It’s a touch of class complemented by tons of talent and intense efforts - Saint Ignatius versus
Mentor, Chapter 16.
Note: If you can’t make it out to Mentor on Friday for the 7 PM kickoff, the thrill-some threesome of Cole Larson ’14, Patrick McGuire ’14 and Carter Spearry ’16 will bring you the action live over the Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network.
The game will also be broadcast live over WHK AM-1420, with Ed Daugherty on the play by play and Mike Gibbons ’70 as the analyst.
SportsTime Ohio will be televising the game on a tape-delay basis at 11 PM, as the veteran 1-2 punch of Jeff Phelps and Frank Stams will bring you everything that takes place under the Friday Night Lights in Mentor.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright September 2013
Ohio City – In a time when references to separate playoffs and “competitive balance” appear in
preseason stories more frequently than players and teams to watch, Saint Ignatius and Mentor continue to do their thing.
Imagine that, two of the perennial area powers, one a Catholic School and the other a Public School, have developed one of the healthiest football rivalries in the state, if not the entire nation.
And, as Mentor’s highly successful head coach Steve Trivisonno emphasized last season, as long as he and Saint Ignatius’ Chuck Kyle ’69 remain at their respective schools, the Cardinals and the Wildcats will continue to play on all levels – freshman, junior varsity and varsity.
“It’s just good, quality football,” said Coach Kyle, who will lead his Wildcats (0-1) against the
Cardinals (1-0) on Friday night at 7 in Mentor’s Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium. Mentor and Saint Ignatius enter the game ranked first and fourth, respectively, in the weekly cleveland.com seven-county Top 25 poll.
“First of all, coaching wise it just challenges you to the max, trying to work against their offense, their defense and their good kicking game, and I think we reflect that too,” Coach Kyle continued in reference to the Wildcats-Cardinals rivalry. “For a coach, that makes you better. It makes you work harder to find the answers.
“The players know they are going to be in a game that, wow, for 48 minutes, fast paced with plays
after plays being made,” Coach Kyle said. “It’s a playoff caliber game and I think it is extremely important to have some of that in your schedule. I look at our schedule this year and we have a lot of it. But I think that is one thing Steve (Coach Trivisonno) would say, to beat a team like Saint Ignatius you have to play them some.”
Although the Wildcats lead their all-time series with the Cardinals, 10-5, Mentor has won three of
the last five meetings. And there is no question that the most memorable Mentor triumph over Saint Ignatius was last season’s 57-56 triple-overtime victory in the Division I, Region 1 championship game on Parma’s Byers Field in Robert M. Boulton Stadium. The Cardinals won it on a 2-yard run by quarterback Mitch Trubisky and the ensuing 2-point conversion pass from Trubisky to his 6-foot-5 All-Ohio receiver Brandon Fritts.
Trubisky, one of the top five high school quarterbacks this old-timer has ever seen, finished his
brilliant career at Mentor as Greater Cleveland’s all-time passing leader (9,126 yards and 92 touchdowns). Mitch is furthering his education and football career on scholarship at North Carolina and will be joined there next year by Fritts, as the multi-skilled senior receiver has given the Tar Heels a verbal commitment.
“The receivers,” Saint Ignatius’ gifted 6-3 senior wideout Mike Siragusa said without hesitating for a second, when asked what he respects most about the 2013 version of the Mentor Cardinals. “They’re great receivers,” Mike continued in reference to Fritts, the versatile and talented 6-2 senior Conner Krizancic and the elusive Corey Plavcan. “They lost a few players on defense, but they are strong with great coaching. All-around, they’re a good team that will be tough to beat. It will be a dogfight.”
Krizancic, who has accepted a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati as a wide receiver, was
the Cardinals’ starting quarterback in last weekend’s 44-30 victory over visiting Erie (Pa.) McDowell. Despite battling arm soreness, Krizancic was 8-of-10 passing for 62 yards and a touchdown. After moving to his familiar wideout spot, Krizancic caught five passes for 68 yards and two touchdowns.
Highlighting Mentor’s victory over McDowell, which saw the Cardinals rally from an early
16-0 deficit, was sophomore quarterback Matt Eisworth. Alternating with Krizancic, Eisworth made a varsity debut that most young signal-callers can only dream about – 10 of 22 through the air for five touchdowns and 157 yards. Saint Ignatius’ coaching staff expects to see a combination of Eisworth and Krizancic at quarterback on Friday night, with Krizancic again doubling as a wide
receiver.
“Fundamentally, it’s just really good football,” Coach Kyle said of the now storied Cardinals-Wildcats series. “And crowds respond. They’ll come to see a football game like this.”
In emphasizing what a great sense the Mentor players have of their passing game and how well the
Cardinals work together in executing it, Coach Kyle also pointed to Coach Trivisonno’s complementary part – junior tailback Eddie Daugherty, who kept McDowell’s defense off balance by rushing for 133 yards on 13 carries.
As was the case last season, when Mentor rallied to a 34-27 victory at McDowell, the Cardinals
had problems with the Trojans’ triple-option running game in last weekend’s opener. After rushing for 450 yards against the Mentor D in 2012, McDowell totaled 336 yards on the ground last Friday night.
In discussing the Cardinals’ defense, Coach Kyle was quick to refer to Coach Trivisonno’s
standout defensive end Kent Berger (Ohio University verbal) and the quickness that Mentor’s safeties possess.
“They’re going to give us a 4 look, but also blending in a 3-4, too,” Coach Kyle said of the
Cardinals’ defensive fronts. “They know we like to throw the football.”
Running the football more is something Coach Kyle and his staff would like to do on Friday
night.
In defeating Saint Ignatius, 29-20, in Saturday’s opener in Detroit, Brother Rice controlled
the clock, to say the least, and, until the final two minutes, was able to maintain a two-score lead over the Wildcats. The Warriors’ time of possession surpassed 42 minutes, while Saint Ignatius had the ball for less than six minutes – 5:44 to be exact. Brother Rice racked up 417 yards of offense,
including 284 yards through the air by impressive junior quarterback Alex Malzone and a balanced running game that produced 133 yards.
“We averaged seven yards per carry,” Coach Kyle said of the Wildcats’ ground game. “But we were down by two scores in the fourth quarter and had to throw.”
Although they didn’t get many opportunities because of the deficits Saint Ignatius faced and
the great job Brother Rice did chewing up the clock, the Wildcats’ running backs had some impressive moments.
Senior tailback Enzo Cannata rushed for 68 yards on five carries and senior tailback Mike
Vitale picked up 22 yards on five carries, including a 5-yard touchdown run that cut the deficit to 27-20 with 2:05 remaining. Senior tailback Kyle Daugenti had a strong kickoff return of 33 yards and promising sophomore tailback James Norris returned a kick 36 yards.
No, it wasn’t one of the Wildcats’ better days on defense and they will be the first ones to
tell you that. However, senior safety/linebacker Dameon Willis Jr. finished with 10 tackles, veteran senior cornerback Scott Arthrell had nine tackles and an interception in the end zone, and senior safety Dan Jamieson made his presence felt throughout the afternoon.
“I think the (Brother Rice) game was kind of a wakeup call, we underestimated them,” said
Siragusa, who emphasized that Malzone was outstanding for Brother Rice. “Now that we have a loss under our belt, we’re here focused and ready for our next opponent. We’re just all business from here on out.”
****JUST A REMINDER THAT COACH RYAN FRANZINGER’S JUNIOR VARSITY WILDCATS WILL OPEN THEIR 2013 SEASON AGAINST MENTOR’S JAYVEES ON SATURDAY AT 10 AM ON WASMER FIELD.