Ohio City - The record 11-time Division I State Champion Wildcats, coming off a 13-2 season that saw them finish as the big school state runner-up to their Jesuit Brothers from Cincinnati St. Xavier, will travel to Archbishop Hoban's Monsignor Richard A. Dowed Field on Thursday for a 7 PM kickoff versus the Knights.
Under the direction of Head Coach Timothy Tyrrell, Archbishop Hoban has moved up to Division II, Region 5 this season. The Knights won back-to-back Division III State Football Championships in 2015 and 2016. Coach Tyrrell also serves as Hoban's Athletic Director.
Thursday evening's season opener in Akron will mark just the second time that Saint Ignatius and Archbishop Hoban will be meeting on the gridiron.
It was in Week 2 of 1958 that the football programs from Saint Ignatius and Archbishop Hoban met for the first and only time, and the Knights came away with a 13-12 victory on their home field. Controlling the time of possession, Archbishop Hoban led, 13-0, at halftime. The Wildcats came roaring back behind impressive touchdown runs by Mike Hegan and Nick Daugenti, but couldn't convert on either of their two 2-point conversion attempts following those TD runs and lost a hard-fought encounter with the Knights.
Now, nearly 59 years to the date of that September 19th, 1958 tale of two halves, this corner takes a look at Thursday's opener with the Knights, a matchup many preseason publications have labeled as one of the top five games to watch in Ohio this summer/fall. Saint Ignatius and Archbishop Hoban enter Week 1's area headliner ranked first and third, respectively, in the Cleveland.com preseason poll. St. Edward garnered the second spot.
TWO SPECIAL PLAYERS SAID GOODBYE, BUT, AS USUAL, THE FOOTBALL CUPBOARD IS FAR FROM BARE AT ARCHBISHOP HOBAN
The Knights finished 14-1 overall and 5-0 in the North Coast League last season, and brought home the program’s second consecutive Division III state football championship. They are preparing to continue that run in Division II this year as they pursue what would be a 13th appearance in the OHSAA playoffs.
In case you wondered, Archbishop Hoban's only setback in 2016 came in Week 2, a 10-7 loss to St. Edward on Dowed Field.
Yes, Coach Tyrrell welcomed back 12 starters when camp opened in June, but he and his staff have to fill the void left by the graduations of two of the premier players in the Knights' football history - quarterback Danny Clark, now on scholarship at the University of Kentucky, and tailback Todd Sibley, who is furthering his education and football career on scholarship at the University of Pittsburgh. Clark and Sibley each accounted for more 4,000 yards of offense and 35 touchdowns while wearing the Knights' Navy Blue and Old Gold.
Archbishop Hoban's 2017 running game suffered a blow when the highly regarded William Collier took his talents to Akron East. However, the Knights will still feature five major-college recruits in offensive/defensive lineman Nolan Rumler, a 6-foot-4, 295-pound Michigan recruit; defensive end Daeshon Martin, who has given a verbal commitment to the University of Cincinnati; wide receiver /defensive back Nate Bauer, a University of Toledo verbal; wide receiver Garrett Houser, who is bound for Navy next year, and highly regarded offensive/defensive lineman R.J. Kelly (6-2, 295), who has the interest of several college programs.
Rumler and Kelly are space creators, my friends.
The answer to the Knights' questionable running game might come in the form of 5-10, 210 pound junior Tyris Dickerson, who rambled for touchdown runs of 45 and 50 yards during Archbishop Hoban's 28-7 scrimmage victory at Louisville this past Thursday.
Among the Knights' other names to remember are linebacker/fullback Reid Allen; defensive back Daulson Fitzpatrick; offensive/defensive lineman Jacob Petit; defensive back/quarterback Matt Salopek; offensive lineman Cade Thomas; athletic sophomore linebacker Deamonte Trayanum; offensive lineman Jaden Baxter and freshman quarterback Shane Hamm.
Hamm fired a 50-yard TD pass in the Louisville scrimmage and Salopek ripped off a 72-yard interception return for a touchdown versus the Leopards.
JJ Huddle and MaxPreps ranked Archbishop Hoban No. 1 in their 2017 preseason Division II State Poll. Ranked second in Division II by JJ and MaxPreps is Cincinnati La Salle, which is seeking a fourth consecutive State Championship on the gridiron.
FROM SAINT IGNATIUS' HALL OF FAME HEAD COACH CHUCK KYLE '69
"Offensively, Archbishop Hoban will give you a lot of different formations and try to create angles for the blocking," said the man who, along with his OHSAA record 11 state championships, has guided his alma mater to a record five consecutive big-school state titles (1991 to 1995), a record 27 OHSAA playoff appearances, two state runner-up finishes (1996 and 2016), three national titles (1989, 1993 and 1995) and a national runner-up in 2008.
Saint Ignatius has a remarkable postseason record, all under Coach Kyle, of 70-16.
"Archbishop Hoban will mix pass and run, so they'll keep you honest," continued Coach Kyle, who will take 334 career victories into his 35th season opener on Thursday night. "Their receivers are very effective. They run good routes in an offense that is very balanced. That's the sign of a good team.
"Our secondary is going to be called on for a lot of work Thursday night," Coach Kyle said. "First, they have to help on the running game. So they have to read their keys effectively. I think our secondary can run with them. Archbishop Hoban has a nice offensive line with size and experience, so that's a challenge for our defensive line, where we graduated pretty heavily.
"Sometimes film doesn't tell you everything and we have to start making plays when the ball is in the air," said Coach Kyle of the Wildcats' scrimmages versus Solon and Canton McKinley. "There are two guys going for it and we need to make the play. That's something we're working on."
Coach Kyle emphasized that defensively you can tell right away that the Knights have a couple of Division I recruits on that side of the ball, a very aggressive front four and a group of linebackers that when they read run, they're coming.
"What we've seen in their scrimmages is that the opposing quarterback hasn't had a lot of time," Coach Kyle said in reference to the vital role the 'Cats' offensive line will play on Dowed Field. "A great pass defense starts with a great pass rush and they really come after the ball hard."
Coach Kyle also pointed out how pleased he was with the Wildcats' ability to run the ball in last Friday's annual Jamboree scrimmage versus a very formidable Canton McKinley team at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
"All along we've felt that our offensive line was going to key our offense, just looking at what we had coming back there," said Coach Kyle during Sunday's practice on Wasmer Field. "We were moving people on Friday night."
You could see the competitive fire in Coach Kyle's eyes Sunday afternoon when he said, without a second's hesitation, "This is going to be a playoff-caliber game Thursday night, there is no doubt about that."
HERE IS A LOOK AT SOME OF THE 'CATS' KEY PLAYERS FOR THURSDAY NIGHT, PLAYERS YOU READ ABOUT THROUGHOUT THE SUMMER CAMPS, PRACTICES AND SCRIMMAGES.
The offensive line, which is under the direction of veteran coaches Adam Rini '99 and Paul Yappel. Paul is a former Teacher and Assistant Coach at Archbishop Hoban, and he also serves as the Wildcats' Head Junior Varsity Coach.
Seniors Darian Kinnard and Billy Corte will be at the tackle spots. The 6-7, 336-pound Kinnard is a preseason All-American and a University of Kentucky recruit. All-Northeast Lakes District and All-Area selection Jack Jamieson will be joined by fellow senior Juan Pen as the starting guards, and gritty senior Jivan Meguerditchian will be at center. Junior Grant Abbott, in the words of Coach Rini, will be "working all over the line, tackle, guard and center." Coach Rini also said junior Xavier Everett will be playing guard and tackle.
Coach Dave Cicetti's and Coach Mark Sullivan's Defensive Line: "It's going to be quite a rotation of guys," said Coach Cicetti. "At nose guard we will rotate three guys, Darian Kinnard, Jack Jamieson and senior Aidan Gill (who doubles as a running back). Brad Andrich (senior) and Zach McMahan (junior) will start at end and Aidan Wells (junior) will rotate in at end. Grant Abbott will also play at nose and senior Colin Burns will be another rotation guy. Series to series it's going to be a different look. There is a lot of depth on the defensive line."
Coach Kevin Johnson's ('10) and Coach Chad Aerni's ('12) Defensive Secondary: The most experienced and big-game tested unit for the 2017 Wildcats, the secondary is led by senior veterans Cam Toppin at cornerback, Justin Sands (a Penn recruit) at safety, Matt Viancourt at safety and Connor Kennedy (a Holy Cross recruit) at corner and safety.
Seniors Max Corrigan-Mook and Xavier Curtis have made their presence felt, junior Jett Elad has put together a solid summer at cornerback and fellow juniors Danny Scelza , John Wetula and Chris Velotta Jr. have also roamed the secondary with confidence.
Coach Ryan Franzinger's ('02) tough and talented linebackers: The Wildcats' outstanding Defensive Coordinator said his starters for Thursday night will be senior Logan Joyce and junior Tommy Eichenberg on the outside, and senior Andrew Keirn in the middle.
The Quarterbacks, a position of excellence at Cleveland's Jesuit Preparatory School: Saint Ignatius' veteran Offensive Coordinator Nick Restifo, who has produced the most All-Ohio signal-callers in Northeast Ohio, is blessed with two savvy and skilled senior field generals in Kyle Hall and Danny Alexander.
Coach Terry Fergus' ('72) ground control: Senior tailback Mark Bobinski, one of the premier running backs in all of Ohio, will look to equal or better his efforts of last season when he rushed for 1,159 yards and 20 touchdowns, returned a punt for a touchdown and hauled in a TD pass. Mark finished with 1,602 all-purpose yards in 2016.
Coach Fergus has developed a deep and multi-skilled group of runners that includes seniors Aidan Gill and Matt Viancourt, or "The Big Backs," "The Men," if you will; senior Drew Phillips Jr.; juniors Jahadge "Bo" Floyd and Jack Kennedy, and promising sophomores Najee Lockett, Jack Welcsh and James Crosby.
Coach Jack Hyland's ('14) sure hands club: Coach Hyland has done an outstanding job in his first season with the Wildcats' receivers, a group that is led by seniors Michael Drobnick, Sammy Snyder, Max Pike and Connor Kennedy. Also making major contributions to this deep and talent-rich position are juniors Luke Cooper, Nigel Drummond II and John Wetula, and junior tight ends John Cannon, Owen Murphy and Tommy Eichenberg. Among the young pass catchers who will double with the Junior Varsity are sophomore tight end Sam Daugstrup and sophomore Connor Cmiel.
Getting Their Kicks: Saint Ignatius features one of the most talented and consistent kickers/punters in Ohio, senior Matthew Trickett. Matt came up with a career-best, 52-yard field goal in last weekend's Jamboree at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Backing up Matt are senior Drew Alessandro, one of the team's tireless workers, and junior Patrick Otter.
THE AIR WAVES: Bringing you Thursday night's game live from Dowed Field will be the SIBN's gifted tandem of senior Matt MacKenzie and junior Zack Strom.
A CORNER'S VIEW: This old gridiron grinder will be on hand at Dowed Field Thursday night and will post a story that you can enjoy with your Friday morning coffee. See you at the home of the Knights.