Ohio City – For the players who comprised Saint Ignatius’ 2012 freshman football team, the sting of Thursday's 14-7 loss to an unbeaten St. Edward squad will linger for a few days.

However, as tough as the one-that-got-away setback on Wasmer Field was, the Wildcats can hold their heads high with the knowledge that they are a group of young men who have endless potential.

Simply put, Saint Ignatius’ faithful are going to become quite familiar with the skills these freshmen possess, as they continue to make their mark on the next levels.

In what was a tale of two halves, the ‘Cats’ freshmen dominated the first half, but only held a 7-0 lead at halftime.

After forcing St. Edward to punt from its end zone, Saint Ignatius took possession at the Eagles’ 38-yard line. Six plays later, wide receiver Cal Grbac, who had an outstanding game for the Wildcats, combined with quarterback Dennis Grosel on a 15-yard touchdown pass in the left corner of the Lorain Avenue end zone and, after Ryan Berger’s extra-point kick, Saint Ignatius led, 7-0, with 2 minutes and 21 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

With its defense - fueled by end Tito Vazquez and linebackers Benjamin Cray, Alex Maruna and George Asadorian, to name a few - answering every challenge in the first half, Saint Ignatius was knocking on the door with good field position throughout the first two quarters.

However, turnovers raised their ugly head at the most inopportune times and the Wildcats could never get that distance you need in a game that matched two of the premier freshman football programs in Ohio.

“We wanted to attack them vertically,” said Saint Ignatius head freshman coach Rodney Galloway, who emphasized to his players that they will have other memorable games with St. Edward over the next three years. “We knew we had the advantage there (vertically) and they knew it, too. They started bracketing our guys with double coverage and we still got over the top of them. We just didn’t deliver the football at times and there were some deflected passes off the pass rush. That’s the way football goes sometimes.

“Give credit to all of these guys,” Coach Galloway continued. “I had goose bumps before the game and even after the game, because these guys really worked hard. This week, the prep was the best we had all season. You could see that maturation process and you just know that come next year, they are going to be a very good football team. This team, from what we’ve seen, could contribute to the varsity next year.”

St. Edward, which entered Thursday night’s game having yielded just six points on the season, won the battle of field position in the third quarter. After forcing Saint Ignatius to punt from its end zone, the Eagles grabbed the momentum behind the hard-nosed running of tailback Cole Gest, efforts that set up a touchdown reception by wide receiver Antonio Butler with just over three minutes left in the third quarter.

Despite some more gritty efforts by the Wildcats’ defense, including two outstanding stops on fourth down in Saint Ignatius territory, St. Edward rode cornerback Joe DeBarr’s third interception on the night and an impressive 57-yard touchdown gallop by Gest to victory. Gest’s game-winner came with 2:19 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Wildcats, after a tough sideline catch by Grbac, were threating late at the Eagles’ 37.

It wasn’t to be, however, as on fourth-and-10 from its 37 St. Edward came up with a sack and then ran out the clock behind Gest.

“For me personally, this was the most fun I had coaching,” said Coach Galloway, who completed his fourth season as the Wildcats’ freshman coach and his fifth overall. “These guys do it right. They know how to play the game and they have fun doing it. They bring joy to you. And this wasn’t even the full complement (because of key injuries).