The first time Saint Ignatius and Hudson got together on the gridiron, it was an experience the faithful from Aurora Road in Summit County would just as soon forget.
It was Nov. 16, 1996 and Hudson, 10-1 after upsetting St. Edward in a regional semifinal, was riding high. After all, the victory over the Eagles came in what was the Explorers’ first trip to the Ohio High School Athletic Association football playoffs.
During the week of the Hudson-Saint Ignatius Regional Final, the media coverage was all over what was labeled an “intriguing matchup.” The Explorers had just defeated a St. Edward team that was victorious over Saint Ignatius in Week 8 of the regular season, 12-9, in overtime at Lakewood Stadium.
Former Plain Dealer reporter Pat Galbincea, whose coverage and reporting of high school wrestling has been acknowledged nationally, assisted this corner and our dear friend and colleague, the late Dick “Zip” Zunt ’50, on the coverage of the Saint Ignatius versus Hudson game.
Yes, three reporters assigned to the same game. That is how big The Plain Dealer’s editors anticipated the game being - Hudson, in its first playoff appearance, having the opportunity to defeat the legendary programs from St. Edward and Saint Ignatius in consecutive weekends. A feat, I might add, that Mitch Trubisky and the Mentor Cardinals pulled off during last season’s playoffs. Mentor, of course, was no stranger to the OHSAA postseason.
Little did the Explorers realize that they were off their beaten path when they took Byers Field that Nov. 16th night to face the 8-2, playoff-tested Wildcats, winners of an Ohio-record five consecutive Division I state football championships (1991 through 1995) and seven overall. The ‘Cats currently own the state’s top mark for OHSAA football championships with 11.
As “Galbi” (Galbincea) pointed out quite factually and with a touch of that Galbi humor, this was the night Goliath got his revenge on David.
With All-State senior quarterback Jon Blevins completing 24 of 36 passes for 293 yards and four touchdowns, Saint Ignatius overwhelmed Hudson, 53-12. The Wildcats, after defeating Canton McKinley, 31-24, in the state semifinals, would go on to finish as the Division I state runner-up. Lima Senior turned back the ‘Cats, 38-30, in the championship game.
Now here we are, 17 years later and the Wildcats and the Explorers are meeting for just the second time. And, as it was in 1996, the date will be Nov. 16 for another second-round playoff encounter.
Saint Ignatius (7-4), the 11th seed in the new Division I, Region 1 playoff format, will face third-seeded Hudson (10-1) on Saturday night at Brunswick High School. The kickoff from Judy Kirsch Field will be 7 PM.
If you can’t make it out to Brunswick on Saturday night, the Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network will bring you the game live from Judy Kirsch Field, with Patrick McGuire ’14, Cole Larson ’14 and Carter Spearry ’16 on the call. Time Warner Cable’s SportsChannel will televise the game on a delayed basis at 9:30 PM.
HERE IS CORNER’S PREVIEW ON SATURDAY NIGHT’S MATCHUP WITH THE EXPLORERS, INCLUDING HEAD COACH CHUCK KYLE’S ASTUTE ANALYSIS, FOLLOWED BY THE TOP PERFORMERS FROM LAST WEEKEND’S FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF VICTORY OVER CANTON MCKINLEY.
Ohio City – While a few snowflakes glistened in the lights on Wasmer Field and a cutting wind continued to have its way, the Saint Ignatius Wildcats put the finishing touches on the first “Work Day” of the week. That’s Tuesday for those unfamiliar with the Wildcats’ routine.
The scout team offense did its best impression of the Hudson Explorers, as did the scout team defense in presenting a look as close as possible to that of the Explorers’ defense. Scout teams, my friends, are simply invaluable.
“First of all, Hudson’s really having a good year, a great year,” said Saint Ignatius Head Football Coach Chuck Kyle ’69 of the Explorers, who finished seventh in the final Associated Press Division I state poll. “They’re just an all-around solid team.
"Defensively, some of the guys in their secondary go both ways and there are some young guys back there, but they’re doing a nice job,” Coach Kyle continued. “They come out of a four-man front and they do a lot of slanting. In passing situations they’ll go into a 3-4. Their defensive line has good technique and that slanting and twisting makes it difficult to run the football as far as the blocking schemes.”
As for Hudson’s approach offensively, Coach Kyle didn’t hesitate for a second in mentioning the Explorers’ gifted junior quarterback Mitch Guadagni.
After passing for 26 touchdowns and 2,060 yards as a sophomore, the 6-foot-2 Guadagni has thrown for 22 touchdowns and nearly 2,000 yards this fall. An athlete who can also hurt you with his legs, Guadagni has turned in some highlight-reel performances this season.
In a 42-14 Northeast Ohio Conference victory over Solon, Guadagni passed for 243 yards, rushed for 106 yards and accounted for five touchdowns. Last weekend it was more of the same, as Guadagni produced four touchdowns – two rushing and two passing – in leading the Explorers to an impressive 31-7 victory over 2012 Division I state runner-up Toledo Whitmer in a Region 1 first-round matchup. Guadagni rushed for 151 yards on 18 carries.
Guadagni has a group of sure-handed receivers, including versatile junior Colton Whited, who hauled in two touchdown passes last week. Versatile is the operative word when describing the Explorers’ skilled players as so many of them are called on to be both capable receivers and runners, and to also contribute on the other side of the ball.
Along with Whited, the names Grant Elffers, Jared Ruffing, Ben Hart, Matthew Rightnour and Dean Miller come to mind.
Miller contributes significantly as a receiver, a running back and a special-teams player; Rightnour is an outside linebacker, a tight end, a wide receiver and a running back; Elffers is a defensive end and a tight end; Ruffing is a running back and a receiver and Hart doubles as a linebacker and a running back.
And second-year head coach Ron Wright has other players who are more than willing to explore both offense and defense.
As for Hudson’s interior lines, junior defensive tackle Charles Behal is among the mainstays and senior center Ben Adams and senior guard/tackle Lucas Wilch (6-3, 275) help anchor the offensive line.
Saturday night’s game will feature two All-Ohio kickers in Saint Ignatius senior Matt Colella and Hudson senior Pierce Royster.
“He’s been prolific for them and their receivers catch the ball,” said Coach Kyle of Guadagni and his multi-skilled receiving corps. “They have a nice, all-around football team. They have been down in a couple of games and kept their poise. Their corners also play receiver, so they have a lot of athletes in their secondary."
Among Coach Wright’s defensive leaders is ball-hawking senior free safety John Zuccaro. Of the more than 90 Hudson players who came ready and able this summer, only 16 were seniors. That’s a bright future.
As capable as Guadagni is in his dual threat roles, Coach Kyle was quick to point out that his Wildcats, ranked 10th in the final AP state poll, have faced some outstanding athletes this season at the quarterback position.
Alex Malzone of Brother Rice, David Sills V of Eastern Christian Academy, Conner Krizancic of Mentor and Steven Shanley of Paramus Catholic are at the top of that list.
Saint Ignatius and Hudson had one common opponent this season – the Mentor Cardinals. Mentor handed Hudson its only loss, 38-14, at Mentor in Week 9 and Saint Ignatius is the only team to have defeated Mentor this season, a 26-6 triumph at the Cardinals’ Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium in Week 2.
The winner of the Wildcats-Explorers game will move on to a third-round match up against the winner of Saturday night’s Mentor (10-1) vs. Stow (10-1) game.
PERFORMERS OF THE WEEK
The corner’s honors go out to senior tailback Mike Vitale, who in making his fourth consecutive start since recovering from a toe injury, rushed for 127 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries in the 38-14 victory over Canton McKinley in last weekend’s Division I, Region 1 first-round playoff game at Canton’s Fawcett Stadium.
Also garnering honors this week are senior wide receiver Nick Fabian, who hauled in four passes for 123 yards, including a 55-yard touchdown; senior tailback/punt returner Kyle Daugenti, who swung all of the momentum the Wildcats’ way with a highlight-reel 62-yard punt return for a touchdown; the ‘Cats’ defensive front of senior nose tackle Dan Cartolin, ends Dre’Mont Jones (junior) and Chris Keane (senior) and senior middle linebacker John Gibbons for disrupting most of what McKinley attempted to do offensively and the defensive secondary, which played solid football all night as a unit.
Speaking of Dre’Mont, he now has more big-time programs coveting his gifted skills, including Coach Urban Meyer and The Ohio State University Buckeyes. Dre’ and Coach Meyer had a nice conversation recently.