Division 1 State Semi-Final: Mentor (9-1) vs Pickerington Central (10-0)

PC plays garbage teams, so I’d hope they get up big. There just wasn’t much separating PC from a Mentor team without the engine that makes them go.

PC is just a good team... not a great one. Just like last year when the refs bailed them out and Kipp got hurt to derail a comeback that shouldn’t have been necessary.

Mentor are the real 2019 champs, and would be in the 2020 title game with Kipp. PC is as lucky as Mentor is cursed.
You're correct, PC's league sucked this year. The real challenging games (vs. championship caliber teams from IN, PA and MI were lost to COVID). Westerville Central was good, but Mentor was by far the best team we've seen this year. PC is incredibly talented but tonight was the first true test and they did not handle it well. All that to say, not withstanding tonight's performance -- they are just better than Mentor.
 
Mentor builds their youth up for big moments. They’ve shown that the better part of this century. Abbott, Tanski, Trubisky, Tantarunas, Kipp, and now Snow and I’m sure that I missed a few.

Yes, this is a different game with Kipp, but again, the Cards’ success has been about developing the entire program from the ground up. The better ones are from communities that do that both on & off the field. Win or lose, Mentor rarely fails to impress.

S/O to PC for doing all of the above as well and once again reaching the D1 Final, but congrats to Mentor for building their youth up to fight like champions! ??
 
Congrats to Mentor on overcoming incredible obstacles before and during the game. What an effort. Too bad we couldn’t have played this out with Kipp. Kudos to Gray and the boys for stepping up.
 
PC plays garbage teams, so I’d hope they get up big. There just wasn’t much separating PC from a Mentor team without the engine that makes them go.

PC is just a good team... not a great one. Just like last year when the refs bailed them out and Kipp got hurt to derail a comeback that shouldn’t have been necessary.

Mentor are the real 2019 champs, and would be in the 2020 title game with Kipp. PC is as lucky as Mentor is cursed.
WOW! Bitter and still living in the past. Instead of putting down a team that just beat you again for the 3rd straight year, try being humble in defeat. I will say I thought Mentor played great. I also think your QB played his off. Not sure how much better they would have done with Kipp in this game. I will say that PC played terrible tonight. Play calling was horrific but a win is a win. Yes Some opponents are weak In region 3 just like every other region. League games are what they are. Their OOC games would stack up against anybody in the state. Except in 2020. If we’re only a good team well what does that say about your team. You’ve lost in the State Championship game and 2 semi’s to PC. That’s the bottom line. It’s one game. Talk about last year and refs on PC side. Come on. Tonight we gave you several 15 yarders and that TD hit the ground/skipped in there. Refs called it a TD. I’d say it worked out in the end. Good luck next year. Maybe we’ll meet up again, looking to go 4-0 against you. Go TIGERS!
 
WOW! Bitter and still living in the past. Instead of putting down a team that just beat you again for the 3rd straight year, try being humble in defeat. I will say I thought Mentor played great. I also think your QB played his off. Not sure how much better they would have done with Kipp in this game. I will say that PC played terrible tonight. Play calling was horrific but a win is a win. Yes Some opponents are weak In region 3 just like every other region. League games are what they are. Their OOC games would stack up against anybody in the state. Except in 2020. If we’re only a good team well what does that say about your team. You’ve lost in the State Championship game and 2 semi’s to PC. That’s the bottom line. It’s one game. Talk about last year and refs on PC side. Come on. Tonight we gave you several 15 yarders and that TD hit the ground/skipped in there. Refs called it a TD. I’d say it worked out in the end. Good luck next year. Maybe we’ll meet up again, looking to go 4-0 against you. Go TIGERS!
Yeah he wasn't classy in defeat but man your post is full of bs. We had to play a sophomore QB who got his first varsity start and found out a day ago.... And still put up 31 and had the ball to tie.

Kipp would have made a difference. No way do you get up 21-0 with kipp out there. No way do you stop mentor on 1st and goal from the 5. He's the reigning offensive player of the year in the state and shredded your d last year which was way better than what I saw tonight . Sophomore played well overall besides one bad interception but kipp is way better. Not even close.

You guys escaped. And I did think it would be a bloodbath. But we will never know if you would have won with kipp in there. Maybe pc plays better another time. But if all else is equal and we swap snow for kipp tonight , Mentor wins

Ps:. You can talk bad calls but nothing was as bad as that int that hit the ground last year which gave you guys a short field. That was a game changer. And again you're lucky kipp got hurt while we were driving.
 
Yeah he wasn't classy in defeat but man your post is full of bs. We had to play a sophomore QB who got his first varsity start and found out a day ago.... And still put up 31 and had the ball to tie.

Kipp would have made a difference. No way do you get up 21-0 with kipp out there. No way do you stop mentor on 1st and goal from the 5. He's the reigning offensive player of the year in the state and shredded your d last year which was way better than what I saw tonight . Sophomore played well overall besides one bad interception but kipp is way better. Not even close.

You guys escaped. And I did think it would be a bloodbath. But we will never know if you would have won with kipp in there. Maybe pc plays better another time. But if all else is equal and we swap snow for kipp tonight , Mentor wins

Ps:. You can talk bad calls but nothing was as bad as that int that hit the ground last year which gave you guys a short field. That was a game changer. And again you're lucky kipp got hurt while we were driving.
To quote the great philosopher, Dandy Don Meredith, "If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas"! Turn off the lights on your way out...
 
PC posters have not demonstrated themselves to be open to reasonable discourse and logic, so I don’t try with them. PC posters aren’t deserving of a “classy” post from the opponent’s fans by and large, and you shouldn’t feel the need for one.

Only fan base I’ve found to be this way here. So deal with the facts. Mentor was better 2 years in a row and PC lucked out. Great team in 2017...there’s the “class”.

Mentor further proved they are the class of the public schools for high school football in Ohio, and right there with Ed’s as best overall perennially. Great game from Mentor.
 
PC posters have not demonstrated themselves to be open to reasonable discourse and logic, so I don’t try with them. PC posters aren’t deserving of a “classy” post from the opponent’s fans by and large, and you shouldn’t feel the need for one.

Only fan base I’ve found to be this way here. So deal with the facts. Mentor was better 2 years in a row and PC lucked out. Great team in 2017...there’s the “class”.

Mentor further proved they are the class of the public schools for high school football in Ohio, and right there with Ed’s as best overall perennially. Great game from Mentor.
Many of them are the type of posters that get self esteem from kids winning while they do nothing and watch on TV or in the stands. I agree. There are some arrogant ones . Some are fine though.

To act like a sophomore making.his first ever start is close to kipp though was hilarious.
 
Yeah you guys have a horseshoe that's for sure
I think Mentor played there butts off and they should be proud, with Kipp I think they win the game but was there anyone out of the game for Mentor other than Kipp? I give Mentor a lot of respect to play PC down to the wire, great program at Mentor.
 
I think Mentor played there butts off and they should be proud, with Kipp I think they win the game but was there anyone out of the game for Mentor other than Kipp? I give Mentor a lot of respect to play PC down to the wire, great program at Mentor.
Not that I know of but he's the most important player by far. We swapped out the reigning ohio offensive player of the year for a sophomore making his first varsity start with zero practice time and one day notice

That makes a gigantic difference

He played as well as could be expected and then some but he's not kipp
 
Kipp ran for over 150 yards last year in just over 3 quarters last year vs PC. Snow didn't know until yesterday's walk through that he was starting. No disrespect to what Snow accomplished, but Kipp would have put up huge numbers tonight.
 
Kipp ran for over 150 yards last year in just over 3 quarters last year vs PC. Snow didn't know until yesterday's walk through that he was starting. No disrespect to what Snow accomplished, but Kipp would have put up huge numbers tonight.
And I think almost 200 yards passing on top of that. Yeah Snow played way better than anyone should have expected but he's not kipp. He does show promise so we shall see
 
I suggest you watch it again, or buy some glasses. The ball was 6 inches off the ground when he caught it.
The commentators were very pro pc a few times tonight. That play was one of them. I rewound it too after the supposed play by play guy was cheerleading to reverse that. Looked like he caught it. Also that was first down
 
The commentators were very pro pc a few times tonight. That play was one of them. I rewound it too after the supposed play by play guy was cheerleading to reverse that. Looked like he caught it. Also that was first down

I think the commentators post for PC on these boards. Barely mention Kipp’s absence, didn’t give Snow nearly enough credit for not being scared and making plays on this stage, and talking about PC like they’re the Jordan Bulls.

Whatever, I thought last week the commentators were nauseatingly pro Mentor.

And that was a TD catch. Got 2 hands under the ball. We had some great catches and some terrible drops. Overall, the kids were great. Gray should have gone for 2 after our last TD. Wound up being a moot point, but could have easily screwed us.
 
I hate to see this for Mentor, especially on the heels of what was likely a final four berth last year in basketball taken away (Mentor was better than Shaker ... hence beating them twice in the regular season).

Now this???

I know the Mentor people here weren't sold on this being one of their best teams. Maybe it wasn't, but I never saw it as a team that couldn't win a state title. Tonight showed it, but they didn't have what likely would have been the best player (between the two teams) on the field... who happens to play the most important position for a reason sounds like out of his control.

There is no way to downplay that, regardless of how well the sophomore played in Kipp's place. Say what you want where this group would stack up against the all time Mentor teams, but it was one that nearly navigated a very tough schedule undefeated (the GCC overall was as tough as it has been for Mentor even going back to the NOC).

This was a very good team that could have beaten anybody in Ohio. Absolutely sucks to see it end in this fashion, especially when the basketball team never got its shot to even finish its season last year.
 
I think the commentators post for PC on these boards. Barely mention Kipp’s absence, didn’t give Snow nearly enough credit for not being scared and making plays on this stage, and talking about PC like they’re the Jordan Bulls.

Whatever, I thought last week the commentators were nauseatingly pro Mentor.

And that was a TD catch. Got 2 hands under the ball. We had some great catches and some terrible drops. Overall, the kids were great. Gray should have gone for 2 after our last TD. Wound up being a moot point, but could have easily screwed us.
They were trying to downplay the Kipp story for the kid's sake.
 
I hate to see this for Mentor, especially on the heels of what was likely a final four berth last year in basketball taken away (Mentor was better than Shaker ... hence beating them twice in the regular season).

Now this???

I know the Mentor people here weren't sold on this being one of their best teams. Maybe it wasn't, but I never saw it as a team that couldn't win a state title. Tonight showed it, but they didn't have what likely would have been the best player (between the two teams) on the field... who happens to play the most important position for a reason sounds like out of his control.

There is no way to downplay that, regardless of how well the sophomore played in Kipp's place. Say what you want where this group would stack up against the all time Mentor teams, but it was one that nearly navigated a very tough schedule undefeated (the GCC overall was as tough as it has been for Mentor even going back to the NOC).

This was a very good team that could have beaten anybody in Ohio. Absolutely sucks to see it end in this fashion, especially when the basketball team never got its shot to even finish its season last year.
Yep. Covid ended our basketball season. Then it took away our best player in football. Really sucks but you have to be really good to win it all and then also have some luck. Mentor is snakebitten when it comes to the latter
 
Many of them are the type of posters that get self esteem from kids winning while they do nothing and watch on TV or in the stands. I agree. There are some arrogant ones . Some are fine though.

To act like a sophomore making.his first ever start is close to kipp though was hilarious.
I never said the sophomore was as good as Kipp. Simply said that he played his off. I don’t think anybody would dispute that. Nobody knows how much better Kipp would have played in this game. I can say that PC defense played terrible. No disrespect to Mentor just a fact. And if you want to talk about the int last year fine. The TD tonight skipped in there. No TD. That’s big. Who knows what else happens after that. I will say that play calling was horrific. They need to create plays specifically for Styles to put him in advantageous positions. Not sure how any of what I said wasn’t “classy” nor do I care. I do know that the last 3 times we’ve played you we won. Every time there is an excuse. After 3 losses in 3 years it isn’t the stars aligning against you. The best team on game night is always the team with the most points. Period. It’s determined by wins and losses not style points. I also know that this is the first game where the defense had to play a whole game and I’m happy they did. I believe mentally they weren’t ready for a close game. This was good for them. They needed to be pushed. All teams have been hit with unfortunate issues whether COVID or injuries, etc. Finally I do know that Jay will show nothing for other teams. If they are up they will run run run and punt. I don’t agree with it but that’s how he calls it. Over the past few years this has happened and it lets teams back into games. They’ve lost a couple of them too.
 
I saw a well-coached, talented Mentor team out there tonight. Obviously not having Kipp was a killer, but give props to the other players... they balled out! I do think the commentators were so busy praising PC that they forgot to actually watch the game. The Mentor D got zero love except for Gladish. I think they were 'intoxicated' by the colleges recruiting our guys and some of the family bloodlines. Late into the game they finally gave Snow the praises he deserved. That kid is going to be a good one. I'm a PC guy but I'm also UNC grad, so I'll always be thankful for Mitch Trubisky and Brandon Fritts. Those Mentor grads were great Tar Heels.
 
I never said the sophomore was as good as Kipp. Simply said that he played his off. I don’t think anybody would dispute that. Nobody knows how much better Kipp would have played in this game. I can say that PC defense played terrible. No disrespect to Mentor just a fact. And if you want to talk about the int last year fine. The TD tonight skipped in there. No TD. That’s big. Who knows what else happens after that. I will say that play calling was horrific. They need to create plays specifically for Styles to put him in advantageous positions. Not sure how any of what I said wasn’t “classy” nor do I care. I do know that the last 3 times we’ve played you we won. Every time there is an excuse. After 3 losses in 3 years it isn’t the stars aligning against you. The best team on game night is always the team with the most points. Period. It’s determined by wins and losses not style points. I also know that this is the first game where the defense had to play a whole game and I’m happy they did. I believe mentally they weren’t ready for a close game. This was good for them. They needed to be pushed. All teams have been hit with unfortunate issues whether COVID or injuries, etc. Finally I do know that Jay will show nothing for other teams. If they are up they will run run run and punt. I don’t agree with it but that’s how he calls it. Over the past few years this has happened and it lets teams back into games. They’ve lost a couple of them too.

Na in 2017 you were better. Never made excuses. You weren't 28 points better as Mentor was going for it deep in their own territory to try to win which enlarged tth score. But yes pc was a few scores better

Last year I do think Mentor was better. The better team doesn't always win in a one game scenario. You guys had a ton going for you in that game and escaped with a 1 td win. Many calls went your way. That int call was awful. And kipp got hurt while driving.

This year I also think pc was the better overall team. Thought it was a bigger disparity all year. But not tonight. ..tonight it was very close. It's not an excuse to bring up differences in the QBs. It made a difference

And again that td was a catch. I rewound it. He had his hands under the ball
 
I saw a well-coached, talented Mentor team out there tonight. Obviously not having Kipp was a killer, but give props to the other players... they balled out! I do think the commentators were so busy praising PC that they forgot to actually watch the game. The Mentor D got zero love except for Gladish. I think they were 'intoxicated' by the colleges recruiting our guys and some of the family bloodlines. Late into the game they finally gave Snow the praises he deserved. That kid is going to be a good one. I'm a PC guy but I'm also UNC grad, so I'll always be thankful for Mitch Trubisky and Brandon Fritts. Those Mentor grads were great Tar Heels.
Classy post. They were great ones
 
Finally, I do know that Jay will show nothing for other teams. If they are up they will run run run and punt.

I love this one most of all. “We’re not showing anything because we’re so super awesome.” There’s nothing to show. You run about 4 plays with a few subtle variations.

I guess next week we can expect the double reverse flea flicker you’ve been sitting on for 10 years.
 
Snow had 193 yards passing and 39 yards rushing. Coughlin had 64 yards rushing. Mentor had been preserving and protecting Kipp and Coughlin all year for the Regional Finals and States.
I have no doubt Kipp easily runs for over 100 yards. It was the one glaring difference in Snow's game.
 
Snow had 193 yards passing and 39 yards rushing. Coughlin had 64 yards rushing. Mentor had been preserving and protecting Kipp and Coughlin all year for the Regional Finals and States.
I have no doubt Kipp easily runs for over 100 yards. It was the one glaring difference in Snow's game.
Very true. Snow has burst and is tough but he's not as big or strong as kipp and it isn't close
 
Snow had 193 yards passing and 39 yards rushing. Coughlin had 64 yards rushing. Mentor had been preserving and protecting Kipp and Coughlin all year for the Regional Finals and States.
I have no doubt Kipp easily runs for over 100 yards. It was the one glaring difference in Snow's game.

Yes, and the QB run is the best play in high school football. That’s a huge part of PC’s offense, and Wallace makes you have to respect it every snap, just like Kipp does. Wallace has more speed, but Kipp jukes guys out of their shoes and has good speed too.

It was so frustrating to see Mentor kept out of the end zone after getting first and goal at the 5 early in the game. That’s where Kipp is money. Almost blew the same scenario later, but a great 4th down throw and catch saved it.

PC’s defense was exposed and Kipp would have sliced and diced them.
 
Top