by In classic Chuck Kyle fashion, the St. Ignatius Wildcats won a playoff game tonight using every form of offense they could. They were well rounded as usual, and used all of their tools to defeat the Solon Comets 42-14 tonight in the opening round of the playoffs.
Their biggest weapon was Junior running back Marty Lenehan who rushed for 171 yards on 19 carries. He also scored 3 times in crucial situations to lead the Wildcats to victory. Newly appointed full-time starting quarterback Joe Pfaff was very consistent tonight. He went 10 of 16 for 184 yards and had touchdown passes of 48 and 23 yards.
The big threats for Pfaff in the air were Steven Bodamer with 2 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown. John Becker had a huge second half with 3 catches for 34 yards on the opening drive. Collin Wiehn had 2 catches for 35 yards as well.
Solon was pretty much a one man show with a stellar game from running back Khalil Eichelberger with 109 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. He also had 3 catches for 39 yards and was lethal in the open field.
Quarterback Pat McQuaide of Solon did his best to keep the Comets in it for as long as he could. McQuaide finished with 139 yards on 20 of 35 passing with a touchdown and interception. His touchdown toss went to Caesar Salerno. He caught 6 balls for 42 yards and the score.
St. Ignatius began their opening drive from the Solon 21 after a botched punt from the Comets. After two plays in which the Wildcats went backwards, they bailed themselves out with a clutch 3 and 18 pickup of 20 yards as Pfaff hit Collin Wiehn inside the Comet 5. Two plays later it was Marty Lenehan rumbling in to start the scoring at 7-0.
After forcing another 3 and out, the Wildcats wasted no time striking again. It only took a two-play drive for the Pfaff to Steven Bodamer 48-yard touchdown.
Then the blitzkrieg of points continued on the next Wildcat possession as a 35-yard pass from Pfaff to Bodamer, set up a 1-yard touchdown keeper from Pfaff. That touchdown made it 21-0 with 2 minutes still to play in the opening quarter.
The Comets finally got a stop to start the second quarter, but then muffed the punt giving the ball right back to the Wildcats at the Solon 18. After the first play of the drive resulted in a Facemask, it was goal to go from the 8.
The Comets managed to hold the Wildcats to a Declan Mangan 25 yard Field Goal that he shockingly missed. Mangan is typically a sure thing.
With the momentum switch for the first time all night, Khalil Eichelberger began to heat up. Eichelberger went for runs of 6, 13 and 6 to get them inside the 10-yard line. He mixed in a beautiful 1 handed catch he took for 25 yards.
The Wildcats managed to hold the Comets to a fourth and goal from the 5. The Comets finished it off with a McQuaide touchdown pass to Caesar Salerno with 4:28 left in the half.
The Wildcats attempted to score before the half and put together a nice drive that would eventually stall. Mangan missed again, this time from 45 yards out, giving the ball back to the Comets.
Solon once again took advantage on the legs of Eichelberger quickly marching them into Wildcat territory. The Comets ran out of time however, and the half ended 21-7 with St. Ignatius on top.
The second half began with Pfaff and the Wildcats marching right down the field with passes to John Becker of 12, 2 and 20 yards. They mixed in a few runs from Lenehan to give themselves a goal to go from the 5. From there Lenehan would punch it in again and extend the Wildcats lead to 28-7.
The Comets would not go away without a fight however, as they used a long drive of a dozen plays to cut the lead to 28-14. They pounded it in from a yard out with Khalil Eichelberger. The drive soaked up 5 plus minutes and 70 yards. The score came with 11:52 left in the contest.
The Wildcats wasted no time responding with Marty Lenehan going off once again. This time he sprinted for runs of 5,6, 46 and 10 to get back in the endzone. His third score of the game increased the Wildcat lead to 35-14.
A few minutes later a Cole Smith interception would put the dagger in Solon. This gave St. Ignatius the ball back, up 35-14 with 8:22 to go in the game, from the Comet 25.
St. Ignatius wasted no time going back to the air as Pfaff hit Jonathan McNeil for a 23-yard touchdown pass. This increased the Wildcat lead to 42-14 and put the game away with a little over 7 minutes to play.
The game would end by that same score as the Wildcats now advance to play at Euclid next week in a matchup of 4 vs 5.
Players of the game
St. Ignatius RB Marty Lenehan with 171 yards and 3 touchdowns
Solon RB Khalil with 109 yards and a touchdown.
