Mentor Cardinals Football 2019

cardzfan1234 said:
According to Solon's game notes, QB Pat McQuaide didn't play at all against Shaker. His replacement has a very efficient day (10-13, 183 yards, 1 TD)...but I have to imagine Solon would be at an even greater disadvantage if McQuaide is out. His numbers (973 yards passing, 68% completion, 12 TD's, 1 INT) are even more impressive considering he did this in four games, not five. His dad, Coach Jim McQuaide, said that Pat is "week to week."
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If McQuaide does get to play, I think we are in for a close game. Solon has looked a lot stronger past that week 3 loss and mentor is a great team of course. Hoping the comets pull of the upset!
 
cardzfan1234 said:
According to Solon's game notes, QB Pat McQuaide didn't play at all against Shaker. His replacement has a very efficient day (10-13, 183 yards, 1 TD)...but I have to imagine Solon would be at an even greater disadvantage if McQuaide is out. His numbers (973 yards passing, 68% completion, 12 TD's, 1 INT) are even more impressive considering he did this in four games, not five. His dad, Coach Jim McQuaide, said that Pat is "week to week."
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Without McQuaide, Solon went with a combination of sophomore QB Andrew Mulvaney and RB Khalil Eichelberger from the Wildcat formation.
 
It wasn’t always quite as easy as the final score suggested, but yesterday was a pretty dominant win over Solon. Mentor racked up over 500 yards of offense, the majority on the ground. The passing game had some inconsistencies, but more than good enough on this night. I expected a blowout, and that’s what we saw. Solon has some standout individual players, but the difference between the two teams is depth, system, and coaching.
 

Nice story on junior Riley Coughlin, backup RB. He had a very nice game against Solon. Some of it was still while the starters were in, some in the final few minutes with reserves. He had 108 yards and 3 TD’s on 12 carries. Coughlin will be the feature back in 2020, but it was nice to see him get some meaningful reps. Would like to see him utilized a little more in red zone situations.
 
Mentor has given up 95 points in 9 games. As long as Strongsville is held to less than a TD, Mentor will hold opposing regular season schedule to under 100 points for the first time since 2003 when they held their ten opponents to 54 points.

Nobody would mistaken this current group for the 2003 bunch, but their results are stellar. Two of St Ignatius' four TD's were on special teams. Solon's only score was a pick-six. The only offensive points scored on Mentor in the GCC were against the backups...that included a hail mary by Medina against Mentor's third-string with roughly a minute left in the game. Let's include the scores against the backups. The Mentor defense has really surrendered just 74 points all season if you exclude the special teams/defensive scores by the opposition. To be fair, other Mentor seasons (and every team) certainly has their share of scores that were not really against the defense. But it makes my point stronger to point that out.
 
With some research on Joe Eitel, here is how Mentor's regular season total points allowed stacks up over the years. If Mentor posts another shutout this week, they will be 2nd only to the famed "Class" defense of 2003. Notice that the three top defenses all had core players from the class of 2003 and 2004. That was quite a group. This current group has joined that list of great regular season performances. Even more impressive to do it in this day of HS football compared to the early 2000's before spread offense really took over.

The Great:
2003: 52
2002: 97

The Good:
2001: 139
2013: 139 (state runner-up)
2006: 139 (state runner-up)
2018: 140
2014: 144

The Bad:
2007: 168 (9 game schedule, state runner-up)
2011: 172
2012: 179
2000: 187

The Ugly:
2004: 201
2008: 203
2010: 218
2009: 231
2017: 237 (state-runner up)
2005: 248
2015: 284 points (this was a playoff team somehow)
2016: 292 points

*For comparison sake, the 2012 team gave up 213 points in four playoff games.
 
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I find it crazy they have a chance to go 10-0 for the first time since 2003. With a such a great program I would think it wouldn’t be so long. Obviously tough to do!
 
NEOFBallFan said:
I find it crazy they have a chance to go 10-0 for the first time since 2003. With a such a great program I would think it wouldn’t be so long. Obviously tough to do!
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It is surprising. There have been some close calls.

Last year's team was about as good as any in the Triv-era. They won the two toughies (Eds/Ignatius) at the beginning of the season. 10-0 seemed super likely. Then Kipp and Trobel got hurt. Despite an offense collecting just five first downs for the game, Solon found a way to upset a short-handed Mentor team in OT in Week 8.

The closest Mentor has gotten to a perfect season since 2003 was in 2011. I believe they were ranked No. 1 in the AP poll heading into Week 10. It was a road game at Twinsburg, a 6-3 team that was basically mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. I don't remember if Drew Pasteur was around then, but my guess is that Mentor would've been a 3-4 touchdown favorite. The Tigers got incredible play from their QB and RB...their names escape me. The defense kept Mentor in check enough to let their offense steal the show, 38-35. I think that was the most shocking loss in Mentor history.

There have been four 9-1 seasons spoiled by St Ignatius (2006, 2012, 2013, and 2017). All four of those teams eventually won the region. Three of those were state runners-up. Going 10-0 would be nice, but it is hardly the ultimate goal. If it were, Mentor would've scheduled differently over the past 15 years. It is tough to accomplish that with the schedule they play.
 
As you probably can tell, I really like Drew Pasteur's site. One of the interesting features of his data includes something he calls "most impressive performances." He can explain better than me, but basically he looks at the strength of the teams along with comparing the actual outcome to the expected outcome. Based on that, there is some number assigned to the win...I don't really know how that is calculated except that the higher the better.

Out of the thousands of wins in Ohio this season, Mentor has the most impressive victory - last week's win over Euclid. Out of the thousands of wins entered in Pasteur’s program, Mentor has three of the top seven wins this season. As I look, this is certainly biased toward bigger schools. The vast majority of these are DI and DII teams. Lets's just look at DI alone where there have been roughly 350-400 wins. Out of those hundreds of victories, Mentor owns three of the top five in terms of "impressive performances" by Pasteur's factors. The win over Euclid (#1), Solon (#3), and Medina (#5) crack the top five. Impressive.

Drew Pasteur's Fantastic 50

Rankings, weekly predictions, and playoff projections for Ohio high school football
www.fantastic50.net
 
cardzfan1234 said:
As you probably can tell, I really like Drew Pasteur's site. One of the interesting features of his data includes something he calls "most impressive performances." He can explain better than me, but basically he looks at the strength of the teams along with comparing the actual outcome to the expected outcome. Based on that, there is some number assigned to the win...I don't really know how that is calculated except that the higher the better.

Out of the thousands of wins in Ohio this season, Mentor has the most impressive victory - last week's win over Euclid. Out of the thousands of wins entered in Pasteur’s program, Mentor has three of the top seven wins this season. As I look, this is certainly biased toward bigger schools. The vast majority of these are DI and DII teams. Lets's just look at DI alone where there have been roughly 350-400 wins. Out of those hundreds of victories, Mentor owns three of the top five in terms of "impressive performances" by Pasteur's factors. The win over Euclid (#1), Solon (#3), and Medina (#5) crack the top five. Impressive.

Drew Pasteur's Fantastic 50

Rankings, weekly predictions, and playoff projections for Ohio high school football
www.fantastic50.net
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DP does a great job. Kudos to him.
 
Tomorrow is Coach Triv's last regular season game. He will be going for a perfect regular season for only the second time in his career. Even if Kipp/Trobel sat out tonight (and there is no indication they are doing that), I still think Mentor should win this game. While saying that, I would be very cautious with both players tonight...especially Trobel. A strong 1st quarter of carries leading to a 21-0 lead or something is probably all that is needed out of him.

Speaking of regular season victories, if you missed my trip down memory lane back in July:

Triv's top regular season wins (2000-2010): http://mentorfootball.blogspot.com/2019/07/trivs-top-regular-season-wins-2000-2010.html
Triv's top regular season wins (2011-2018): http://mentorfootball.blogspot.com/2019/07/trivs-top-regular-season-wins-2011-2018.html

This year's comeback win over St Ignatius would definitely make the list. That was the most impressive and unlikely regular season comeback I have seen under Triv.
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Tomorrow is Coach Triv's last regular season game. He will be going for a perfect regular season for only the second time in his career...A strong 1st quarter of carries leading to a 21-0 lead or something is probably all that is needed out of him...
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Mentor could probably name its score, but, I imagine that the Cardinals will be somewhat gracious and merely administer a "beat down".
I remember a time when the Mustangs were somewhat competitive on the gridiron with the Cardinals...even winning a couple of playoff games going back about 20 years...A lot of separation exists between these two programs now...Good luck to your Cardinals in the post season...Looking forward to seeing the Mentor boys on the basketball court as well.
 
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Absolutely a great article in the PD today on Triv. Great coach who has impacted many lives during his career. I have lot's of respect for what he has done during his many years of teaching and coaching.

www.cleveland.com

Why is Mentor football coach Steve Trivisonno leaving after this season? — Terry Pluto

The most successful football coach in the history of Mentor High will retire after this season despite having one of his best teams, and plenty of talent coming back next year.
www.cleveland.com www.cleveland.com
 
That was as good of any article I have seen on Triv. Good stuff. I like a peak into Triv’s decision this year versus riding out Kipp’s senior year. Makes it pretty clear who will be taking over.
 
Congratulations to Mentor on a league title, 10-0 season (first since 2003), and an AP poll title (first ever).

Now it is time for second season. Week 11 with Cleveland Heights is an interesting and fresh matchup. After the two played each other for years in the LEL, this will be the first time going up against the Tigers since 2010. Mentor was 14-0 against Heights from 1997-2010. The Tigers have some talent and I think the game will be more interesting than if it was Jackson or a GCC rematch against Medina/Brunswick. It will be a bitter cold Friday night. Hopefully a lot of fun for Mentor as they send off their coach the right way in his final game at the JTO. A lot of success for Triv on that field, including undefeated (11-0) in the playoffs. Since 2006 (when the new turf was installed), Trivisonno is 75-8 on the home field.
 

Interesting article. Since the announcement of Triv's retirement, there was going to be a new kind of pressure placed on him and the team. So far, they have responded really well. Those first two wins out of the gate were very impressive. The way the team has run through the GCC, especially on the defensive side of the ball, has been a pleasant surprise. But you can see in the quotes how much that monkey on their back weighs. This won't be easy. Mentor has had tougher paths than this for sure. 2003, 2012, 2013, and 2017 come to mind. But St Eds in Week 13 is incredibly difficult.

I can acknowledge that this group had the most regular season success since any team since 2003. But I'm not ready to say this team is better than last year, let alone better than some of the other greats. Last year's team was inexperienced at QB on top of Kipp not being 100%. It showed in the playoff game at Euclid. Has Kipp improved enough in the last 12 months? I'm not sure. If this group wins it all, we can confidently say they are the best Mentor team ever. But as of now, I'm not convinced. As much as the defense on that team sucked, I think I would be more confident in the 2012 Trubisky-bunch playing this year's St Eds team than I would of the current 2019 group. Probably would feel that way about a few other Mentor teams too - 2006, 2011, and 2013 come to mind. All four of those teams had an alpha dog at QB that knew he was the best player on the field and he played like it.

In 2017 and 2018, one issue was health. Elijah McDougal wasn't the same after getting hurt in the regional final. Kipp wasn't the same after his injury during the regular season. Health is always going to be a factor for every team. Have to find a way to stay healthy and/or next man step up.

One thing we can all agree with in this article - what a storybook ending it would be. 15-0 and riding off into the sunset. I hope that somehow, someway Mentor can pull it off.
 
Mentor has the ability to win it all this year. I think the region 1 winner between them and eds is going to win it. That game is a tossup to me.

Is this the most talented mentor team ever? Nope. But the state as a whole isn't the best it's been in D1 either. I agree with triv that its a very good all around team. That's how mentor won in basketball too. We shall see what happens but they definitely have a shot

Kids just gotta be strong enough to get the monkey of the community and especially Triv's back. I've said for years that the first one is the hardest by far. That's why I said if eds win over us in the region they will for sure win. Mentor wouldn't for sure win if they win the region
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
Mentor has the ability to win it all this year. I think the region 1 winner between them and eds is going to win it. That game is a tossup to me.

Is this the most talented mentor team ever? Nope. But the state as a whole isn't the best it's been in D1 either. I agree with triv that its a very good all around team. That's how mentor won in basketball too. We shall see what happens but they definitely have a shot

Kids just gotta be strong enough to get the monkey of the community and especially Triv's back. I've said for years that the first one is the hardest by far. That's why I said if eds win over us in the region they will for sure win. Mentor wouldn't for sure win if they win the region
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The R3 champs won't have a chance? St. Ed's will win for sure after they beat Mentor? Hmm interesting.
 
OneTiger said:
The R3 champs won't have a chance? St. Ed's will win for sure after they beat Mentor? Hmm interesting.
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Yeah cuz "I think" is the same as "no chance". Get out of here

Of course others have a shot. But I think the region 1 winner will win it. Even more confident if eds is that winner.
 
OneTiger said:
The R3 champs won't have a chance? St. Ed's will win for sure after they beat Mentor? Hmm interesting.
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Not really all that interesting. Ed’s isn’t the same team as back in 2005 or 2006 when they lost to Massillon after the 3rd and 22 completion that resulted in Ed’s losing. Much more experienced coaching staff to allow something like that to happen.

MG we good?!?!
 
eaglepride said:
Not really all that interesting. Ed’s isn’t the same team as back in 2005 or 2006 when they lost to Massillon after the 3rd and 22 completion that resulted in Ed’s losing. Much more experienced coaching staff to allow something like that to happen.

MG we good?!?!
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The St Ed’s coaches didn’t let that 3rd and 22 happen. It was players making plays. The St Ed’s coaches didn’t lose that game, Massillon won it.
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
Yeah cuz "I think" is the same as "no chance". Get out of here

Of course others have a shot. But I think the region 1 winner will win it. Even more confident if eds is that winner.
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"if Eds wins over us in the region they will for sure win".....Your words MG.
 
Honestly, in as much as I would love Mentor my home team to win this, the nemesis is St. Eds. I am concerned on prior win/losses as whomever won during the regular season always folds in the playoffs. This is 50/50 game and truly up for grabs on who wants it the most. The score on their last meet reflects this. I will say watching Mentor they have some very dynamic running backs who are very hard to contain, with some great players on the receiving end, so Eds will have their hands full. Should be a battle as it always is when they face off.

Being that this is Triv's last coaching season I really think this Mentor team may put it all out there, to really step it up, and give him that one championship he has always chased. This may seem a little premature and bias to be talking about this right now when there would be two games to get thru to this game, but on paper (I dont think anyone would dispute) I don't see anyone representing a D1 region 1 division championship which would not be a final between Mentor and Eds as the two contenders. Look at the win records of Mentor alone and what they did to teams like Euclid, or teams these other teams played. Had running clocks in the second half on virtually every team except Eds and Ignatius which brings up another thing as I mention below.....

Here's another one to ponder; seeing St. Ignatius not in this is just flat out odd, and yet from the bottom #8 seed up to the top #3 seed it's without a doubt they are the better of all these teams and are out watching this from the sidelines. Yeah they have had ups and downs but always found a way to always squeak into the playoffs even at a lower seed- Not that I don't want them in this playing, as it would have been another road block to get out of this region, and we all know in prior playoffs how well they play. Good Luck Mentor, let's finish this for Triv's last season!
 
OneTiger said:
"if Eds wins over us in the region they will for sure win".....Your words MG.
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Yes I think eds will win it all if they win region 1. I think if mentor wins region 1 they are the favorite but they could still lose.

So since mentor could lose that means the other regions in my opinion have a shot.

This forum is frustrating at times because people can't read well and just like to question everything. I mean do you really care if I as one message board user thinks your school can win or not ? Cuz I quite frankly don't give a damn what you think

People in various threads have picked or not picked mentor. It's their opinion. I don't bother to care
 
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