AN NFL GATHERING OF 'CATS ON THURSDAY NIGHT.

POSTED BY EDDIE DWYER ON 8/23/10 AT 11:50 A.M.

Home Team Marketing and the Cleveland Browns, who are presenting and producing Saturday's Charity Game doubleheader at Browns Stadium, will be awarding a scholarship to a student from each of the participating schools – Mentor, St. Edward, Lake Catholic and Saint Ignatius.

The scholarships will be named in honor of the late Dick “Zip” Zunt, who died on January 2 after a courageous battle with cancer.

Dick, who spent more than 40 years of his life as an award-winning high school sports reporter for The Plain Dealer, is a 1950 graduate of Saint Ignatius and a member of the Wildcats' Athletic Hall of Fame and the Ohio Prep Sports Writers Hall of Fame.

“Zip” displayed endless devotion in his coverage of the area's young athletes, both in girls and boys competition. It is only fitting that he is being remembered during the Charity Games. It was an event he covered for many years, when it was played at Municipal Stadium on either Thanksgiving Day morning or Thanksgiving weekend.

Saturday's doubleheader will match Mentor and St. Edward at 3 p.m., followed by the Saint Ignatius Wildcats against the Lake Catholic Cougars at 7 p.m. Tickets, which are $10 and good for admission to both games, are on sale in the Wildcats' athletic office.

A REUNION, SORT OF SPEAK: Thursday night's NFL preseason game between the St. Louis Rams and the New England Patriots has a rich Saint Ignatius connection.

Jacob Bell '99 is a mainstay on the Rams' offensive line, Jon Gannon '01 is a member of St. Louis' scouting staff and Brian Hoyer '04 is the backup quarterback to Tom Brady in New England.

Former Wildcats All-Ohio lineman Chris Hovan '96, who garnered All-America honors at Boston College and was the 25th overall pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2000 NFL Draft, signed with the Rams in June. On August 6th, the Rams placed Chris on injured reserve with a season-ending back injury.