The offensive line was again rock solid, Mike LaManna (367 yards passing), Rocky Zingale and Conor Hennessey fueled the 'Cats' version of the air show, Scott Arthrell helped key a defense that kept De La Salle's highly touted quarterback Shane Morris under control and Tim McVey was, you know, Tim McVey.
It all added up to a 49-13 grounding of the Pilots from Warren, Michigan.
By Eddie Dwyer, Copyright September 2012
Standing near the Day Drive end zone of Parma’s Byers Field early Saturday evening, Saint Ignatius head coach Chuck Kyle ’69, in referring to his offensive line, got that look of satisfied determination.
“Nice job, nice job,” said Coach Kyle as he pointed to the time the Wildcats' O-Line provided for calm and confident senior quarterback Mike LaManna and his array of talented receivers, and the seams it opened up for gifted senior tailback Tim McVey.
No, you won’t see their names in the scoring summary that accompanies the final score – Saint Ignatius 49, De La Salle Collegiate High School 13.
What that summary does reveal, however, is that a 36-point victory over one of the top teams from the state of Michigan doesn’t happen without the young men up front doing their jobs.
“It was great to come out and just stay focused,” said standout senior guard and Captain Mike Cray after the Wildcats improved to 2-0. “We worked hard all through the week and Adam (Wildcats O-Line coach Adam Rini ’99) told us at the beginning of the game that we had to come out, hit them in the mouth and play hard. And that’s what we did.
“It’s really great that we’re all working together,” Cray continued. “We’ve come together as a team so early. Dadich has done really well taking over the position and making sure he knows what he is doing and Mike (senior tackle Mike Bigach) had a great offseason and is still working hard to make himself even better, so that’s great.”
As Cray pointed out, Ryan Dadich, a junior, has filled in admirably for highly recruited junior tackle Jim Byrne, who is expected to return to the lineup this coming week.
With Cray and Saint Ignatius’ other veteran up front, senior center Steve Franko, showing the way, Saint Ignatius stunned the Pilots with a 7-play, 80-yard scoring march on the opening drive that was sealed by an 8-yard touchdown pass from LaManna to gritty, quick and sure-handed senior wide receiver Conor Hennessey and the extra-point kick by junior Matt Colella. They key play in the march was a 17-yard strike from LaManna to standout junior wide receiver Mike Siragusa, which came off a third-and-9 from the De La Salle 25.
Defending against the second-rated pro-style quarterback in the nation – De La Salle senior and 5-star University of Michigan recruit Shane Morris – the Wildcats turned the Pilots away on a crafty interception in the back of the end zone by junior cornerback Scott Arthrell.
From there, it was another 80-yard clinic that was conducted by LaManna’s left arm, the disciplined routes and hard-nose receiving of Siragusa, senior Rocky Zingale and Hennessey, and the power, balance and vision of McVey. McVey went over the top from 1-yard out on the 12th play of the drive and Colella’s extra point was high and true.
While they were not out, the Pilots (1-1) were definitely staggering after Saint Ignatius landed a four-play, 71-yard haymaker, a march that featured a highlight-reel catch and second-effort run of 57 yards by Zingale. Rocky’s heart, which was bigger than Robert M. Boulton Stadium, where Byers Field resides, gave the Wildcats a first-and goal at the 8 and McVey did the rest by sweeping the left side and cutting through a huge hole provided by the O-Line and All-Ohio senior two-way end Kevin Kavalec.
After a text-book open field tackle by Arthrell that prevented Morris from picking up a first down, Saint Ignatius finished off its decisive 24-point second quarter with a swing pass from LaManna to McVey, a catch and run that saw Tim run over a defensive back along the left sideline en route to his sixth touchdown on the young season, a 25-yard punt return by senior Josh Baker that led to a 25-yard, in-stride scoring pass from LaManna to Hennessey and a 35-yard field goal by Colella that was set up by a nice catch and run by talented junior wideout Jack Hyland.
“We just have so much chemistry, we’re all best friends,” said LaManna of his offensive teammates. “Everything just clicks for us. I don’t know how we do it. It’s like we’re a family out there and that’s how we play.
“I thought it was going to be a battle, a war out there,” LaManna continued. “I thought Shane was going to put on a show maybe. But our defense just handled him very well.”
The Wildcats capped their scoring on a safety that resulted from a bad snap on a punt attempt by De La Salle, a LaManna to Zingale TD toss and another safety that occurred when Morris, while rolling out under pressure, lost control of the ball and it rolled in and out of the end zone after being kicked during the scramble.
“Me, Mike (LaManna) and Rocky have actually been playing together since the fifth grade, minus two years (when LaManna moved to another grade school),” said Hennessey, who also teams with LaManna on Saint Ignatius’ varsity baseball team. “So we’ve been doing this since recess and stuff. And preparing for this season, we’ve been running around outside since May."
Hennessey revealed that on his first touchdown reception, the first score of the game, he didn’t know the ball was being thrown to him. “But I saw I could catch it, so I just jumped up and I got it.”
Although he said his team will have to be a lot better next Saturday night when it faces All-Ohio senior quarterback Mitch Trubisky and the high-powered offense of the Mentor Cardinals in the Northeast Ohio headliner at Byers Field, Coach Kyle emphasized what a great job his offensive coaches – Coach Rini, offensive line coach Paul Yappel, veteran offensive coordinator Nick Restifo, quarterbacks coach Elvis Grbac, running backs coach Terry Fergus ’72 and wide receivers coach Josiah Kedzior ’94 - did in preparing the offense for the Pilots.
JV AND FRESHMAN FOOTBALL ROUNDUPS
Junior varsity and freshman football teams help make it a long weekend for De La Salle: Coach Ryan Franzinger’s junior varsity team evened its record at 1-1 by defeating the Pilots, 49-7, on Saturday afternoon at Wasmer Field. Jake Kucia did a solid job running and throwing, as the ‘Cats’ overall running attack was dominant.
Saint Ignatius ran off its 49 points after De La Salle took an early 7-0 lead.
The long bus ride to Michigan on Friday didn’t slow down the Wildcats’ promising freshmen, who improved to 2-0 by overwhelming the Pilots’ ninth graders, 51-8.
Coach Rodney Gallaway was especially pleased with the play of his offensive and defensive lines.
On a sour note, gifted freshman running back James Norris, who was having another solid game, suffered what was reported as a hip injury and will be sidelined for an undetermined period of time.