Ohio City - What the 2017 Saint Ignatius Freshmen Football Wildcats have to do after Wednesday's season opener versus Archbishop Hoban is learn from the early mistakes and call on the resiliency of their youth.
Maybe Saint Ignatius' veteran defensive coach Tony Antonelli said it best, as the young 'Cats huddled with their coaches in the Lorain Avenue end zone of Wasmer Field following a 34-0 loss to a Knights' freshmen team that is laden with multi-skilled athletes.
"Don't let this experience get after you, you go after it!" said the man who helped mold some of the finest Varsity defenses in Saint Ignatius' rich gridiron history.
On what was a picture-perfect late August evening, the Wildcats had opportunities to set the tone, but instead it was an interception return for a touchdown by Archbishop Hoban's gifted cornerback/wide receiver Martavien Johnson that helped fuel the Knights' drive to an impressive victory.
Reading the play all of the way, Johnson stepped in front of a pass in the right flat off a third-and-9 from the Saint Ignatius 10-yard line, ripped the ball away and went untouched into the Lorain Avenue end zone. Archbishop Hoban's heady quarterback Jordan Mick followed with a 2-point conversion run over the right side and the Knights led, 8-0, with 5 minutes and 37 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
The Wildcats, still trailing 8-0, were knocking on the door with a first down at the Archbishop Hoban 16.
However, the Knights' pass rush, which caused problems for the 'Cats throughout the evening, forced a fumble that saw Alvin Stallworth scoop up the loose football just over the Archbishop Hoban 30-yard line and ramble into the scoreboard end zone of Wasmer Field for six more points. A two-point conversion run failed and the team from 1 Holy Cross Boulevard in Akron led, 14-0.
The Knights, on the strength of a 62-yard TD catch and run by the versatile Johnson, pushed their lead to 20-0 by halftime. Johnson made a leaping reception along the visitor's sideline, juked a defender and outran everyone else into the scoreboard end zone with 28.6 seconds remaining in the first half.
"Hats off to Hoban, they came ready to play," said Saint Ignatius' veteran Head Freshmen Coach Rodney Gallaway. "I didn't have our guys ready tonight and that's just as much on me as any mistake we may have made. It's a learning experience for these guys, they had the perception they were going to come in and win. But they have to work for that. This is everybody's Super Bowl (playing for Saint Ignatius on any level) and we certainly have a lot to improve upon."
The Knights, who also benefitted from the defensive pursuit of lineman/linebacker Darryl Peterson and the authoritative running of back Damion Ollison, left no doubt on another scoring hookup through the air from Mick to Johnson, this one a 22-yard effort, a 4-yard touchdown run by Mick and a 2-point conversion pass from Mick to two-way mainstay Mike Miller.
Have a great rest of the week and weekend, and we will see you at Archbishop Hoban for tomorrow's (Thursday) 7 PM Varsity opener and at Wasmer Field for Saturday's 10 AM Junior Varsity opener versus the Knights.