skip navigation

NO. 2 SEED SAINT IGNATIUS VS. NO. 1 SEED MENTOR. ONE OF THE STATE'S PREMIER PUBLIC VS. CATHOLIC SCHOOL RIVALRIES RETURNS TO THE POSTSEASON STAGE.

By Eddie Dwyer, 11/16/11, 12:00AM EST

Share

THE WILDCATS (10-2) AND THE CARDINALS (11-1) WILL BE MEETING FOR THE 13TH TIME ON SATURDAY NIGHT IN THE DIVISION I, REGION 1 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AT LAKEWOOD STADIUM. KICK OFF TIME IS 7 P.M.


SAINT IGNATIUS CAN’T AFFORD TO PLAY CATCH UP, AS IT DID DURING A 38-24 LOSS AT MENTOR IN WEEK 3.


****MEMORIES FLOW AS KEDZIOR AND SHENK GET THEIR KICKS (SEE AFTER FOOTBALL PREVIEW AND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK).


AIR WAVES: SATURDAY NIGHT’S GAME WILL BE BROUGHT TO YOU LIVE BY THE SAINT IGNATIUS BROADCASTING NETWORK, WITH JOHN FANTA ’13 AND GREG ZITON ’13 AT THE CONTROLS. ED DAUGHERTY AND MIKE GIBBONS ’70 WILL CALL IT AS THEY SEE IT LIVE OVER WHK-AM 1420 AND SportsTime OHIO WILL BRING YOU TAPE-DELAYED COVERAGE AT 11 P.M.


BY EDDIE DWYER, COPYRIGHT NOVEMBER 2011


Ask Saint Ignatius head football coach Chuck Kyle ’69 what are the two things his team must avoid in its rematch with Mentor on Saturday night and the 29-year veteran won’t hesitate for a second.


No. 1: “They took the lead right away and we just felt the whole time we were playing catch up,” said Coach Kyle of the 38-24 loss at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium on Sept. 9, a game that saw the Wildcats fall behind, 14-0, in the first quarter.


“And that wasn’t good. We got ourselves back in the game and spent a lot of energy doing that. Playing catch up is not the way we want to do it.”


No. 2: “We have to stay solid in (pass) coverage,” Coach Kyle said. “They had too many plays where the receiver caught the ball and had a significant yardage after the catch. That leads to defeat.”


If you look back on that Friday night in Mentor, you will certainly appreciate Coach Kyle’s evaluation of what must be avoided.


The Cardinals, behind their outstanding junior quarterback Mitch Trubisky, totaled a school-record 608 yards of offense. Trubisky accounted for 553 yards of offense and five touchdowns, three passing and two rushing. His 469 yards through the air were also a new school mark. Mentor senior wide receiver Cameron Kavan finished the night with 14 receptions that totaled over 200 yards.


The teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of offense.


Saint Ignatius, behind senior quarterback Eric Williams’ 223 yards passing and junior tailback Tim McVey’s 205 yards on the ground, surpassed the 400-yard mark of total offense.


As Coach Kyle said, the Wildcats used up a lot of energy in the first half and, on the strength of one of three interceptions by senior cornerback Adam North, a 2-yard touchdown run by McVey, an interception return for a touchdown by junior cornerback Tommy Fanning and a 45-yard TD pass from Williams to standout senior wide receiver Jake Mooney, trailed by just three points at halftime.


Trailing, 31-24, early in the fourth quarter, Saint Ignatius fumbled the ball away at the Mentor 8 and the 6-foot-3, 197-pound Trubisky engineered a decisive and time-consuming 92-yard scoring drive.


“Trubisky is a very good athlete, he can run, he can throw,” said Coach Kyle, whose program leads the all-time series against Mentor, 8-4.


The Cardinals have won the last two meetings, including an 18-7 regular-season triumph at Byers Field in 2010. They are 1-1 versus Saint Ignatius in the postseason. The Wildcats defeated Mentor, 38-13, in a regional-final match up in 1992 and the Cardinals handed Saint Ignatius a 31-0 loss in the 2003 regional semifinals.


Mentor is making its first regional-final appearance since its back-to-back state runner-up finishes of 2006 and 2007, and the Wildcats have advanced to the Region 1 title game for the 16th time since 1988. The ‘Cats have won 13 regional championships and an OHSAA record 10 Division I state titles.


“We certainly think we’ve improved quite a bit since Week 3, both offensively and defensively,” said Coach Kyle. “I think we do a better job with our coverage and that’s a key. To throw Trubisky off his timing, that would help.


“But they’re going to complete some balls, they will. Their timing’s good and he’s an accurate passer. What we have to do is challenge for the ball and make the tackle right there.”


As Coach Kyle pointed out, Saint Ignatius moved the ball against Mentor back in September, particularly on the ground. He said he is sure the Cardinals’ defense will give his team some different looks. Mentor’s “D” is keyed by two of the outstanding players in Ohio – senior end and Michigan recruit Tom Strobel (6-6, 255) and senior linebacker and Ohio University recruit Kurt Laseak (6-4, 215).


“And I think our passing attack has improved each week, as far as recognition being quicker and patterns being quicker,” Kyle continued. “All of the fans who have come to see us have just seen Eric (Williams) get better and better. If we’re able to respond back with the consistency and success that we’ve had with the passing attack that would help a lot.”


Coach Kyle said Saturday’s game will feature two of the best, if not the best, kickers in Northeast Ohio - Mentor’s Tomislav Derezic and Saint Ignatius’ Tim Shenk.


An Air Force recruit, Shenk kicked the winning field goals in both of the Wildcats’ identical –score, 20-17 victories over St. Edward. The first one came early in the fourth quarter of the Week 10 regular-season match up with the Eagles and Shenk helped eliminate St. Edward in last weekend’s regional semifinals by sending home a 32-yard effort as time expired. Tim enters the Mentor game with a Saint Ignatius single-season best 16 field goals and he also has the school’s all-time distance mark with a 55-yard shot through the swirling winds of Byers Field against Detroit Cody on opening night.


“That’s (the kicking game) been in our favor in lot of games,” said Coach Kyle of the outstanding back-to-back seasons Shenk has put together. “But it’s going to be negated a bit in this one.


“It’s going to be a good game, it could last until midnight. We have a lot of work to do in practice this week, a lot!”


PLAYERS OF THE WEEK FROM THE ST. EDWARD PLAYOFF GAME


OFFENSE: After spending a tension-filled night on the home sideline of Brunsiwck’s outstanding Judy Kirsch Stadium facility, I am going with kicker Tim Shenk, quarterback Eric Williams, wide receiver Jake Mooney, tailback Tim McVey, tight end Blake Thomas and a never-surrender offensive line.


And I am giving a special corner tip of the cap to veteran offensive coordinator Nick Restifo for his call of the momentum-swinging TD gallop by McVey.


DEFENSE: Mike Ryan, Dave Katusha, Matt Gawlik and the other men up front who battled the Eagles’ massive O-Line, linebacker Zack Ryan (Mike’s cousin), who was a force all night, and a defensive secondary that more than held its own against St. Edward’s highly regarded receivers. Can someone say a key forced fumble by Mike Ryan (not to mention his right-on-the-money quotes after the game) and key fumble recoveries by Tommy Fanning and Dan Jones?


If you want to read more about the efforts of the “O” and the “D,” check out the corner’s game story below.


AH YES, HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF FOR COACH KEDZIOR


You might recall that during the week leading up to the Saint Ignatius-Glenville game, the corner did a little feature on Wildcats wide receivers/kickers coach Josiah “Juice” Kedzior ’04 and the memories of his outstanding all-around performance against the Tarblooders in a 2003 regional-quarterfinal game at Bedford’s Bearcat Stadium.


In that 24-21 victory over the Ted Ginn Jr.-led Tarblooders, Coach Kedzior, then a standout wide receiver and kicker for Coach Kyle, had a 20-yard field goal, three extra-point kicks and hauled in a 46-yard touchdown pass from Brian Hoyer ’04 (currently the backup to Tom Brady in New England) that, along with his third PAT, gave the Wildcats a 24-14 lead with 3:13 left to play.


Three weeks prior to that performance against a talent-laden Glenville team, Kedzior, A.K.A. The Plain Dealer’s “Difference Maker,” had two field goals, two extra points and a highlight-reel touchdown reception as Saint Ignatius defeated St. Edward. “Juice” kicked the game-winning 33-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the (guess the final score) over the Eagles.


Eight years later, those memories from the fall of 2003 were so thick that Coach Kedzior could have cut them with a knife.


There he was Saturday night, watching from the sideline as Tim Shenk kicked the game-winning 32-yard field goal against St. Edward as time expired in the regional-semifinal game at Brunswick. And we all know the score of that one and the one that took place on Oct. 29 in Lakewood Stadium, when Shenk’s presence was also loud and clear.


And by now, I’m sure you know the final score from that Oct. 11th night in 2003, when the “Difference Maker” made his mark on Bunts and Madison.

“It was like the exact same thing,” said Coach Kedzior of Shenk’s record-setting field goal on Saturday night. “He was so calm, cool-headed and collective, everything you expect from a guy who is going to Air Force.


“That’s why you look at him and say, ‘Hey, take us to the next round.’’’


As for the similarities between Kedzior’s kick against the Eagles in 2003 and Shenk’s game-winner against St. Edward on Saturday, the obvious one is that they were almost the same distance. But it goes far beyond that for Kedzior.


“You don’t have words for it, you really don’t,” Coach Kedzior said. “When you flash back you go, holy cow - same team, similar situation and same score!”


And who says you can never re-live a dream that came true?