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Football Camp Report: Start of a New Season

By Eddie Dwyer, 06/07/18, 10:00AM EDT

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The Varsity and JV Football Cats opened camp on Wednesday with sunshine and blue skies hovering over Wasmer Field

Ohio City - Learning a few new wrinkles, both offensively and defensively, were the main challenges the Varsity and Junior Varsity Cats faced on a near perfect weather day that was more like early fall than June 6th.

 Along with this corner's view and tidbits from Wednesday's camp, be sure to check out some news from the OHSAA and the GCFCA near the end of this report.   

 BACK AT MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Saint Ignatius' veteran coordinators, Nick Restifo with the offense and Ryan Franzinger '02 for the defense, directed the first day of camp and were assisted by the Wildcats' outstanding staff of Offensive Line Coach Adam Rini '99; Quarterbacks Coach Jim Cahill '89; Running Backs Coach Terry Fergus '72; Offensive Line/Head Junior Varsity Coach Paul Yappel; Wide Reveivers Coach Jack Hyland '14; Defensive Line Coaches Dave Cicetti and Mark Sullivan; Defensive Backfield Coach Kevin Johnson '10; Director of Strength and Conditioning Anthony Rubino, and Student Assistant Coach Benjamin John Rossi '20. We will have more on Coach Rossi near the end of this opening camp report.

 Also assisting with the defense on Wednesday was former Wildcats standout middle linebacker Kolin Sullivan '09, a stalwart on Saint Ignatius' State and National Runner-Up team of 2008.

 Hall of Fame Head Coach Chuck Kyle '69 and his wife Pat are vacationing in Italy, but Coach Kyle will be back on Wasmer Field for Monday's second camp, which will kick off Coach Kyle's 36th season as the director of his alma mater's storied football program.

 Coach Kyle carries a career record of 345-87-1 (all at Saint Ignatius), a mark that includes OHSAA records of 28 postseason playoff appearances and 11 Division I State Championships, including five in a row from 1991 to 1995. The Football Wildcats carry a postseason record of 72-17, which has also helped produce two State Runner-Up finishes in 1996 and 2016, three National Championships in 1989, 1993 and 1995, and the National Runner-Up in 2008.

 Monday's camp will begin with the Varsity at 3 PM, followed by the Junior Varsity at approximately 5 PM.

 GETTING THEIR SNAPS AND KICKS: Senior snapper Sean Wracher, senior kicker/punter Patrick Otter, junior kicker Rory McConville and sophomore kicker Declan Mangan were busy working both goal posts and the midfield area of Wasmer Field on Wednesday afternoon and early evening.

 Like McConville did last season, Mangan was working on his field goals all by himself at the scoreboard end of Wasmer Field, while the rest of the JV team was trying to work out those "new wrinkles." This old gridiron grinder told Declan that he has taken over the label I gave McConville last summer - Loneliness of the long distance kicker. Declan had an outstanding season last fall as the Freshmen Team's kicker.

 THE BIG MEN UP FRONT: Senior Co-Captain and two-way lineman Grant Abbott was doubling with the O-Line and D-Line on Wednesday, as was senior tight end/defensive line mainstay Aidan Wells.

 Aidan, the pride of St. Mary of Berea, shared with this corner that he currently has 10 college offers and that the Ivy League schools head the top of his list.

 A DISRUPTIVE FORCE: Ok, it was just the first camp. However, as he did throughout last season, senior defensive lineman Zach McMahan wasted little time in making his presence felt. Yes, even without the pads on Zach can seriously discourage a play by the offense.

 JETT PROPELLED: Senior Jett Elad, one of the top cornerbacks in Northeast Ohio, if not the entire state, said the University of Cincinnati (alma mater of the NFL's All-Pro Kelce Brothers) is one of the schools at the top of his list and that he is going to be visiting Penn State, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Toledo and Michigan State in the upcoming weekend and next week.

 Eastern Michigan is also on his list and Jett said he has talked a lot with Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky.

 TOMMY EICHENBERG IS VISITING BOSTON COLLEGE: The Wildcats' Overall Most Valuable Player as a junior last season, Tommy, one of Ohio's and the nation's standout linebackers, is on an official visit to Boston College. BC is the home of former Wildcats All-Ohio Quarterback Dennis Grosel '16, who turned in a solid Spring Game for the Eagles. Boston College is another addition to Tommy's already impressive list.

 AIR DELAHUNTY: Senior quarterback Patrick Delahunty, who has grown an inch or two from last season and has added well-conditioned strength, made some solid throws on Wednesday afternoon, including a deep on-the-money seam route combination with gifted junior tight end Sam Daugstrup that made a visit to the Lorain Avenue end zone.

 Coach Restifo, who has developed some of the most outstanding quarterbacks to have ever played on Ohio's gridirons, was pleased with the afternoon Delahunty turned in, including a decision Patrick made off a pass in the left flat under pressure.

 FROM ASSISTANT COACH BENJAMIN JOHN ROSSI: "I love the game of football and always have," said now Coach Rossi, a former Wildcat linebacker who will be entering his junior year at Saint Ignatius.

 "Last year, I suffered another concussion playing football so after the season I talked with Coach Franzinger on how I could still be involved in the program," Rossi continued. "He offered me an Assistant Coaching position and I was more than happy to accept his offer.

 "I sense that I am going to be helping with the drills around the team, some film work and actually in some of the coaches meetings I will be assisting Coach Franzinger in giving some input," said the young man who left a lasting impression with this seasoned reporter in the pre-game discussions I would have with him before the Saturday morning Junior Varsity games.

 Coach Rossi added that he will be "pretty much a man behind the scenes, observing from the sidelines." Benjamin John said he is very excited about this season, emphasizing that it is going to be "a very good one," and before heading home on Wednesday he graded his first day on the job.

 "It was awesome," said the young man for others. "To be honest, I didn't know what to expect and for a fact I know the coaches didn't know what to expect. I'm a quick learner, so once I got my cues down it was a smooth sail."

  FROM COACH FRANZINGER ON WEDNESDAY'S FIRST CAMP FOR 2018: "I was pleased with the defensive backs, the communication," said Coach Franzinger. "One guy in particular, (senior) Mitch Puhalsky made a great play (off an exceptional read and reaction). He's coming off hip surgery.

 "Jett (Elad) is stepping into more of a leader's role and (senior) Dan Scelza, (senior) John Wetula, who is coming off a great track season, and (junior) Connor Cmiel, you can tell those guys are now veterans," Coach Franzinger continued. "They made the checks that had to be made, the communications. It was real good to see."

 ANOTHER NEW MEMBER THE WILDCATS' STAFF: Helping out with the Wildcats' Freshmen Program this season will be Jeff Welcsh, father of Wildcats outstanding junior running back Jack Welcsh. Jeff Welcsh previously coached at Baldwin Wallace University and the College of Wooster.

 *OUR BEST WISHES GO OUT TO FORMER WILDCATS GIFTED CENTER JIVAN MEGUERDITCHIAN '18 AND STANDOUT OFFENSIVE LINEMAN BILLY CORTE '18, WHO WILL BE REPRESENTING SAINT IGNATIUS IN FRIDAY'S 46th ANNUAL GREATER CLEVELAND FOOTBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION'S EAST-WEST HIGH SCHOOL ALL-STAR SCHOLARSHIP FOOTBALL GAME AT JOHN CARROLL UNIVERSITY'S DON SHULA STADIUM.

 THE KICKOFF IS 7 PM AND TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE AT THE GATE FOR $8 PER PERSON. CHILDREN UNDER 5 WILL BE ADMITTED FREE.      

 SOME NEWS FROM THE OHSAA: The Ohio High School Athletic Association will return to using Saturday nights for several divisions during the football playoffs this coming season and the 2018 Championship Games will return to Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. As someone who loves the Friday night lights of high school football, I was very happy to hear that the OHSAA playoff games in Division I will remain on Friday nights. Playoff games in Divisions II, III and VI will also be played on Fridays, and the Division IV, V and VII playoff games will be played on Saturdays. All Friday night playoff games will kick off at 7 p.m.

2018 OHSAA Football Schedule

Tuesday, August 7 through Saturday, August 18 – Scrimmages permitted. Saint Ignatius will scrimmage the Solon Comets on August 7th at 10 AM on Wasmer Field and will travel to Canton's Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on August 17th for the annual preseason matchup with the McKinley Bulldogs.    

Monday, August 20 – Regular season games may begin.

Saturday, October 27 – Regular season ends.

Sunday, October 28 – Final computer points posted and playoff qualifiers announced.

Friday, November 2 – Regional Quarterfinals in Divisions I, II, III and VI.

Saturday, November 3 – Regional Quarterfinals in Divisions IV, V and VII.

Friday, November 9 – Regional Semifinals in Divisions I, II, III and VI.

Saturday, November 10 – Regional Semifinals in Divisions IV, V and VII.

Friday, November 16 – Regional Finals in Divisions I, II, III and VI.

Saturday, November 17 – Regional Finals in Divisions IV, V and VII.

Friday, November 23 – State Semifinals in Divisions I, II, III and VI.

Saturday, November 24 – State Semifinals in Divisions IV, V and VII.
State Championship Games at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, Canton (Nov. 29-Dec. 2). 

Have a great rest of the week and weekend, and we will see you back at Wasmer Field on Monday.