With Tim McVey scoring three of his four touchdowns, the Wildcats, trailing 21-6 with 11:09 remaining in the third quarter, run off 26 unanswered points and defeat the Bombers, 32-21, in the battle for the Cannon Bell. Led by Kyle Berger, Matt Gawlik, Kevin Kavalec and Tommy Fanning, Saint Ignatius' defense hangs tough when things were going south.
The junior varsity Wildcats also defeat St. Xavier, 14-6, soccer is victorious over Lincoln-West, 9-0, in a sectional final and the cross country team runs to a district championship at Strongsville.
Here is the varsity football story, followed by the JV football, cross country and soccer recaps.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright October 2012
Cincinnati, Ohio - As he stood along the visitor’s sideline on Ballaban Field late Saturday afternoon, Saint Ignatius’ gifted senior tailback Tim McVey spoke first of the team he and his teammates had just defeated and then turned to what was one of the most dramatic comebacks in the Wildcats’ rich football history.
“We know that they are a great team, they’re a great team every year,” said McVey after he scored three of his four touchdowns in the final 13 minutes and helped fuel a rally that saw Saint Ignatius score the game’s final 26 points and turn back St. Xavier, 32-21, in a state-wide Week 9 headliner.
“We never give up, that’s how we work,” McVey continued. “At Saint Ignatius, we know that we have each other all of the time. We weren’t going to let each other fall down. We’re going to pick up ourselves every time and fight until we’re done.”
The Wildcats (9-0), who entered the game ranked No. 1 in both the Associated Press Division I state poll and The Plain Dealer’s seven-county Top 25 poll, had to fight and claw their way back into a game that their Jesuit school rival from the Queen City needed so badly.
Playing what Saint Ignatius’ legendary head coach Chuck Kyle (299-67-1) described as the toughest schedule in Ohio, the St. Xavier Bombers (5-4) now find themselves with their backs against the wall as far as the postseason playoffs in Division I are concerned.
Under the OHSAA Harbin playoff system, the top eight teams in each of the state’s 24 regions following next weekend’s final regular season games will move on to the regional quarterfinals and the top four in each region will host a regional quarterfinal game.
While defending big-school state champion Saint Ignatius, a winner of a record 11 Ohio Division I titles, has already clinched a playoff spot and a first-round home game in Region 1, two-time state champ St. Xavier finds itself in 10th place in Region 4.
Although not mathematically eliminated yet, the Bombers are in need of some help.
And, on a cloudy, cold, wet and yet sometimes sunny afternoon in St. Xavier Stadium, they played like a team whose season might be on the line.
Taking advantage of the Wildcats’ first shaky stretch in an otherwise near flawless season, the Bombers increased a 7-6 halftime lead to 21-6 with the third quarter not a minute old.
Saint Ignatius, which would go on to win its 15th consecutive game, took a 6-0 lead on a 4-yard run by McVey with 7 minutes and 48 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Wildcats missed the ensuing extra point, however, and would go on to miss two field goals and commit some uncharacteristic turnovers in the first half and early in the third quarter.
It was only the spirited and aggressive effort by Coach Kyle’s defense, a unit keyed by the relentless pursuit of junior linebacker Kyle Berger that kept it a one-point game by halftime after St. Xavier took a 7-6 lead on a 3-yard pass from 6-foot-4 junior quarterback Nick Tensing to sophomore wide receiver Ronnie Frickie and the ensuing extra point by senior Aaron Berry.
St. Xavier, which still leads its all-time series with Saint Ignatius, 10-9, appeared to be taking control right out of the gate in the second half. Receiving the kickoff, the Bombers needed just one play and 12 seconds to increase their advantage. It came courtesy of an 80-yard pass from Tensing to senior wideout Robbie Reis.
Less than thirty nine seconds later, Saint Ignatius turned the ball over deep in its territory and St. Xavier turned another miscue into Tensing’s third touchdown pass – a 9-yard toss to junior wide receiver Ryan Frey. Frey finished with six receptions for 101 yards and Tensing was 21-of-34 for 237 yards. He was sacked eight times.
With all of the momentum riding with the home team, Coach Chuck Kyle and his staff watched the Wildcats pull themselves together and ride what McVey described as “the heart that Saint Ignatius has.”
Playing with the heart of an 11-time state champ and a three-time national champion, the Wildcats climbed back in the game on a 46-yard scoring pass from senior southpaw quarterback Mike LaManna to gritty and sure-handed senior wide receiver Rocky Zingale. Rock grabbed the pass in the middle of the field, cut across to the left sideline and outran the pursuit into the corner of the end zone.
Trailing, 21-12, with 3:10 left in the third quarter, Saint Ignatius began to take control of both lines of scrimmage, LaManna found his timing and wide receivers coach Josiah “Juice” Kedzior ’04 was smiling again as his receiving corps of senior Conor Hennessey, Zingale and juniors Mike Siragusa and Jack Hyland were coming up with the tough, sure-handed catches he and the Wildcats' faithful had grown accustomed to. Siragusa grabbed 10 passes for 123 yards.
With the “Chairmen of the Board,” as this old-timer likes to refer to senior defensive linemen Kevin Kavalec, Matt Gawlik and Dave Katusha, joining Berger in creating relentless pressure up front and senior cornerback Tommy Fanning, junior cornerback Scott Arthrell, senior safeties Mike Gibbons and Bryan Fisher and junior safety Dameon Willis Jr. playing solid coverage, the defense regained control and McVey and the offensive line did the rest.
McVey, a University at Buffalo recruit, ripped off touchdown runs of 14, 1 and 6 yards and the Bombers’ emotional explosion that was set off early in the second half began to fizzle. The ‘Cats, in the words of McVey, wore St. Xavier down “as a team.”
Tim now has 48 career touchdowns and is just four TDs shy of breaking the Wildcats’ all-time mark of 51 set by Saint Ignatius Hall of Famer Eric Haddad ’94.
“Everyone filled their roll,” said Berger, who was in on 13 tackles, including seven tackles for losses and four sacks, and helped set up one of McVey’s second-half TD sealers by leaping in the air and tipping a pass that was intercepted by a diving Arthrell. “We talked all week about stepping up and doing our jobs. And that is what everyone did today. We blitzed and just kept going at them. I didn’t want to let my teammates down.”
Coach Kyle, who could win his 300th career game when the Wildcats face rival St. Edward (9-0) in a matchup of the state’s No. 1 and No. 2 Division I teams on Saturday night at Byers Field, said his team had its share of mistakes against St. Xavier.
“But the kids have to realize that those things are going to happen and we’ll work on fixing those mistakes,” Coach Kyle said. “The kids kept their faith in what we are doing. Those first two minutes of the third quarter were a nightmare and so we had to settle down. Steve Specht (Bombers head coach) will cover you and defend you better than anyone. You take any point you can against them.
“I’ll tell you, Kyle (Berger) is an explosive big-play guy,” Coach Kyle continued. “He can rush the quarterback and that’s an understatement. He can go, he’s an athlete and you guys know that he can run people down.”
By The Numbers: The Wildcats' defense limited St. Xavier to 29 yards rushing and the offense was busy in racking up more than 400 yards, as Saint Ignatius ran 101 plays, not counting the final kneel-down victory formation.
IT WAS A CASE FOR THE DEFENSE AS THE JV ‘CATS DEFEAT THE BOMBERS’ JAYVEES, 14-6
After the Wildcats rode touchdown runs by tailbacks Enzo Cannata and Kyle Daugenti to a 14-3 halftime lead, with Daugenti galloping 35 yards over the right side, Coach Ryan Franzinger ’02 called on his defense to do the rest.
Saint Ignatius’ defense, which has been the major key that has opened the door to six consecutive victories, came up with numerous big plays throughout the Saturday morning encounter at St. Xavier.
Lineman Dre’Mont Jones, Michael Penn and Mike Profancik applied the pressure up front, linebackers Brady Wells and Bob Zavagno were pursuing and pressuring throughout the game, with Wells turning in an exceptional performance, safeties Evan O’Malley and Derek Smith made their presence felt and cornerback Ryan Cooper was in lock-down mode in the secondary.
Along with the efforts of Cannata and Daugenti, the offense got some timely receiving by David Shibley and Jaylin McDonald. Shibley picked up some tough yards after the catch.
“He had the best game of any defender all season,” said Coach Franzinger of Wells’ all-over-the-field efforts. “The defense played with a lot of intensity and the offense played with intensity, but it was negated a little bit by the mistakes at costly times. But sometimes two touchdowns against St. Xavier is one of the toughest things to do and the defense holding them to two field goals is a heck of a job.
“I was curious to see how they would respond to the road trip,” Coach Franzinger continued. “We’re thankful to the Xavier families for hosting us. When you talk about this team, you talk about progress. Beating Xavier is a nice gage to see where you are.”
The Wildcats’ junior varsity (7-2) will close its season when it faces St. Edward’s junior varsity on Saturday morning at 10 on Wasmer Field.
SIMPLY AWESOME: The Saint Ignatius Wildcats, ranked second to St. Xavier in the coaches’ state cross country poll, dominated the field at the Strongsville District. The Wildcats’ harriers scored 24 points to 77 for runner-up Strongsville. Joe Arquillo, Jack Miller and Luke Wagner showed the way by finishing 2-3-4, respectively.
SOCCER ‘CATS TOO MUCH FOR THE WOLVERINES: Nick Taljan and Pat Jeffries combined for five goals in leading the Wildcats to a 9-0 victory over Lincoln-West in a sectional final of the University Heights District that was played on Wasmer Field Saturday afternoon. The second-seeded ‘Cats (14-0-3) will now face the Patriots from Valley Forge in a district semifinal on Wednesday night at 7 on Wasmer Field. Valley Forge advanced by defeating rival Normandy, 2-1, in a shootout.