Mentor, Ohio- Mentor is looking to stay at the top of the GCC, as they finished 6-1 in conference play last season. Their returners in the passing game will be huge in sustaining the program’s success.
Although the Cardinals lost multiple senior running backs in Marty Johnson and Gino Korzunowski, they still have a pretty experienced offensive group. Senior quarterback Scotty Fox has two key receivers returning in Justen Hodge and Austin VanHuss. The two receivers combined for over 140 yards per game last game season.
I got to speak with Fox about the team’s experience offensively.
“It’s great we got a ton of experience on the offensive side of the ball. That doesn’t really mean anything until we get on the field but it’s just good because everyone’s on the same page," said Fox.
That experience is something huge for a younger player like Hodge. Coming off of an 80 yard per game sophomore season he was able to pick up on a lot of things at the varsity level. Being able to find so much success while still being on a learning curve can help immensely during his junior year.
I got to ask Hodge about his main takeaways from last season.
“That was really my first full year on varsity, the speed is a lot different from what you play at before. I’m adjusting well and just looking to have a great year,” said Hodge.
With the absence of Johnson and Korzunowski, Jackson Farley is someone who could step up for Mentor and have a great year. He got the chance to get varsity reps as a sophomore as well, he rushed for 27.5 yards per game last season.
Head Coach Matt Gray spoke briefly about the strides Farley has taken heading into his junior season.
He’s gotten himself stronger; he's put on about 15-20 pounds this offseason. He’s seeing some things a little bit better…being able to set certain blocks up compared to just running and hitting that hole, being able to set it up and having some patience and being able to get those reads,” Gray expressed.
Mentor opens up the season at home versus Massillon Jackson August 23rd at 7 pm.
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