20 yards out to put them up 21-7, with 3:50 remaining in the half. On the ensuing kickoff, the Cardinals came up with a fumble recovery that setup shop at the Shaker 13-yard line. Soon after, junior kicker Dylan Tackett knocked in a 31-yard field goal.
This put Mentor up 24-7 with 3:04 left in the second quarter. Shaker got the ball back, and knew they had to move quickly with little time remaining. They were able to swiftly drive down the field and arranged themselves with an opportunity to score. With 37 seconds left in the half, Ahmad hit Kamren Jackson to bring the Raiders right back into the game. After a missed PAT, the score held at 24-13 heading into the break. It was clear this game was going to turn into a shootout, and each offense had to keep making plays in order to secure the win.
The second half started similarly to the first half, not much action until halfway into the quarter. Shaker was able to sustain a solid drive and set themselves up in the redzone. Ahmad was able to find McNutt again, this time on a wheel route from 15 yards out. Ahmad then hit Beard on the two-point try, and things suddenly got interesting as the score was 24-21 with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter. Mentor was eager to regain the momentum on the ensuing drive. They rapidly drove down the field and showed no signs of slowing down. With 1:36 left in the third quarter, Mentor was facing a long 3rd and 13 from the Shaker 17-yard line.
That’s when Fox found Jackson Farley on a screen, as he walked in untouched to put the Cardinals back on top. The score held 30-21, as the PAT was blocked. On the ensuing kickoff, Mentor once again came up with a fumble recovery. This set them up the Shaker 25-yard line. Quickly after, the Cardinals scored again. Fox hit Hodge yet again, this time over the middle, as Hodge plowed through some defenders to cross the goal line. Hodge finished his solid night with 5 grabs for 83 yards and 2 scores. Mentor was up 37-21 heading into the fourth quarter.
Shaker still had some fight in them, despite only a quarter to go. Facing a long 4th and 13, Ahmad found Kamren Jackson on the sideline to convert, and give the Raiders strong field position. Ahmad ended up 15/30 with 186 yards, 3 touchdowns, 1 interception, and 2 2-point conversions. He also added 4 carries for 20 yards on the ground. Soon after the 4th down conversion, Cornell Beard found the endzone from 4 yards out, as he made a nice cut to walk in unscathed. Ahmad found Beard yet again on the two-point try, as the Raiders crawled back in the game, 37-29 with 5:17 remaining. Beard finished his impressive night with 27 carries for 142 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 2-point conversions.
He was breaking tackles all night, and it often took multiple defenders to bring him down. Shaker eventually got the ball back, with a chance to tie the game. Mentor’s defense came up with a huge fourth down stop, as Antonio Shelley broke up a pass on fourth down to give the Cardinals the ball back with 2:17 to play. The scoring was not quite done, as Mentor dialed up a nice play action pass, and Fox found a wide-open Calderwood up the seam for a 56-yard strike. This iced the game, as Mentor held a 44-29 lead with 1:55 to go. Mentor’s defense got another stop, and they kneeled it out to get the win.
There were many impressive performances tonight, but none quite like Mentor Quarterback Scotty Fox. Fox was 13/20 with 248 yards, and a jaw-dropping 6 touchdowns. He also tacked on 3 carries for 12 yards on the ground. Fox was dicing the Raiders’ defense all night long and looked incredibly sharp, as he accounted for all the Cardinals’ touchdowns.
This win put the Cardinals at 4-3 as they will play host to Brunswick next week. Shaker Heights moves to 6-1 as they were handed their first loss of the season, and they will host Strongsville next week.
