The Wildcats' outstanding senior tailback rolled a seven and plenty of sixes en route to rewriting almost an entire section of Saint Ignatius' record books.

Lakewood, Ohio – As tough, talented and tenacious as Tim McVey is on the field, he is even classier, more humble and more respectful off of the gridiron.

Saturday night in a Division I, Region 1 semifinal at storied Lakewood Stadium, Saint Ignatius’ gifted senior tailback put on a performance that ranks right up there with the greatest in the rich football history at Cleveland’s Jesuit Preparatory School.

“I give all of the credit to my offensive line, they did a phenomenal job tonight,” said McVey, who scored a single-game, school-record seven touchdowns, all in the first half, as the Wildcats thoroughly dominated North Royalton, 56-0, and ended what was the most successful season in the Bears’ football history. Coach Nick Ciulli’s team finished 10-2 and brought home the school’s first playoff victory in football by defeating previously undefeated Willoughby South in last week’s regional quarterfinals.

“I couldn’t ask for better guys,” McVey continued in reference to his partners up front – senior center Steve Franko, senior guards Mike Cray and Ian McDonald, senior tackle Mike Bigach and junior tackles Jim Byrne and Ryan Dadich. “They opened up the holes and all I had to do was make the proper reads and run the plays as they were designed.”

Fueled by McVey’s night to cherish, a first half that also saw him become the Wildcats’ all-time single season touchdown leader (35), career touchdown leader (57) and season (210) and career (342) points leader, Saint Ignatius improved to 11-1 and advanced to next Saturday’s Region 1 championship game at site to be determined by the Ohio High School Athletic Association on Sunday. The ‘Cats’ opponent will be the high-powered Mentor Cardinals (11-1), who ran off 28 unanswered points and eliminated previously unbeaten St. Edward, 63-56, in Saturday night’s Region 1 semifinal at Byers Field. Saint Ignatius defeated the Cardinals, 48-21, in Week 3 of the regular season at Byers Field.

Next Saturday’s game will mark the 17th regional-final appearance by Saint Ignatius. Coach Chuck Kyle’s teams are 14-2 in regional-final play. En route to last season’s record “Eleven in ‘11” state championship, the Wildcats edged Mentor, 23-17, in the Region 1 title game at Lakewood Stadium.

As for Saturday night’s near-perfect performance in front of a crowd of 7,200 at Lakewood Stadium, Saint Ignatius set the tempo with a defense that was nothing less than overpowering – first and second units.

Faced with a third-and-9 from his 47-yard line, Bears standout senior quarterback Travis Tarnowski dropped back to pass and was greeted by heavy pressure from senior end and Boston College recruit Kevin Kavalec and rock-steady senior linebacker C.J. Haag. The 6-3, 240-pound Kavalec, a first-team All-Ohio selection in 2011, batted the ball in the air and, in one motion, jumped up, grabbed the pigskin and rambled to the North Royalton 27.

Five plays later, McVey powered his way over the right side for a 6-yard touchdown run and after junior Matt Colella booted the first of his eight extra points, the Wildcats led, 7-0, with 8 minutes and 22 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Tarnowski, who fueled the Bears’ offense all season by producing 3,500 yards and 40 touchdowns, couldn’t solve Saint Ignatius’ defense.

As Kavalec put it, North Royalton not only couldn’t deal with the Wildcats up front – Kavalec, senior end Matt Gawlik, senior nose tackle Dave Katusha and linebackers, Haag, Kyle Berger, Nick Chapek and Brett Bendokaitis – but had not seen “defensive backs like we have.”

Saint Ignatius’ active secondary of senior cornerback Tommy Fanning, junior corner Scott Arthrell, senior safety/linebacker Zak Baker, senior safety Mike Gibbons, junior safety Dameon Willis Jr., senior free safety Bryan Fisher (an interception and nearly two more) and junior cornerback Jack Lavelle smothered Tarnowski’s receivers all night. The Bears, who were averaging 39 points a game, managed just 75 yards of offense and started most of their drives at their own 20 because of Colella’s kickoffs that sailed in and out of the end zone.

“We ran into a buzz saw,” said Ciulli, who is one of the outstanding young head coaches in Ohio. “They controlled us up front on both sides of the ball.”

That buzz just kept on ringing to the tune of six more touchdowns by McVey in the first half, efforts of 6, 3, 3, 35, 2 and 8 yards. The 35-yard effort saw McVey power up the middle, bounce outside, juke a tackler, overpower another defensive back and outrace the pursuit with a combination of speed and balance.

“It opened up with a great seam that made my way down field, it was right there,” said McVey of the 35-yarder. McVey said he has always looked up to Eric Haddad ’94, a two-time All-Ohio tailback for the Wildcats whose records McVey broke Saturday night. “I give all respect to him. Watching him on film, he was like a man amongst boys.”

Haddad still holds one significant record that McVey can shoot for – the 1,903 yards Eric rushed for in Saint Ignatius’ state and national championship season of 1993. With his 132 yards on 18 carries (all in the first half) on Saturday night, Tim now has 1,457 yards rushing on the season. Of course the Wildcats will have to play a few more games for that to happen, but then that’s the goal.

Along with McVey’s record pace, Coach Kyle ’69 was treated to the tough and sure-handed receiving of juniors Jack Hyland and Mike Siragusa and seniors Conor Hennessey and Rocky Zingale, and the passing of senior southpaw quarterback Mike LaManna. Hyland grabbed four passes for 70 yards, Siragusa had five catches for 77 yards and LaManna was 17-of-25 through the air for 225 yards.

“Offensively and defensively, the determination was there,” said Coach Kyle, who in the second half got some strong second-effort running by junior tailbacks Mike Vitale (a 7-yard TD run), Kyle Daugenti and Enzo Cannata, and senior tailbacks Dan Way and Jacob Anderson, a nice pass and catch from junior quarterback Pete Mahoney to senior wideout Ray O’Brien and some impressive defensive play from junior middle linebacker John Gibbons, senior linebacker Kevin Smith, junior lineman Chris Keane, senior nose tackle Max Baughman and junior defensive back Jacob Maruna.

“You got to be hungry at this point and go at it,” Coach Kyle continued. “I was telling the North Royalton coaches, ‘You guys caught us at the wrong time.’ We were on fire tonight.”

As always, the corner will preview next Saturday’s Saint Ignatius-Mentor regional championship game on Tuesday night.