Ohio City - With Saturday's first full sessions of contact in the books, Coach Chuck Kyle's football program will resume two-a-days on Monday at 2:30 PM at Wasmer Field.
The Wildcats will be preparing for Tuesday's 10 AM practice/situational drills at Solon High School with Coach Jim McQuaide's Comets.
Coach McQuaide, who this corner holds in high regard, will be looking for his strong and experienced interior lines to show the way this season.
Defensively, the Comets are expected to be led by senior end Brandon Reynolds, a more than capable pass rusher, and junior linebacker John Sensibaugh, whose 130 tackles last year earned him All-Northeast Lakes District honors and a spot on the All-Northeast Ohio Conference first team.
Saint Ignatius will host its first official scrimmage of the summer when the always sound and hard-nosed Twinsburg Tigers visit Wasmer Field on Friday at 10 AM.
HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS FROM SATURDAY'S DOUBLE SESSIONS.
Morning Session
Coach Adam Rini's offensive line appeared to hold the upper hand in the full contact offense versus defense running drills.
Both the first and second units of the O-Line had some solid moments to build off of, as junior tackle Kevin Woidke was engaged in a block that saw him stop a hard-charging safety in his tracks. Junior tackle Jacob Ready also had a couple of nice blocks and junior tight end Dre'Mont Jones put in some strong work as a blocking tight end.
The defense got into a groove as the morning went on, with senior linebacker John Simone and senior cornerbacks Jack Lavelle and Scott Arthrell making their presence felt. Junior safety Derek Smith was ball hawking at every opportunity and senior defensive back Ryan Cooper made a nice move and came up with an interception off a deep route.
Afternoon Session
Lavelle and Arthrell continued their savvy play at the corners and in the full offense versus full defense drill, complete with yardage and first-down markers, senior safety Matt McVey (big-time tackle in the open field), senior defensive lineman Zach Viets, senior middle linebacker John Gibbons and All-Ohio senior outside linebacker Kyle Berger fueled a furious early downs charge.
Senior safety/corner Mike Zupan came up with a perfect-timing pass breakup in the Lorain Avenue end zone and senior defensive back Dan Filuta did the same as he batted away a pass at the Lorain Avenue goal line. Later in the afternoon session, Zupan went stride for stride with the receiver on a deep seam route and tipped the ball away.
Junior defensive end Michael Penn and sophomore linebacker Alex Maruna, brother of senior mainstay Jacob Maruna, also displayed a nose for the ball.
As for the running game, the senior tailback firm of Mike Vitale, Enzo Cannata and Kyle Daugenti put forth some strong second-effort, cut-back runs.
In keeping a third-down play alive, junior quarterback Jake Kucia rolled to his right, found Daugenti crossing in the middle and Kyle made a sure-handed catch and fought his way into the end zone off some clever footwork and tough running.
The sure-handed foursome of seniors Mike Siragusa, Jack Hyland and Nick Fabian, and junior David Shibley, continued to do their thing in the receiving department.
Junior quarterback Christian Klink hooked up with senior wide receiver Bennett Kinzel on a long catch and run for a Lorain Avenue touchdown, and sophomore quarterback Dennis Grosel combined with sophomore wideout Cal Grbac in capping the day with a deep-route touchdown down the left sideline.