"CREDIT, FIRST OF ALL, TO OUR DEFENSE. IT WAS OUTSTANDING, THE JOB THEY DID ." - WILDCATS HEAD COACH CHUCK KYLE '69, AS HE ADDRESSED THE MEDIA FOLLOWING THE WILDCATS' 23-17 VICTORY OVER NO. 1 SEED MENTOR IN THE DIVISION I, REGION 1 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
SAINT IGNATIUS, THE NO. 2 SEED IN REGION 1, MOVES ON TO FACE TOLEDO WHITMER IN A STATE-SEMIFINAL MATCH UP NEXT SATURDAY NIGHT.
BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT NOVEMBER 2011
Saint Ignatius' faithful, young and not so young, will talk about the game-sealing drive, and understandably so.
However, Saturday night's 23-17 victory over the Mentor Cardinals and their high-powered offense in the Division I, Region 1 championship game at Lakewood Stadium was, said Wildcats veteran head football coach Chuck Kyle '69, keyed by an outstanding performance by his defense.
Mentor, which entered the game averaging 42 points and 470 yards of offense, walked out of the "Madhouse on Madison" with 185 yards of total offense.
During Week 3 of the regular season, the Cardinals' vaunted five-receiver spread attack rang up a school-record 608 yards of total offense in defeating Saint Ignatius, 38-24, in Mentor.
But, as this corner said to my former colleague at The Plain Dealer, the talented Tim Warsinskey, Saturday night's rematch was another example of the great adjustments Coach Kyle makes. And give Kyle two-plus months to make those adjustments, and he will know your offense and every tendency that accompanies it, like the back of his hand.
"Our defense did a tremendous job, win or not," said Coach Kyle, who will lead his Wildcats (11-2) against Toledo Whitmer (13-0) in a state-semifinal match up next Saturday night at 7 in a site to be determined by the OHSAA on Sunday. En route to the first of its record 10 Division I state championships, Saint Ignatius defeated Whitmer, 31-8, in a 1988 state-semifinal match up in the Toledo Glass Bowl.
"It was outstanding what they did," Coach Kyle continued in his praise of the 2011 Wildcats' "D."
One of the things Saint Ignatius did was contain Mentor's gifted junior quarterback Mitch Trubisky. In the Week 3 game, Trubisky accounted for more than 550 yards passing and running. Saturday night, the Offensive Player of the Year in the Northeast Lakes District passed for 189 yards and had minus 16 yards on the ground.
"We just crushed them all night, blitzes up the middle and pressure off the ends," said Wildcats standout junior defensive end Kevin Kavalec, who, after missing the past two weeks with a shoulder injury, helped make it a long night for Trubisky and Co. "I think we rattled them, because nobody's come after them like we did tonight."
Kavalec, who had a tremendous game against St. Edward in Week 10 at Lakewood Stadium, again made himself at home on Bunts and Madison. He had two sacks, giving him a team-best 15.5 on the season, was in the Cardinals' backfield numerous times, had a couple of other tackles for losses and a fumble recovery deep in Mentor territory that led to Saint Ignatius' final seven points.
Also laying down the "D" were junior cornerback Tommy Fanning, senior corner Adam North, senior safeties Chad Aerni (an interception) and Mike Svetina, and the thrill-some threesome of senior linebackers James Sheehan, Rustom Khouri (ninth sack of the season) and Zack Ryan (two sacks on Trubisky). Sheehan also did a solid job of punting into the gales of November.
"We were just locking up," said the 5-foot-11 Fanning, who did a great job of one-on-one coverage against Mentor's 6-3 receiver Brandon Fritts. "We got a lot of pressure (on Trubisky) and that allowed us (the defensive backs) to lock them down for just three seconds. We practice it (man coverage) every day."
As for the Wildcats' offense, it was fueled by junior tailback Tim McVey, the kid with the immeasurable heart, senior quarterback Eric Williams, who complements his powerful arm with an uncanny ability to scramble away from trouble, gritty and talented junior receiver/kick returner Conor Hennessey, who has kept the family tradition going, and senior receiver Jake Mooney, who might be the most underrated player in the area.
AND, MAKING A LOT OF THOSE KEY YARDS POSSIBLE WAS AN OFFENSIVE LINE THAT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER – A GROUP OF TOUGH AND RESILIENT YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE STEPPED UP IN THE BIG GAMES.
Trailing, 3-0, after the first quarter, Saint Ignatius took a 13-3 lead on touchdown passes from Williams to Hennessey and Mooney. Hennessey made a nice move and a diving catch of eight yards in the left corner of the end zone and Mooney ran a perfect route and caught the ball in stride from 35 yards out. It was Mooney's 10th touchdown reception of the season and Williams' 19th TD toss. Mooney finished with six receptions for 91 yards.
After Williams scored over the top from 1-yard out and senior Tim Shenk followed with the extra point, the Wildcats led, 23-10, with 10:22 remaining. Williams' keeper was set up by Kavalec's fumble recovery.
Mentor (11-2), which was making its first regional-championship appearance since its back-to-back state runner-up seasons of 2006 and 2007, closed to 23-17 on a 32-yard touchdown pass from Trubisky to the multi-skilled Conner Krizancic with 6:27 left.
But just when the Cardinals and their faithful were riding on the shoulders of Mr. Momentum, Coach Kyle and his team displayed the heart and talent of a 10-time Ohio champion, 14-time regional champion and three-time national champion.
It was a gutsy and gritty time-consuming march that ended with Williams taking a knee.
Starting at its 20, Saint Ignatius ate up the clock behind its O-Line (including key blocks by Clayton Cassidy, Trevor Herak, Michael Kray, Stephen Franko, Jim Byrne and Ohio State tight end recruit Blake Thomas ), the will of one of the best football players in Northeast Ohio – McVey – a clutch pass from Williams to Mooney that came off a third-and-16 from the Wildcats' 14 and resulted in a first down with a yard to spare, and the call by Coach Kyle that capped the night – a 3-yard run by McVey off a fourth-and-1 from his 40.
"Our offensive line did a great job," said McVey, who finished with 168 yards rushing on more than 30 carries. "They opened up the hole and I hit it. I took what they gave me. We were very conditioned and ready for it (the five-plus minute ground assault). And our defense was phenomenal."
McVey added that along with the offensive line, he got a nice block from Svetina on the fourth-and-1 sealer. The Division I Defensive Player of the Year in the Northeast Lakes District, Svetina, a Miami of Ohio recruit, also chips in at fullback.
"Defense, they were stunned by what you guys did, you took them out of the game," said Coach Kyle, while speaking to his team after the game.
In addressing a final question from a member of the media about going for it on fourth-and-1 from his 40, Coach Kyle said: "We didn't come here to just hang around. We felt that if we were to be moving on (to the state semifinals), we had to do it there. We had to get that one.
"They (Mentor) were moving the ball and they had the wind. And we have Tim McVey and the offensive line. Let's just go do it. The kids became a regional champion on that drive."