by Mentor, OH — Mentor sophomore quarterback Scotty Fox showed out in the first half as he found three different receivers for touchdowns to set the tone early on. The Mentor defense did not miss a beat as they continued their dominance at home on Friday night to help secure the 38-3 win over the Strongsville Mustangs in a week 9 GCC showdown.
FIRST HALF
In what seemed like a much closer game, the Mentor Cardinals ultimately found rhythm on offense during their second drive of the evening. Senior receiver Jordan Stapleton would be the first Cardinal to find the endzone on the night as he corralled Scotty Fox’s touchdown pass from 1-yard out to put Mentor up 7-0 midway through the inaugural quarter.
Give credit to the Mentor special teams unit as they set up that drive with a huge punt return to give the Cardinals favorable field position inside Strongsville territory.
Following another Strongsville punt, the Cardinals were back in possession and in the midst of yet another solid drive in the first quarter. On 2nd down, the Cardinals went deep into their playbook as Scotty Fox hit senior receiver Holden Cerny for a 38-yard touchdown pass on the flea flicker. That extended the Mentor advantage to 14 points with 1:27 left in the first.
A steady Strongsville drive following that Mentor score featuring some nice pitches and catches from sophomore quarterback Nolan Beard to sophomore receiver Will Dasher, ultimately stalled out due to a dropped pass on 3rd and very long.
A fumbled snap the ensuing Strongsville punt resulted in a turnover on downs which gave the Cardinals the ball with momentum and tremendous field position. However, just one play later on the Cardinal’s first play following the turnover, Scotty Fox’s pass was intercepted by Strongsville senior defensive back, Brody Kraus.
That gave the ball right back into the hands of Nolan Beard and the Strongsville offense. Unable to gain traction on that following drive caused yet another punt.
With little time left in the half, Scotty Fox marched his troops down the field to set up a first and goal from the three-yard-line. Just one play later, it was Fox who hit senior receiver Jacob Snow over the middle on the slant route for a three-yard score! That made the score 21-0 with the advantage in favor of Mentor at intermission.
SECOND HALF
Mentor began the third quarter with the ball as they continued their steady offensive night. It was Holden Cerny who really got things going for the Cardinals as he brought in a big 30-yard reception to set up first and goal from the 1. Senior running back Mithcell Waite crossed the goal-line just one play later extending the Mentor advantage to 28 with 8:23 left in the third quarter.
A fumbled kickoff was the result of the next play as the Mustangs coughed up the ball giving it back to the Cardinals offense who at that point was functioning as a well-oiled machine.
Another steady Mentor drive took place following the Strongsville fumble however, the Mustang defense did hold the Cardinals out of the endzone and only gave up a field goal. That short field goal put Mentor up 31-0 midway through the third quarter. Not only did it extend the lead, but it also began the start of the running clock courtesy of the 30+ point lead.
A steady Strongsville drive minutes into the final quarter lead to a 25-yard field goal that put the Mustangs on the board and stopped the running clock as they still trailed 31-3 with 10:18 left in regulation.
It was Mason Coughlin who followed up that Strongsville score with points of his own as he capped off a 3-minute Mentor drive with a 5-yard touchdown run up the middle to completely blow the game open 38-3 with a little over 7 minutes to play.
Following that Mentor touchdown, both teams performed mass substitutions on both sides of the ball and neither team put up any additional points. As the clock hit triple zeros, the Cardinals remained on top as they took the win 38-3 over the Mustangs.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
Scotty Fox (Mentor QB) – 3 touchdown passes
UP NEXT
Strongsville: Hosts Brunswick on Oct. 21.
Mentor: Travels to Euclid on Oct. 21.
