The JV Wildcats now stand 1-1 after the Cardinals' Jayvees, trailing by 10 points in the first half, ran off 28 consecutive points and went on to a 35-24 victory on a brisk, gray sky Saturday at Wasmer Field.
Saint Ignatius' Freshmen Gold, the 'Cats' top ninth-grade program, slipped to 0-2 after being turned back by Mentor's Freshmen, 24-21, at Mentor on Saturday morning.
Ohio City - After his outstanding performance in Saint Ignatius' Junior Varsity opener versus Archbishop Hoban last weekend (see this corner's story from August 26th), Wildcats gifted sophomore wide receiver, defensive back and kick returner Connor Cmiel tried his best to pick up where he left off a week ago.
Returning two kickoffs for touchdowns in the first quarter, including an 80 yards-plus effort on the second one, Connor led Saint Ignatius to a 14-7 lead that had the Wildcats' faithful buzzing. Connor now has three kickoff returns for TDs on the season.
Mentor's Jayvees, who improved to 2-0, shook off the first Cmiel return by tying the score at 7 on a 2-yard dive for a touchdown by promising freshman quarterback Ian Kipp and the ensuing extra point by junior kicker Sophie Kaplan. The 6-2, 185-pound Kipp is a name to remember, my friends.
After the sure leg of Saint Ignatius' sophomore kicker Rory McConville produced a 26-yard field goal and a 17-7 Saint Ignatius lead, Kipp and his JV supporting cast from Mentor began a run that the Wildcats couldn't recover from.
Kipp, who some of the Cardinals' longtime gridiron fans have labeled as the next in what has become a long line of celebrated quarterbacks on Center Street (Bart Tanski, Mitchell Trubisky, Connor Krizancic and Tadas Tatarunas, to name a few), fired touchdown passes to Braden Rosciszewski, Charlie Gallo and Braeden Gefert.
Despite some gutsy efforts by Wildcats sophomore quarterback Griffin Hanna, sophomore tight end/defensive lineman Sam Daugstrup, sophomore running back James Crosby and sophomore wide receivers Erik Daugenti and Henry Cook, Mentor's pass rush became more than Saint Ignatius could deal with.
The Cardinals took control at 35-17 off a little razzle-dazzle, a 40-yard touchdown pass from Rosciszewski to Gefert and the ensuing fifth PAT on the afternoon by Kaplan with 4:17 remaining to be played.
Coach Paul Yappel's Wildcats didn't go quietly, however, as they scored on an 11-yard, second-effort run by tailback Declan Boldy with 1:02 left on the clock.
FROM COACH YAPPEL: "Mentor always has a good program," said Coach Yappel, who is also an Assistant Offensive Line Coach for Saint Ignatius' Varsity Wildcats. "We started off with some explosive special teams play, but I think this is a situation where we look at this game and it gives us an idea where we're at and how we need to get better.
"For the players, this is an eye opener for what they need to do in terms of getting better individually or, more importantly, getting better as a team. They (the Cardinals) were good on both sides of the ball. It's a process of development and we build from here."
FRESHMEN 'CATS ALSO LOOK TO REBOUND: Saint Ignatius' veteran Head Coach Rodney Gallaway said his young Wildcats played well enough to win and were in position to do just that, but didn't make the plays down the stretch Saturday morning in Mentor and came out on the short end of a 24-21 final.
Coach Gallaway reported that promising tailback Mike Simcak ran well and scored off a short-yardage play for the first points of the game.
After Mentor knotted the score at 7, Saint Ignatius wide receiver/defensive back Alec LaSpina returned the ensuing kickoff 80 yards for a touchdown. The Wildcats also scored off a deep route from quarterback JP Tijanich to wide receiver Chris Snyder.
The Freshmen Cardinals kept responding, however, as they came up with the winning score with about 40 seconds remaining to be played.
Just a reminder that, as always, this gridiron grinder will be previewing early next week the Varsity Football Home Opener versus the Euclid Panthers. Both the Wildcats and the Panthers will take records of 2-0 into next Saturday's 7 PM kickoff from Byers Field in Parma's Robert M. Boulton Stadium.
Saint Ignatius leads the all-time series with Euclid, 11-1, running off those 11 victories after the Panthers were victorious in 1987, 30-7. The most memorable game in the series was the 1989 Regional Final matchup at Baldwin-Wallace College's Finnie Stadium (now Baldwin Wallace University), which saw the Wildcats, behind a reception for the ages by outstanding tight end John Jaeckin, defeat the Robert Smith-led Panthers, 31-30. Saturday night will mark the first meeting on the gridiron between Saint Ignatius and Euclid since 1999. But we'll get into that and more when we preview a matchup this veteran reporter had the privilege to cover so many times for The Plain Dealer.
God Bless and have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day Weekend.