by EUCLID, OH – Friday night’s Division 1, Region 1 Regional Final was cold, windy and had snow flurries throughout the game. The number one St. Edward Eagles came into the game with a record of 11-1 and were fresh off of a 28-7 win over St. Ignatius. The third ranked Mentor Cardinals had a record of 9-3 and knocked off Medina 42-21 last week.
Mentor won the toss and chose to receive, likely hoping to get off to a quick start much like last week.
On the first drive for the Cardinals, they began to move the ball well with a balanced attack between sophomore quarterback Scotty Fox in the air and senior running back Mitchell Waite on the ground. Once in St. Eds territory, Fox tried to drop in a pass near the sideline and it was intercepted by Cy Colvin at the 18-yard line.
The Eagles slowly but surely marched down the field and capitalized on the ensuing drive. Senior running back Marvin Bell capped off the 11-play drive with a 5-yard touchdown run, making the score 7-0.
On the first play of the next drive for the Cardinals, Fox found Holden Cerny for a 28-yard gain, putting Mentor in Eagles territory again. The drive stalled out there and Mentor failed to convert on fourth down.
After the turnover on downs, St. Eds went right back down the field and took a 14-0 lead on a Casey Bullock 19-yard TD scamper. The script had been flipped on Mentor as it was Medina last week failing on fourth down and then Mentor took the 14-0 lead.
The game slowed down offensively late in the first quarter for both teams and this carried into the second quarter as well. Mentor turned the ball over on downs once again, St. Eds nearly lost a fumble with their backs against their own end zone but then punted, Mentor muffed the hold on a field goal attempt and then St. Eds turned the ball over on downs.
Finally, it appeared like the first points of the second quarter may go on the scoreboard with 33 seconds remaining in the half. Benjamin Lavelle stepped up to kick the 28-yard field goal for St. Eds into the wind. The kick came off as a low line drive and was blocked. Mentor then took a knee and the half ended as it started 14-0 Eagles.
On the first drive of the second half, the Eagles went heavily to the ground game. After nine runs on 11 plays, they failed to convert on fourth down at the Mentor 14-yard line.
Mentor quickly faced a three and out on their first drive of the second half thanks to a well-timed blitz and a Nate Gregory sack. On the following punt from their own end zone, Jacob Snow’s punt hung up in the wind and came back to Mentor’s own 25.
Despite the excellent field position, the Eagles did nothing with it. They had to settle with a 32-yard field goal attempt, but Lavelle once again missed.
At the end of the 3rd quarter the score remained 14-0 in favor of the Eagles.
The first points of the game since the 1st quarter finally came on the first drive of the fourth for St. Eds. Bullock and Bell went to work on the ground and the offensive line cleared plenty of holes. On the 10th and final rush of the drive, Bell found pay dirt from 5 yards out. Lavelle missed the PAT and St. Eds held a 20-0 advantage.
After several nice chunk plays from Scotty Fox to his receivers Snow, Stapleton and Jares, Fox forced a pass that was once again intercepted by Cy Colvin.
The Eagles then went on to seal the victory with a 20-yard touchdown pass from Bullock to Grady Lentz-Pieffer.
The 27-0 win for the St. Edward Eagles meant multiple things tonight; Mentor’s touchdown streak was snapped (last game without a touchdown was in a 17-3 loss to Strongsville in 2008), first time Mentor has been shut out since 2007 (State Championship game versus St. Xavier), the Eagles win their 12th Regional Title and St. Eds advances to the Final Four where they will play Gahanna Lincoln.
St. Eds moves to 12-1 on the year. Their defense looked stout tonight and overall their offense was moving the ball. The only major thing coach Lombardo will likely want to see improved is finding a way to put more points up on the board when scoring opportunities are presented. If that happens, this team may be on the path to another state title.
The Mentor Cardinals wrap up their season with a record of 10-3.
Stats
Passing
(St. Eds) QB Casey Bullock – 14/18 for 185 yards and 1 TD
(Mentor) QB Scotty Fox – 24/43 for 216 yards and 2 INTs
Rushing
(St. Eds) RB Marvin Bell – 26 carries for 128 yards and 2 TDs
(St. Eds) QB Casey Bullock – 14 carries for 90 yards and 1 TD
(St. Eds) RB Joshua Gribble – 10 carries for 76 yards
(Mentor) RB Mitchell Waite – 11 carries for 9 yards
Receiving
(St. Eds) WR Kyan Mason – 7 receptions for 106 yards
(St. Eds) WR Grady Lentz-Pieffer – 6 receptions for 64 yards and 1 TD
(Mentor) WR Jacob Snow – 7 receptions for 15 yards
(Mentor) WR Jordan Stapleton – 5 receptions for 80 yards
Player of the Game: St. Eds RB Marvin Bell – 26 carries for 128 yards and 2 TDs
