As he stood near midfield in Lakewood Stadium Saturday night, Saint Ignatius head football coach Chuck Kyle (’69) put what he had just witnessed in a perspective it deserves.

''Honestly, we’ve had some amazing defensive football games over the years,’’ said Kyle, who has guided the Wildcats to a state-record 21 consecutive playoff appearances and an Ohio-best nine Division I state championships. ''But that one’s going to rank right up there.

''You’re going against Glenville, who’s got weapons galore, and to be able to hold them to one touchdown. We blocked a field goal and we blocked punts. We did some things with the defensive unit that was magnificent.

''That’s going to be ranked up there as one of the great ones.’’

The Wildcats’ Magnificent 11, also known as the Saint Ignatius defense, were great when they had to be as Coach Kyle’s team called on its will time and again in defeating the talent-laden Tarblooders, 8-7, in a Region 1 semifinal playoff game. The tense defensive struggle attracted a standing-room crowd of nearly 10,000.

In avenging a 20-17 opening-night loss to Glenville, the Wildcats improved to 11-1 and advanced to this Saturday’s Region 1 championship game against the Strongsville Mustangs (11-1). Like Saint Ignatius, Strongsville has run off 11 consecutive victories, including an impressive 17-3 triumph over a highly regarded Mentor team in Saturday night’s other Region 1 semifinal.

The Wildcats-Mustangs encounter will take place at Parma’s Byers Field. The kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Byers Field was the site of Strongsville's regional-semifinal victory over Mentor.

Glenville, the top-ranked team in both the Associated Press Division I state poll and The Plain Dealer seven-county poll, closed its season at 11-1. Coach Ted Ginn Sr.’s gifted Tarblooders were making their sixth consecutive postseason appearance and their ninth overall.

''You can hear them now, they’re pretty happy they’re going to be practicing on Monday,’’ said Kyle, as his players faced their fans near the Madison Avenue end zone and sang the Jesuit school’s alma mater. ''That’s all we talked about – you don’t want this thing to end now, you want to be practicing on Monday. And we will.’’

When the 2008 Wildcats and their faithful look back on Saturday night’s game months or even years from now, they will recall so many outstanding efforts from members of the defense and special teams. And, although the offense didn’t find the end zone, they will fondly recall senior Connor Ryan’s highlight-reel, 40-yard reception that helped set up senior Seamus Hennessey’s game-winning 37-yard field goal with 6 minutes, 11 seconds remaining to be played.

Glenville, which held a four-game winning streak over Saint Ignatius, including three playoff victories, was threatening after the Wildcats were forced to punt from their goal line on the game’s first possession. Senior safety and Miami (Ohio) recruit Pat Hinkel had to handle the punting chores after the regular punter – junior backup quarterback Mark Myers – underwent an emergency appendectomy on Saturday. The versatile Hinkel averaged better than 38 yards on seven punts, including kicks of 41, 43, 50 and 51 yards.

On their first possession, the Tarblooders unleashed a balanced attack and drove from the Saint Ignatius 45 to a first-and-10 at the 22. However, on third-and-18 from the 30, junior linebacker Scott McVey sacked Glenville senior quarterback Terrance Owens and the Tarblooders were forced to punt. McVey, one of the outstanding outside linebackers in the state, was a force from the opening kickoff until the final second ticked off the clock.

For 48 minutes, it was truly a team effort by the Wildcats’ defenders, something you must have to hang with a big, fast and athletic Glenville squad. As usual, Ginn Sr.’s team was made up of several major-college prospects.

However, along with that 11-as-one approach by Kyle’s team, there were several individual plays that stood out, including Hinkel’s block of a Tarblooders punt, Hinkel’s touchdown-saving tackle, senior safety Sean Fisher’s block of a 29-yard field-goal attempt by Marvel Brooks, a one-handed blocked punt in the end zone by senior linebacker Seamus Siefring that resulted in a safety, and Hennessey’s 21-yard field goal that extended the Wildcats’ lead to 5-0 entering the second half.

Glenville would have its moments in the final 24 minutes, including a 35-yard touchdown pass from Owens to standout senior wideout/defensive back Mike Edwards with 5:39 left in the third quarter.

The Tarblooders held a 7-5 advantage before Ryan made the all-out extension, sure-handed catch of the 40-yard toss from senior quarterback Andrew Holland. Four plays later, Hennessey was true on his 37-yard kick and the rest, fittingly so, fell in the hands of the Wildcats' defense.

With the game on the line, junior defensive linemen Patrick Dowd and Gerry Ramella sacked Owens for a 6-yard loss on a fourth-and-11 from the Saint Ignatius 31 with 4:18 left.

After forcing a punt, Glenville took possession at its 38 with 2:27 remaining. The Tarblooders made some noise before Siefring ate up a swing pass for a 1-yard loss on third-and-1 from the 47.

Faced with a fourth-and-2 with 1:06 to go, Owens dropped back and, being swarmed under by McVey’s pressure, fired a pass that was intercepted by senior Tommy Hunt, his second interception of the second half. Hunt, like so many of the Wildcats’ defenders, had an outstanding game from his cornerback position.

''Unbelievable, linebackers Scott McVey and Kolin Sullivan are unbelievable players, and it starts up front with (senior nose tackle) Ryan Carr,’’ said Siefring, who preferred to put the focus on his teammates. '''We get there fast and when we get there, we finish them off.’’

Hunt emphasized that when Glenville grabbed the lead in the second half, the defense took it upon itself to make some plays that would get the offense back on track.

''The interceptions, I mean they just came to me and I just made the play on the ball,’’ Hunt said. ''We might not be the fastest guys on the field (as far as 40 times), but we play with technique and a lot of heart.”

The school record for the lowest score in a postseason victory came in 1962, when the late John J. Wirtz guided his Wildcats past Benedictine, 6-0, in the annual Charity Game. It was Saint Ignatius’ first outright city championship in football since 1949 and capped off the program’s first unbeaten and untied season at 10-0. The game attracted a Thanksgiving Day crowd of 35,320 to a frigid Municipal Stadium.