Akron, Ohio - Saint Ignatius Head Football Coach Chuck Kyle '69 has helped guide several outstanding defenses during his Hall of Fame career at his alma mater.
That said, the man who has led the Wildcats to a record 11 OHSAA Division I State Championships and three national titles, couldn't say enough about the effort his 2017 defense put forth on Thursday night during the season opener at Archbishop Hoban.
The game, which matched the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the area's Top 25 rankings by Cleveland.com, saw Coach Kyle's top-ranked 'Cats come up with big plays on defense and timely efforts on offense in wearing down Archbishop Hoban, 17-3. The Knights' offensive prowess led them to consecutive Division III State Football Championships in 2015 and 2016, and Archbishop Hoban has moved up to Division II this season under the OHSAA's new competitive balance system.
"Honestly, we owe this win to the defense," said Coach Kyle after he picked up his 335th career victory in starting what is his 35th season as the head of the football program at Cleveland's Jesuit Preparatory School. "The offense did some great things, but defensively, wow. They (the Knights) had a chance to take the lead and we get a pick in the end zone, a beautiful play by Cameron Toppin. Cam had a great night. He took their passing attack away.
"In keeping field position, the defense was so good," Coach Kyle continued. "We were getting the ball on our 40-yard line and the 50-yard line. With that situation in mind we got a chance to get some scores and we also buried a long field goal, which is always good."
Along with his 48-yard field goal, which accounted for the game's final points with just under three minutes left, and two extra-point kicks, Saint Ignatius' outstanding senior kicker/punter Matthew Trickett was doing his part in the battle of field position with his steady punting.
"Credit to the defense," Coach Kyle said. "They (the Knights' offense) were giving us all kinds of unbalanced lines, motions and stuff like that. The first game of the year, you hope you just line up right But our kids had their heads into it and adjusted really well there. That's why it's 17-3."
Coach Kyle emphasized that Thursday night's game had a playoff atmosphere and that he was quite pleased with the performance of senior quarterback Kyle Hall, who was making his first start on the Varsity level.
"Kyle had to come out here and play against an excellent defensive football team," said Coach Kyle. "By the time we got to the second quarter, the game was slowing down a bit for him. They were putting five and six players in the box, and sometimes as many as eight, and daring us to throw. And Kyle responded."
Hall stood tall under heavy pressure and, after Archbishop Hoban took a 3-0 lead on a 37-yard field goal by Jack Branham with 6 minutes and 16 seconds remaining in the second quarter, directed a drive that saw him combine with underrated senior wide receiver Max Pike on a 34-yard touchdown strike. Trickett's PAT extended the Wildcats' lead to 7-3 with 3:39 left in the first half.
For the night, Hall completed 15 of 25 passes for 213 yards. 'Cats' gritty and gifted senior wide receiver Sammy Snyder had 6 receptions for 112 yards, including a 57-yard catch and run that gave Saint Ignatius a first-and goal at the 8-yard line on the first possession of the second half. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they would fumble the ball away at the Knights' 6-yard line two plays later.
Not protecting the football inside the opponent's 10-yard line almost became a major issue again for Saint Ignatius, when the ball squirted loose off a running play from the Archbishop Hoban 2-yard line.
However, Wildcats senior tackle Billy Corte pulled off a tremendous effort by diving after the ball and, outmuscling and out-willing three Knights, recovering the pigskin in the scoreboard end zone of Dowed Field for a touchdown. Trickett's extra-point kick was high and true, and the 'Cats led, 14-3, with 3:02 left in the third quarter.
It was a moment Billy, a first class young man and a tireless worker, will never forget as his teammates, who couldn't be any happier if it was one of them, celebrated with Billy on the sideline. The smile on the face of Saint Ignatius' veteran Offensive Line Coach Adam Rini '99 was priceless.
Saint Ignatius' defense, which is under the direction of outstanding Coordinator/Linebackers Coach Ryan Franzinger '02, continued to make the going tough for Archbishop Hoban's promising freshman quarterback Shane Hamm and Co.
Another highlight reel interception by Toppin saw Cam pick the ball off on the home sideline and return it nearly 40 yards to the Knights' 27-yard line. Then it was the relentless pressure down the stretch from senior defensive linemen Jack Jamieson, Aidan Gill and Bradley Andrich, junior linemen Aidan Wells and Zach McMahan, the tough and talented linebacker trio of junior Tommy Eichenberg, senior Andrew Keirn and senior Logan Joyce, along with the passionate pursuit of senior safety Matt Viancourt. Simply put, the Wildcats' new front line on defense is creating its own identity. Jamieson also doubles as a mainstay on the offensive line and Gill contributes to Coach Terry Fergus' running attack.
Also complementing Toppin in the secondary were senior safety Justin Sands, who will be furthering his education and football career at Penn, and savvy junior corners Jett Elad and Danny Scelza.
Sands, who also had an interception that left no doubt on Thursday night, joins talented and tough as nails senior tailback Mark Bobinski, Jamieson and senior wide receiver/defensive back Connor Kennedy, a Holy Cross recruit, as Coach Kyle's Captains.
SOME NUMBERS TO CHEW ON: Saint Ignatius, the OHSAA Division I State Runner-Up last season, led in first downs over the Knights, 13-8. Archbishop Hoban's Hamm had 104 yards passing. Coach Jack Hyland's deep receiving corps also produced three receptions for 40 yards from veteran Michael Drobnick, including a 19-yard grab, and two receptions for 22 yards from junior wide receiver Nigel Drummond II.
The Wildcats ran 61 plays for 260 yards and the Knights totaled 137 yards on 46 plays. Saint Ignatius was 8-of-15 on third-down conversions and Archbishop Hoban converted 2 of its 12 third-down situations. The Knights were penalized three times for a total of 25 yards and the Wildcats were hit with 10 penalties for 112 yards.
FROM COACH FRANZINGER ON HIS DEFENSE: "They (the Knights) kept it pretty vanilla in their scrimmages, so I told the kids that they were going to see new formations and things they hadn't practiced against, that they just had to play fast. I think we did that pretty well.
"At the same time, I told our guys that we were going to do things that they hadn't seen either. We had some (Varsity) rookies that really stepped up and played well and I thought we did a great job against their running game. Cam (Toppin), Justin (Sands) and Matt (Vinacourt) provided the leadership and really helped solidify things.
"They're (Archbishop Hoban) going to win a lot of games, I hope, and they have a lot of good players. They have a big and experienced offensive line and again, I thought our new (defensive) line played very well. I'm very pleased. They (the Knights) came right out in unbalanced formations and our kids stuck with it.
"We were in some tough situations because of turnovers, but we responded very well, kept it together and continued to play hard. This was definitely a big win."
Note: Coach Franzinger's comment on hoping the Knights win a lot of games applies to the OHSAA's Harbin playoff qualifying system, in which teams are awarded points for each game they win and each game a defeated opponent wins.
FROM TOMMY EICHENBERG, WHOSE DRIVE AND DETERMINATION ARE EVIDENT FROM THE OPENING KICKOFF UNTIL THE FINAL SECOND TICKS OFF THE CLOCK: "It's Mentor Week," Tommy said, referring to the 'Cats' next challenge, which comes on Friday night, September 1, versus the Mentor Cardinals. The kickoff from Mentor's Jerome T. Osborne Sr. Stadium will be 7 PM. As always, this old gridiron grinder will preview early next week what is one of the finest Catholic School versus Public School rivalries in the nation.
"We never took a day off, we even practiced on Sunday," said Tommy of the preparation the Wildcats put in for Thursday night's matchup with Archbishop Hoban. "We know that to be great, we have to prepare great. It's about the whole defense coming together as one. You can put us up against anyone, and we're going to go all out."
Enjoy your weekend and we will see you at Wasmer Field on Saturday morning for the 10 AM Junior Varsity Football season opener versus the JV Program from Archbishop Hoban.