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Mentor, OH- Each time these two teams meet it seems to never disappoint and tonight was no different. We saw turnovers, miscues, and outstanding play on both sides of the ball. In the end, the Wildcats of St. Ignatius prevailed once again over The Mentor Cardinals 16-14 from Jerome T. Osborne Stadium. This was their first win in Mentor since the 2017 season.
After a quick three and out offense for Mentor, St. Ignatius found themselves in good field possession on their first drive of the game. A big first down gain by Jonathan Merimee set up the Wildcats in scoring position but the Cardinals defense held them to a field goal attempt. Which was drilled through the uprights by Tommy Kilbane to give the Wildcats a 3-0 advantage with 5 minutes to go in the 1st quarter.
St. Ignatius found themselves in familiar territory again as their defense continued to stifle Mentor’s offense early on. A beautiful thrown ball from Quarterback Joshua Papesh to Luke Simms for a gain of 38 yards down the sidelines got the Wildcats right back where they wanted to be. But then Mentor’s defense came up with the first takeaway of the game at the goal line. Spencer Barninger caused the fumble with a good hit on Ignatius’ Grant Washington, could this swing some momentum for the Matt Gray led Cardinals? Not yet is the answer as the Wildcats defense continued to control the line of scrimmage and make 2022 3rd team All-Ohio Quarterback Scotty Fox struggle inside the pocket.
St. Ignatius Running Back Max Ritt found holes to run through all night as his offensive line continued to control the line of scrimmage which set up the first touchdown of the night. Following a few runs, Ignatius was down to the one-yard line looking to punch it in. Papesh rolled to his right and found his favorite target of the night in Merimee for a 1-yard score on an out route. How would the Cardinals respond?
That score seemed to light a fire in the home team as they would go on to score 14 unanswered points in the last 3 and half minutes of the half. Fox and the Cardinals started to find their groove through the air and on the ground. On the ensuing drive, Fox found Grant Cerny in the endzone from 5 yards out to get Mentor on the board, but they wouldn’t stop there. Not even 2 minutes later following a quick 3 and out from the Wildcats, Fox would do it himself to give the Cardinals the lead. Fox, who finished as the leading rusher tonight for the Cardinals found paydirt from 5 yards out. He would go on to finish with 10 carries for 68 yards. Just like that Mentor had the lead 14-10 going into the break.
The 2nd half saw both teams’ turnover the ball but there would be only one touchdown to show for it and that belonged to the Wildcats. A back corner throw from Papesh to Merimee from 12 yards away gave the Wildcats a 16-14 lead early in the 3rd. A Mentor drive was halted by a strip sack fumble but then Ignatius would give it back on an interception a few plays later.
Mentor just could not get into field goal range or the red zone despite getting another turnover in the 4th quarter. With 1:05 remaining and no timeouts, Mentor began their drive from the 35-yard line doing whatever they could to get into field goal range. After making completions to get into Wildcats territory a frantic ending to this classic game would ensue. Following a sack, it was 3rd and long and the pass was completed inbounds by the Cardinals. With so little time the Cardinals could not get lined up in time to try the game winning field goal and St. Ignatius would defeat Mentor yet again. Ryan Franzinger picked up his first win at the helm of the Wildcats, taking over for longtime great Head Coach Chuck Kyle.
Mentor travels to Painesville Riverside next week, while St. Ignatius fresh off their big win will host Pittsburgh (PA) Central Catholic.
Player of the Game:
St. Ignatius Running Back Max Ritt- 24 carries, 141 yards
