As we reported yesterday (Saturday) on the corner, Coach Chuck Kyle '69 will guide his Saint Ignatius Football Wildcats into a 25th OHSAA playoff appearance when the 6-4 Wildcats travel to legendary Canton Fawcett Stadium this coming Saturday night to take on the 9-1 McKinley Bulldogs. The kickoff will be 7 PM.

McKinley earned the sixth seed in Region 1 and the 'Cats garnered the 11th seed. Under the OHSAA's new two-region playoff format in Division 1, the top 16 teams in each region earned a playoff spot, with the top eight in each region awarded a home game in the first round.

Saint Ignatius' 25 playoff appearances have all come under the guidance of Coach Kyle. The first playoff appearance in 1988 began a run of what is now an Ohio-record, 11 big-school state championships.

Here is a comment from Coach Kyle on No. 25.

"The nice thing about is that we played hard the whole year," Coach Kyle said of a demanding schedule that was both preceded and accompanied by numerous key injuries, injuries that would have devastated a lot of programs, both mentally and physically.

"Certainly we've had our share (the injuries), but you can't let that get to you mentally," Coach Kyle continued. "You have to brush that off and play. Come on, next guy up. We've trained, we've worked, we know what we're doing. Let's go out there and get it done. And we've done a pretty good job of that.

"Looking at our schedule, I think it's ranked as one of the hardest in the state for sure, if not the hardest," said Coach Kyle. "So now we're in the playoffs and it's 0-0."

****Although we did whet your appetite in last night's game story with a little Saint Ignatius-McKinley history, the corner will provide an in-depth preview of Saturday night's match up with Bulldogs on Tuesday night. Tuesday's preview will include some of the corner's most memorable moments in covering and reporting on the Saint Ignatius-McKinley football rivalry, which stands at 10-6 in favor of the Wildcats, including 10-4 under Coach Kyle.

AND, for one of our devoted readers and one of Saint Ignatius' biggest fans - Mr. "How are things on the West Coast?" Teglas, who asks, "What's next if the Wildcats are successful against McKinley?" The answer is the winner of the Toledo Whitmer at Hudson first-round game. That second-round match up would take place on Nov. 16 at a site to be determined. One week at a time, my friend, one week at a time.

Great hearing from you Mr. T. Hey, I saw your USC Trojans play at Oregon State on Friday night over ESPN and I must say that is the best they've looked since the Pete Carroll era. I knew Pat Haden would eventually see the Kiffin light.