Ohio City - Saint Ignatius, the state's top-ranked team in Division I by the Associated Press, the No. 1 seed for the OHSAA Region 1 playoffs, the fourth-ranked program in the Midwest by USA Today and the No. 1 team in the seven-county area by Cleveland.com, will put its 11-1 record on the line versus the 11-1 Mentor Cardinals in Friday night's OHSAA Region 1 title game on Stewart Field in Bedford High School's tradition-rich Bearcat Stadium.
The kickoff from the eastern suburb of Cleveland that produced Hall of Fame baseball outfielder, the late Elmer Flick, will be 7:30.
Although record 11-time Division I State Champion Saint Ignatius leads its all-time football series with Mentor, 13-8, including a 41-31 victory at Mentor in Week 2 of this season, the Cardinals hold a slight edge in their postseason encounters with the Wildcats, 3-2.
The first meeting in the OHSAA football playoffs between Saint Ignatius and Mentor took place in Saint Ignatius' 14-0 state championship season of 1992, a 38-13 regional final triumph by the Wildcats.
Mentor and Saint Ignatius wouldn't meet again in the postseason until 2003, when the Cardinals walked away with a 31-0 victory in a second-round matchup.
After losing to Mentor during the regular season of 2011, 38-24, the Wildcats, en route to their record "Eleven in '11" State Championship season, turned back then junior Mitch Trubisky and the Cardinals, 23-17, in a regional final at this corner's favorite venue, atmosphere-rich Lakewood Stadium, aka "The Madhouse on Madison."
In 2012, the tables were reversed as Saint Ignatius soundly defeated Mentor, 48-21, in Week 3 of the regular season on Byers Field, but was eliminated by the Mitch Trubisky-led Cardinals in an epic OHSAA regional final, 57-56, in three overtimes at a packed Byers Field.
That 2012 will-testing night on Ridge Road and Day Drive saw two of the finest players in the history of Ohio High School Football, Mr. Football quarterback Mitch Trubisky and the Wildcats' gifted All-Ohio tailback Tim McVey, put their endless talents and desire on display. Saint Ignatius wide receiver Michael Siragusa, quarterback Mile LaManna and linebacker Kyle Berger also turned in memorable performances.
Time passages will usually produce some special ties, as is the case with Mitch Trubisky, whose Quarterback Coach with the Chicago Bears is former Saint Ignatius All-Ohio Quarterback and basketball standout Dave Ragone '98.
In what was the last postseason encounter between the 'Cats and the Cardinals, that is until this coming Friday night, another gifted athlete from Mentor, senior quarterback Conner Krizancic, helped key a 26-3 regional final victory over Saint Ignatius on an extremely cold, to say the least, November 23rd, 2013 night at Byers Field.
This old-timer has one more classic in the Wildcats-Cardinals football series, one that took place just two seasons ago at Mentor's Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium.
With Saint Ignatius' first-team All-Ohio senior quarterback Dennis Grosel (now at Boston College) and a promising 6-foot-4 sophomore quarterback from Mentor named Tadas Tatarunas setting records at their respective schools on that perfect early September 2015 night, Mentor turned away Saint Ignatius, 63-56, in a Week 2 regular season encounter out on Center Street.
The Cardinals produced the game-winning touchdown when on a second-and 5 from the Wildcats' 10-yard line and the final 15 seconds ticking off the clock, Tatarunas rolled left under heavy pressure, regained his balance and fired a touchdown pass to one of his exceptional receivers in 2015, senior Malik Porter, who broke free across the back of the end zone.
Grosel passed for 415 yards and six touchdowns and Tatarunas, who accounted for 12 of the game's final 14 points with his powerful arm, threw for 531 yards and four touchdowns. Saint Ignatius ran 73 plays for 615 yards and Mentor totaled 823 yards on 77 plays.
If that doesn't whet your football appetite for the Friday night lights in Bedford's Bearcat Stadium, we will remind about the Wildcats' Week two victory over the Cardinals this season and how Mentor advanced to face Saint Ignatius for a sixth time in the postseason.
The St. Edward Eagles, I'm sure you are quite familiar with them, finished their memorable season at 10-2 after losing both the annual Week 10 regular-season showdown with the Wildcats, 17-10 at Lakewood Stadium, and last weekend's OHSAA regional semifinal matchup with Mentor, 21-13, on Byers Field.
The Greater Cleveland Conference Champion Cardinals, currently on a 10-game winning streak after their Week 2 loss to Saint Ignatius, ranked sixth in the final Division I State Poll and seeded third in Region 1, stunned the state's third-ranked and second-seeded Region 1 Eagles with a sound defensive effort and a ground game that actually hurt St. Edward more than Tatarunas' productive arm.
Mentor's standout 6-foot-6, 250-pound junior defensive end Noah Potter, a The Ohio State University recruit, emphasized to the media after the victory over St. Edward that the Cardinals' defense was a cohesive unit against an Eagles offense that had its way for most of the season.
As far as the Week 2 matchup with Saint Ignatius on what was another perfect night for football in the Cardinals' Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium, Mentor's defense struggled a bit, especially down the stretch in the eventual 10-point loss to the 'Cats. Saint Ignatius totaled 518 yards of offense.
The Cardinals, who will enter Friday night's regional final averaging nearly 43 points and 485 yards per game, were able to total 411 yards of offense during their annual early season encounter with Saint Ignatius. Those 411 yards included 341 yards and three touchdowns through the air by Tatarunas. Tadas also scored on a 5-yard run. Tatarunas will enter the higher stakes rematch with the Wildcats having passed for 2,812 yards and 28 touchdowns through 12 games.
Along with a key momentum-swinging interception return by savvy and skilled junior safety Danny Scelza just before halftime, a play that Mentor's outstanding Head Coach Steve Trivisonno referred to as the turning point, Saint Ignatius' 41-31 Week 2 victory in Mentor featured 6 receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns by All-Northeast Lakes District first-team senior wide receiver Sammy Snyder, 97 yards and a touchdown rushing by senior tailback/Captain Mark Bobinski, and "Bo being Bo."
Junior tailback Jahadge "Bo" Floyd, in helping the Wildcats eat up valuable time and keep the ball out of Tatarunas' hands, powered his way for 114 yards and a 10-yard scoring run on 22 carries. Jahadge also had a combined reception and run of 29 yards. It was the Varsity debut of the "Bo Show."
That said, Bo Floyd will be the first to tell you that it all started with Saint Ignatius' offensive line, as the men up front clearly won the battle of the trenches versus Mentor in Week 2. Wildcats Hall of Fame Head Coach Mr. Chuck Kyle '69 emphasized how pleased he was with the O-Line's ability to pick up the Cardinals' various blitz packages.
A CASE FOR THE DEFENSE: Along with Danny Scelza's key pick, the other big defensive efforts versus Mentor in Week 2 included the third of what are now six interceptions for first-team All-District senior cornerback Cam Toppin. Cam also turned in six unassisted tackles against the Cardinals and returned four kickoffs for a total of 57 yards.
Tough and talented All-District junior linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, one of the best in all of Ohio, also left an impression on the Mentor staff by making seven solo tackles, including a key sack, and this old gridiron grinder was impressed with the pressure off the edge that Week 2 night that was applied by first-team All-District senior linebacker Logan Joyce.
COACH KYLE ON FRIDAY NIGHT'S REGIONAL FINAL 2017 REMATCH
"A Mentor-Saint Ignatius game can always be an adventure, put it that way," said the man who, along with the record 11 state titles, has guided his Wildcats to two state runner-up finishes (1996 and 2016), a 72-16 record in the OHSAA playoffs, 15 regional championships, three national titles (1989, 1993 and 1995) and a national runner-up in 2008.
"The way the momentum flows, one offense gets on a roll and sometimes it's hard to break that momentum," the Northeast Lakes District's 2017 Division I Coach of the Year said. "With offenses like Mentor, and ours sometimes, there are things that are created by the success of a certain play. Then teams try to adjust to that and it opens up a different play. You're kind of playing a chess game.
"So I think it's always a fun game to play in," continued Coach Kyle. "You look at the attendance. People enjoy the game because it's always pretty exciting. It's also a game where you can get up by 10 points and that's nothing in this game. Ten points is nothing. There is no reason to relax at all, because both teams have a tendency to rally a little bit and go right down the field in a minute, and now you have a ball game. That capability is always there."
Coach Kyle emphasized again how last week's Region 1 semifinals featured four very good football teams - Saint Ignatius, Mentor, Euclid and St. Edward. "I think our region was the toughest and is the toughest this year. From team 1 to team 8, they're all very good football teams. I thought the Mentor-St. Eds game was going to be a real tough game. We've played them both and that is what I would say."
Coach Kyle said what came out of the Mentor-St. Edward game was Mentor's ability to run the ball effectively, that it was a big contribution to Mentor's victory.
"When you play Mentor, you know you have to work on your coverage all week," Coach Kyle pointed out. "But with their running game being effective, it's like what now am I seeing? They can have you on the run. You're trying to concentrate on your coverage and all of sudden a running back is finding some seams and gashing you a little bit."
Mentor's defensive effort versus St. Edward was something Coach Kyle said has to be credited too.
"St. Eds can run the ball and throw the ball, and I think the secondary from Mentor did take some of the passing away. That gave Mentor some good field position. Mentor was able several times to find a short field."
A strong game from his six to seven players up front defensively is what Coach Kyle will be looking for on Friday night. That, and four full quarters of Saint Ignatius football.
If you can't make it out to Bedford for Friday night's game, the golden tones of the Saint Ignatius Broadcast Network will bring it to you live from Bearcat Stadium. And the savvy Jack O'Rourke will be lending his expertise to the broadcast from the sideline.
See you along the sideline of Bedford Bearcat Stadium on Friday night, where I have nothing but great memories of the fine people at Bedford who treated this seasoned reporter with such kindness and hospitality during my Plain Dealer coverage days. Let me say again, Thank You!