Mentor, Ohio— A cloudy Friday evening was the scene as the St. Ignatius Wildcats traveled on the road to take on the Mentor Cardinals.
St Ignatius came out ready to play as they started with a 3-and-out thanks to a 3rd down sack from Greg Hanson Jr.
They took advantage as Max Ritt ran for consecutive 1st down carries getting
them in the red zone.
Tommy Kilbane would then punch in an eight yard field goal to give iggy a 3-0 lead.
Mentor’s brightest play of the quarter came from a Spencer Garringer forced fumble.
They’d go 3-and-out and the quarter would close with them down 3-0.
Iggy came out in 2nd getting Ritt going in the run game.
Later during the drive Joshua Papesh would find Johnathan Merimee on a one yard play action pass touchdown.
Iggy would lead 10-0 with around seven minutes to go.
Mentor would answer with a pass heavy drive featuring Austin Van Huss and multiple receptions from Justin Hodge.
The drive would end with a five yard touchdown pass to Hodge from Scotty Fox.
Mentor would then score on their very next drive with a five yard Scotty fox keeper.
The half closed with Mentor up 14-10.
Iggy opened the half gaining good field position with Max Ritt getting several first downs in the run game.
That was before Joshua Papesh would connect with AJ Haddox on a 30 yard play action pass.
This would set up a beautiful Papesh to Merimee 11 yard touchdown pass & catch with about 8:35 to go.
When asked about his success in the red zone, Merimee said, “The coaches believe in me to throw it up to me… if you throw it up to me I’m gonna go get it.”
The qtr would end with empty drives and turnovers from both teams. One being a fumble recovery for Ignatius forced by Ryan Ardire.
The other being an interception caught by Caden Marksowski for Mentor.
The quarter ended with Mentor down 16-14.
Mentor opened up fourth with a forced fumble from Henry Schenk, which was recovered by Marty Johnson.
Iggy’s defense would hold strong forcing a 3 and out.
Despite dominating the ball with the run game with Grant Washington and Max Ritt, Iggy’s long drive would come up short.
Mentor got the ball back with 1 minute left.
A huge sack from Ryan Ardire with around 20 seconds left would help Iggy seal the 16-14 W.
When asked about the team’s win, Head Coach Ryan Franzinger said, “I have tremendous respect for my mentor... It’s a privilege to come in and get a win.”
The Wildcats will be back in action Friday? September 1st 7 PM at home.
They take on the Central Catholic Vikings from Pennsylvania.
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