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Saint Ignatius-Olentangy Liberty State Semifinal Preview

By Eddie Dwyer, 11/22/16, 11:30PM EST

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By Mr. Eddie Dwyer, Copyright Credit November 2016

Cleveland, Ohio - Wildcats Football (12-1) is set to face Ohio State recruit Brendon White and the rest of the resilient Patriots (13-0) from Olentangy Liberty in Friday night's Division I State Semifinal matchup on Mansfield's Arlin Field.

The kickoff is 7:30 and the 'Cats have been designated as the "Home Team."

 Friday will mark Saint Ignatius' second trip to Arlin Field in six years. In the State-Chamionship season of 2011, the record 11-time Ohio Football Champion Wildcats defeated Toledo Whitmer, 17-6, in a Division I State Semifinal matchup on Arlin Field.

 Here is a corner's view of the Liberty Patriots, who are making their first state-semifinal appearance on the gridiron.

The Columbus Dispatch's outstanding veteran reporter Steve Blackledge wrote last weekend that "resiliency has been the hallmark of Olentangy Liberty's unbeaten season." 

As always, Steve was on the money.

Liberty's faithful, in the words of Patriots' Head Coach Steve Hale, watched their team earn its first OHSAA State Football Semifinal appearance by fighting through a lot of adversity and getting the job done - just like it has done all year.

Trailing a Lorain team that was outmanned 89 to 26 by 10 points with one minute remaining in the third quarter, Liberty rallied to a 24-20 victory and earned its Division I final four date with a program that has authored a storied OHSAA postseason run - the three-time National Champion Saint Ignatius Wildcats of Hall of Fame Head Coach Chuck Kyle '69.

  Along with their record 11 OHSAA state championships and three national titles (1989, 1993 and 1995), the Wildcats were a national runner-up in 2008 and a state runner-up in 1996. Coach Kyle's 'Cats ran off a remarkable streak of five consecutive big-school state football championships from 1991 to 1995.

 Liberty will step on Arlin Field Friday night with an OHSAA football playoff record of 6-8. Saint Ignatius is currently 69-15 in a postseason run that began in 1988, when the Wildcats qualified for the OHSAA football playoffs for the first time and went on to win the first of their 11 state championships.

 In rallying past the 10-3 Lorain Titans, the Patriots' defense came up with four fourth-down stops in the second half, the last one coming in the final minute after Liberty senior defensive back Will Fowler made a touchdown-saving angle tackle at the Pats' 14-yard line. Fowler tackled the state's 100 meter state champion Zion Cross, who covered 59 yards before being brought down.  

 Liberty had a much easier path in its Regional Semifinal victory over Medina, a 45-27 triumph over the Battling Bees that saw Patriots sophomore quarterback Mitchell Okuley fire five touchdown passes.

Four of Okuley's TD strikes went to gifted senior Brendon White, a The Ohio State University recruit. White finished with nine catches for 87 yards and rushed for 125 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries. Medina couldn't solve the 6-foot-2, 205-pound White, who plays, wide receiver, running back, defensive back and quarterback.

"Certainly, one guy that really sticks out is Brendon White," said Coach Kyle, who turned a young 66 on Tuesday and was presented with a gift and a rendition of "Happy Birthday" from his Wildcats following practice on Wasmer Field.

"He's got a full ride to Ohio State and they make sure that he gets the ball and is at the point attack on defense," Coach Kyle continued in reference to White. "He's a special player who makes plays for them. He was the guy that broke Lorain's momentum."

White enters Friday's 7:30 kickoff with 18 receptions for 156 yards and four touchdowns, 794 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground, and 716 yards and nine touchdowns passing.

Okuley has thrown for 1,296 yards and 12 touchdowns. He has been intercepted seven times. 

Coach Kyle said that offensively, the Patriots like to spread you out and will balance their passing and running attacks.

"They have some other weapons, White is not the only receiver," said Coach Kyle of Pats' senior wide receiver/defensive back Ben Rinsma, who has 34 receptions for 634 yards and four touchdowns, and junior wide receiver/defensive back Johnny Wiseman, who has hauled in 22 passes for 362 yards and eight TDs. White and Wiseman lead in the Liberty touchdown department with 14 and 11, respectively.

"White is not the only one carrying the ball," Coach Kyle continued in reference to the Patriots' leading rusher, 5-10, 220-pound junior running back/linebacker Matthew Webb, who has carried the pigskin 250 times for 1,221 yards and eight touchdowns.

"He's a tough runner who breaks tackles,' Coach Kyle said of Webb. "At this level, you have to have a balanced attack."

Defensively, Coach Hale employs the same defense you see from Saint Ignatius and Cincinnati St. Xavier - the stack defense.

"They have a few wrinkles that they do with their line, but theoretically it's the stack," said Coach Kyle. "We've been running it for awhile and in this day and age with offenses spreading it out and throwing it around, it's a good defense to be in. It's nice that we're familiar with it. With six in the box, you can change your coverage and your blitzes quite a bit. And they run it well and do their philosophy very nicely, patience and bend, but don't break."

As far as Liberty's kicking game goes, the Patriots will pooch kick and do a rugby-style punt. Senior kicker/quarterback AJ Smith (6-3, 195) has 14 field goals on the season and 45 extra-point kicks.

"We preach very strongly that we have to win that part of the game," Coach Kyle said, who is blessed with having two exceptional kickers - 2016 first-team All-Northeast Lakes District kicker/punter, senior Colin Goodfellow, and extra-point and field-goal kicker, junior Matthew Trickett, who is coming off a state and national championship soccer season.

"It's (the kicking game) coming up with big plays for us when you say field position," Coach Kyle continued. "Yes, we want people to have to drive 80 yards against us. We'll take field goals and we'll punt them down. We work hard at it and coming into this game, we have to be sharp and use it to our advantage."

BY THE NUMBERS: Speaking of being sharp, senior quarterback Patrick Ryan and junior tailback Mark "Bo Bo" Bobinski continue to show the way for the Wildcats. Patrick has completed 119 of 187 passes for 1,674 yards and 15 touchdowns, and has rushed for 507 yards and 10 touchdowns on 134 carries.

Bobinski, who was honored as Saint Ignatius' Student-Athlete of the Week for his performance in last weekend's 38-31 overtime victory over St. Edward in the Region I Final at Bedford Bearcat Stadium, has rushed for 982 yards and 20 touchdowns on 182 carries, and has 14 receptions for 185 yards and a touchdown.

The 'Cats' leading tacklers are first-team All-District senior lineman Mike Chime with 65 stops and eight sacks, first-team All-District senior linebacker Adam Shibley with 76 tackles and seven sacks, second-team All-District senior lineman Joe Gibbons, aka "The Man in the Middle," with 43 tackles and six sacks, senior inside linebacker Johnny Velotta with 49 tackles and three sacks, junior defensive back Cameron Toppin with 41 tackles, senior defensive end Mike Czaja and senior safety Matt Wiegandt, who both have 39 tackles, and first-team All-District senior linebacker/tight end James Leyden with 34 tackles and two sacks.

SIBN!: If you can't make it down to Mansfield's Arlin Field on Friday night, the All First- Team gifted vocal cords of Matt MacKenzie '18 and Brendan DeVenney '17 will bring it to you live over the Saint Ignatius Broadcast Network. Their pregame show usually gets under way at 7 PM.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and we will see you along the Wildcats' sideline on Arlin Field Friday night.