The Wildcats improve to 1-1 on the young season by playing RELENTLESS DEFENSE, controlling both lines of scrimmage and displaying a balanced offensive attack that was fueled by the arm of senior quarterback John Thomas (two touchdown passes), the sure hands of senior receivers Mike Siragusa, Jack Hyland and Nick Fabian and the tough, and oh so effective running of tailbacks Mike Vitale, Enzo Cannata and Kyle Daugenti, a.k.a. Coach Terry Fergus' Italian Stallions.

There were heroes galore on the defensive side for Coach Kyle's 'Cats, among them seniors Dameon Willis Jr., Chris Keane, John Gibbons, Dan Cartolin and Matt McVey, and junior Dre'Mont Jones.

"Together, passionate, executing, that's one love right there. We were one tonight and came together as a unit." - Dameon Willis Jr. on Saint Ignatius' exceptional defensive effort, an effort that included six sacks.

MENTOR, OHIO - Saint Ignatius’ storied head football coach Chuck Kyle ’69 said his team had to come back from disappointment.

An opening-day loss to Michigan power Brother Rice in Detroit last weekend left some of the Wildcats’ most avid followers questioning the future of the 2013 ‘Cats.

Yes, Saint Ignatius experienced two major injuries in preseason that saw talented senior quarterback and Captain Pete Mahoney and All-Ohio senior linebacker and Ohio State recruit Kyle Berger sidelined for the
entire year.

Excuses, however, will never be offered by one of the premier coaches in the nation.

Instead, the Wildcats, as they have done so many times during their record-setting OHSAA state championship run, went back to work on Labor Day morning and focused their attention on the area’s top-ranked Mentor Cardinals.

“Wow, a tremendous job on their part,” Coach Kyle said of his players after they controlled the high-powered, offensive-minded Cardinals, 26-6, on Friday night in what was Northeast Ohio’s high school football
headliner.

“We didn’t play well in Detroit and all of us knew it,” Coach Kyle continued. “To come back tonight and do this, play a really great game and hold Mentor to six points. I don’t think I could have dreamed that. But, I guess it happened. The defensive kids did such a great job.”

In a relatively short period of time, Mentor and Saint Ignatius have developed a spirited rivalry. It is arguably the best Public School versus Catholic School match up Northeast Ohio has to offer.

Over the past two seasons, the Wildcats and the Cardinals split memorable OHSAA Division I, Region 1 championship game encounters and, although the Cardinals now trail the all-time series, 11-5, they entered a packed Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium on Friday night having won three of their previous five match ups with the ‘Cats.

Saint Ignatius, ranked fourth in the seven-county area by cleveland.com, had its faithful roaring in the first quarter after strong-armed senior quarterback John Thomas found gifted senior wide receiver Mike Siragusa
open down the middle seam for a 64-yard touchdown pass. The extra point attempt was botched and the Wildcats led, 6-0, with 1 minute and 14 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

Mentor, cleveland.com’s top-ranked team, answered with a 70-yard touchdown run from one of its premier athletes, senior quarterback/wide receiver Conner Krizancic. The Cardinals also failed to execute on their
extra-point attempt and the score was tied at 6 with eight seconds left in the first quarter.

Those six points by Krizancic were the last the Cardinals and their strong fan support would see on what was a perfect football weather night in Lake County, as Saint Ignatius’ defense, both up front and in the secondary, had all of the answers from the second quarter on.

And Coach Kyle’s offense, under the direction of veteran coordinator Nick Restifo, continued to turn to a balanced offense that featured the hard-nosed running of seniors Mike Vitale, Enzo Cannata and Kyle Daugenti, the authoritative release of Thomas, the hands and route running of senior captain Jack Hyland and the powerful leg of 2012 Associated Press All-Ohio kicker Matt Colella.

The Wildcats, with senior defensive linemen Chris Keane and Dan Cartolin, senior middle linebacker John Gibbons, junior defensive end Dre'Mont Jones and multi-skilled senior defensive back Dameon Willis Jr. making themselves at home in the Mentor backfield, held a 16-6 lead at halftime. Those 10 second-quarter points came courtesy of a 21-yard field goal by Colella, a 16-yard TD strike from Thomas to Hyland that saw Hyland execute his skinny post route to perfection and JT put the ball where it needed to be, and the ensuing extra point by Colella.

Colella’s 47-yard field goal, a clutch reception by senior wideout Nick Fabian and a down the stretch, clock-eating ground game that was highlighted by Cannata’s 3-yard touchdown sweep around the right side with 2:14 left sealed the deal for the team from Ohio City and left both the Wildcats and the Cardinals standing 1-1 entering Week 3.

Cannata, who this corner would refer to as “Enzo the Touchdown Maker” during his frequent and high percentage scoring jaunts for the junior varsity team in 2011, led the solid ground game with 110 yards on 23 carries. Vitale finished with 85 yards on 15 carries.

Thomas, the SportsTime Ohio Player of the Game, threw for 209 yards as Saint Ignatius racked up more than 400 yards of offense.

“We wanted to close out the first half strong and finish strong,” Cannata said. “We knew we were going to run it heavy in the second half. The offensive line stepped up and created huge holes and the same with Stan (senior fullback Stan Elad). He was blowing up the outside linebacker and giving me an opening. There were key blocks the whole game.

“We have three Italians in the backfield, we’ll take care of business,” Cannata added.

One of the other key factors in Friday night’s impressive defensive effort by the Wildcats was the tight coverage applied by Willis Jr. on Mentor’s 6-foot-5 All-Ohio senior receiver and North Carolina recruit
Brandon Fritts.

“I get my strength from my coaches and my teammates,” said the 6-1, 218-pound Willis Jr. “From time to time a play is going to break down. But you have to remain confident, get back into it and keep fighting. I’ve been watching film on Saint Ignatius versus Mentor and no one wanted to press him (Fritts). I knew I was going to get in his back pocket and stay there all night.”

Up next for the Wildcats is next Saturday’s home game versus Erie (Pa.) Strong Vincent. The kickoff from Parma’s Byers Field will be 7 PM.