At this time last year, Oct. 15 to be exact, the Saint Ignatius Wildcats traveled to Athol Springs, New York for a Week 8 game against the Red Raiders from St. Francis.
As Coach Chuck Kyle ’69 and his Wildcats got off the buses that dreary Saturday evening, they were greeted by cold temperatures, persistent rain and winds gusts that would eventually increase to nearly 50 mph by the 7 p.m. kickoff. The winds were so strong that one of the light posts in St. Francis Field was tilting from side to side. Bending might be a better word.
Despite deplorable conditions that made passing and kicking the football an adventure, St. Francis, behind touchdown runs of 41 and 24 yards by tailback Akeel Lynch (now at Penn State), led, 14-0, at halftime.
Saint Ignatius, looking to secure another playoff spot in Region 1, rallied behind touchdown passes from Eric Williams (currently the starting quarterback at Yale) to Conor Hennessey and Jake Mooney ’12, and came away with a 21-20 overtime victory when tailback Tim McVey scored on a 3-yard run and Tim Shenk (now at the Air Force Academy) defied Mother Nature’s assault and knifed the ensuing extra point through her powerful gusts.
It was a game that those in attendance will never forget, a game that years from now thousands of more fans will claim they were there to see the Gales of November come early to Lake Shore Road in Athol Springs.
Yes, it was a memorable encounter. But that was last season and, as far as the 2012 St. Francis Red Raiders and their faithful are concerned, the saying “What a difference a year makes” is ringing oh so true.
After going toe-to-toe with a Saint Ignatius team that would go on to win a record 11th Division I state championship, advancing to the Monsignor Martin Athletic Association playoff finals and finishing 8-3 in 2011, the Red Raiders enter Saturday night’s game against Ohio’s top-ranked Wildcats (7-0) winless through six games. The kickoff will be at 7 from Parma’s Byers Field and the golden tones of seniors John Fanta and Greg Ziton will describe the action with live audio and video over the Saint Ignatius Student Broadcasting Network.
“It’s kind of a surprise to us,” said Coach Kyle of St. Francis’ struggles this fall. “They were a good football team last year that had good size and a running back (Lynch) heading to Penn State. And they battled with us into overtime.
“Obviously, it’s not the usual St. Francis team,” Coach Kyle continued. “When you schedule, you never know that, so we were really surprised. But we’re just trying to get better at what we do. We took the first group out extremely early against John Adams (last week’s 49-0 victory) and every kid got a chance to play, and that’s good. I don’t want to count on too much, but if it turns out like that this week, other kids are going to play.”
St. Francis, which has been outscored, 267-94, through its six games, has had difficulty defending the pass and has yielded some big yards on the ground.
In a 69-0 loss to Erie Cathedral Prep at St. Francis, Prep quarterback Damion Terry riddled the Red Raiders’ secondary for 12 completions in 15 pass attempts, 280 yards and five touchdown passes. And those numbers were rung up in about two quarters of play by Terry. Just to refresh your memory, Saint Ignatius defeated Cathedral Prep, 48-19, at Byers Field in 2010 and 42-7 in 2011 at Cathedral Prep, a game that saw Mike LaManna make his first varsity start one to cherish.
Buffalo Canisius tailback Qadree Ollison ran for 251 yards on 25 carries in Canisius’ 51-18 victory over St. Francis and just last week tailback Nick Vallone led St. Mary’s (Lancaster, N.Y.) to its first triumph over St. Francis in 32 years, 33-7, by rushing for 251 yards and four touchdowns.
In what will be the 10th meeting between the Wildcats and Coach Jerry Smith’s Red Raiders, Saint Ignatius holds a commanding 8-1 lead in the series.
St. Francis’ victory over the Wildcats came in 2004 – a 28-13 win at Byers Field. It was a night that saw the Red Raiders force four turnovers and come up with five sacks in the second half. Helping lead St. Francis’ defensive charge was former Ohio State great and current Washington Redskins defensive lineman Doug Worthington. Doug earned Parade All-American honors during his outstanding high school career. On hand to see him play against Saint Ignatius that night in 2004 was former Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel.
“We want to make sure that we’re getting better and staying sharp, if not even sharper,” said Coach Kyle of his team’s approach to Saturday night’s game. “We just have to be honest with the kids. We have to prepare for St. Francis and keep in mind that our hard work is about preparing for the last part of the season and as we go into the playoffs.”
After St. Francis, the Wildcats will face their two strongest challenges of the 2012 regular season – at Cincinnati St. Xavier on Oct. 20 and versus the currently undefeated and high scoring St. Edward Eagles on Oct. 27 at Byers Field.
By the numbers: Coach Kyle, now in his 30th season as the head football coach at his alma mater, will bring a record of 297-67-1 into the St. Francis game. Coach Smith is currently 128-107-4 in 25 years with the Red Raiders.
Senior southpaw Mike LaManna, who was back at practice this week after sitting out the John Adams game with a sore ankle, has passed for 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns this season and the numbers that Saint Ignatius fans, old and new, are buzzing about are the 41 career touchdowns that senior tailback Tim McVey has racked up.
Tim, who has 19 touchdowns this season, is now second on the Wildcats’ all-time TD list, 10 behind the remarkable Eric Haddad ’94.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK FROM THE JOHN ADAMS GAME
On offense, the corner is going with junior quarterbacks Pete Mahoney and John Thomas. Both young men did a solid job filling in for LaManna last week, with Pete engineering three scoring drives in the first half and John, a.k.a “The Gunslinger,” firing a 29-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Matt Schafer and scoring on a 2-yard run in the second half.
On the other side of the ball, we’re going to recognize the entire defense – first, second and third units – for keeping its focus and leading the Wildcats to their second shutout of the season.
*Rounding the corner and tipping my Wildcats cap and floppy hat to the 1992 Saint Ignatius state championship football team, which will have its reunion this weekend. To our younger fans, yes, Eric Haddad could cut on a snowflake, as The Plain Dealer's award-winning columnist Bill Livingston once wrote.