St Ignatius Football 2021

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ignatius had a run of large, mobile linemen from about 2015-2017. Including the 2016 line, the biggest I can recall at the school.

This group is built a little differently, but have been solid.

The key is on the defensive side. The Cats have been absolutely gashed recently, especially against the passing attacks.
 
tom 48 said:
List of top offensive lines. Ignatius is #4, behind Hoban, Stow, and Strongsville:

4. St. Ignatius — An experienced group for the Wildcats includes Ashton Montgomery, who began at center but kicked out to tackle with two-way starter Tommy Wasinski at guard and Brian Keane at center. William Witalis also earned time at tackle last season. All four are seniors with crafty 6-4 senior quarterback Joe Pfaff behind them.

Although, in his list of top tackles, Matt Goul has Ashton Montgomery playing for the wrong school:

Ashton Montgomery, St. Vincent-St. Mary
Height: 6-2
Weight: 300
Year: Senior
About Montgomery: He is one of the area’s most versatile linemen, able to play guard or center in addition to tackle. Montgomery missed last year’s regional semifinal against Medina. Until that point, he had been locked in as the right tackle.
Click to expand...

Probably referring to Tariq Montgomery.
 
Worm02 said:
Probably referring to Tariq Montgomery.
Click to expand...

No, Tariq got his own writeup:

Tariq Montgomery, St. Vincent-St. Mary
Height: 6-5
Weight: 298
Year: Senior
About Montgomery: A big right tackle, Washington doesn’t just rely on his size to sit back and pass block. He’s an aggressive run blocker, which last year helped STVM use Darrian Lewis and Josh Nickerson to gain big chunks of yardage even without 2019 leading rusher George Linberger, who is back for his senior season. Montgomery is a Marshall commit.

It was just an error. Gould is to be commended on his work with high school sports. He's really the only one assigned to a site and paper that has pretty much forsaken any non-professional local sports.
 
Jeff McCormick, founder and moderator of SIBN, leaves to go to CWRU.

www.ignatius.edu

With Gratitude for Jeff McCormick ’83

After 13 years at his Alma Mater, Jeff McCormick ’83 of the Advancement team has accepted a new position as the Executive Director of the Annual Fund at Case Western Reserve University. McCormick has served in several roles in Advancement, most recently as Director of Operations and Planned...
www.ignatius.edu www.ignatius.edu
 
cleveland.com look at Ignatius:


CLEVELAND, Ohio — Joey Pfaff waited his turn a few games into last year’s condensed regular season and took advantage of the opportunity.
He never let go of the starting quarterback job following a competition with Jaxon French, who is now at Lake Catholic. Pfaff now is coach Chuck Kyle’s first returning starter at quarterback since All-Ohio selection Dennis Grosel in 2015.

In addition to Pfaff, who threw for 896 yards and six TDs in five games, the Wildcats return four starters on the offensive line. Running back Marty Lenehan also returns at running back after a late-season surge, giving Kyle reason for optimism about his team entering a 39th season at the school.

The Wildcats also have a returning starter at receiver in Steve Bodamer.

The defensive front is experienced, too, led by Peter Chalhoub and two-way lineman Tommy Wasinski. Linebackers Gavin Berger and Chris Aerni are returning starters, while Griffin Taliak and Braeden Laer anchor the secondary at safety.

St. Ignatius is strong up the middle on defense.

Meet the Wildcats in the video above from a scrimmage against Solon and learn more about them below with a team breakdown that includes players to watch and a schedule, as cleveland.com continues its preseason high school football camp tour.



ST. IGNATIUS WILDCATS​


2020 record: 3-4, Region 1 semifinalist
Coach: Chuck Kyle (39th season)
League: Independent

Players to watch
Joey Pfaff, QB, 6-4, 190, sr.
Marty Lenehan, RB, 5-9, 185, sr.
Steven Bodamer, WR, 6-1, 170, jr.
Patrick Tompkins, WR, 6-3, 185, sr.
Sean Ward, TE, 6-4, 230, sr.
Ashton Montgomery, OT/C, 6-2, 300, sr.
Brian Keane, OT/C, 6-4, 300, sr.
William Witalis, OT, 6-3, 245, sr.
Tommy Wasinski, G/DT, 5-10, 270, sr.
Joseph Ryland, G/C, 6-3, 285, sr.
Pat Lavelle, C, 5-11, 235, jr.
William Robinson, DE/TE, 6-5, 250, jr.
Peter Chalhoub, DT, 6-2, 240, sr.
Gavin Berger, OLB, 6-1, 200, sr.
Chris Aerni, ILB, 5-11, 210, sr.
Max Palinski, LB/RB, 6-1, 205, sr.
Joe Norris, CB, 6-1, 180, sr.
Brandon Webster, CB, 6-0, 170, jr.
Jack Mangan, CB, 6-0, 170, sr.
Griffin Taliak, S, 5-11, 175, sr.
Braeden Lair, S, 6-0, 195, sr.
Zeb Eldridge, K/P, 6-0, 160, sr.

Schedule
Aug. 20 at Springfield
Aug. 27 at Mentor
Sept. 3 vs. Mount St. Joseph (Md.)
Sept. 10 at Euclid
Sept. 18 vs. Archbishop Hoban
Sept. 24 vs. River Rouge (Mich.)
Oct. 2 at St. Edward
Oct. 9 at Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller
Oct. 15 vs. Cincinnati St. Xavier
Oct. 22 vs. Clarkson Football North (Ont.)
 
Last edited:
Cleveland.com top players continues:

Safeties

Griffin Taliak, St. Ignatius
Height: 5-11
Weight: 175
Year: Senior

About Taliak: An honorable mention selection last year for the All-Northeast Lakes District team in Division I, Taliak had 30.5 tackles. That leads returning players at St. Ignatius and good for second last year behind Aidan Hubbard, who is now at Northwestern. Taliak also had two pass breakups and two tackles for loss.

Keep an eye on: Braeden Lair, St. Ignatius, sr.
 
Ignatius will be wearing new uniforms this year from Jordan Brand.

view.jpg
 
Wildcats1886 said:
Disappointing to lose guys who could have been significant contributors. Waldron looked like a future star as a freshman - what could have been if he hadn’t gotten injured.
Click to expand...
Agree.

Robinson missing is perplexing as he was in the Twitter pictures recently.
 
PDC said:
Agree.

Robinson missing is perplexing as he was in the Twitter pictures recently.
Click to expand...
Agree on Robinson. His Twitter page still shows him at Ignatius, at the Duke and Harvard FB camps, and visiting the BC and Virginia facilities during June. However, nothing posted since end of June.

Max Palinski is shown as a sophomore on the roster, but he's a junior. Steven Bodamer is listed as a junior, but he's a senior
Maybe there are some roster errors?
 
IgnatiusWildcat said:
The lines in 2016 and 2017 were big, deep and talented.

As far as being a "serious" power, the mystique of the program has been over for years.
Click to expand...
Despair not— professional HS players are coming to every state soon (as a result of the US Supreme Court’s decision to reject/invalidate the NCAA’s restrictions on scholastic sport ”amateurism”)— when that (loathsome) day arrives, all parties will have to just learn to deal with it— and try to make the best of it–- and WHO do YOU think (in Ohio) will be best positioned to not just deal with that Brave New World— but actually take advantage of it?
 
Looks like about 79 on the roster, way down from the days when there were over 100 on the varsity. Oh well, more sports opportunities in other endeavors, etc.
 
Yes, the JV numbers in particular are abysmal. They may need to start mixing some freshman or juniors into JV if the trend continues. Current roster has 3 DL listed, all of whom are also listed as OL.
 
tom 48 said:
Looks like about 79 on the roster, way down from the days when there were over 100 on the varsity. Oh well, more sports opportunities in other endeavors, etc.
Click to expand...
A reflection of (smart) Moms making their CTE fears known, wouldn't you think? But regardless, when all the best players start getting paid (via NIL) to play where they're playing, don't you fully expect Ig to get MORE than their share of the best players? And I assume that you are wistful for the days of Ig being dominant on the field-- not in sideline numbers... bring in most of the best players, and that dominance will be back, regardless of the total team roster size (akin to the last really good Mooney teams). I don't expect that ANYONE (in Ohio, at least) will be back to those kind of ~125-count rosters (that X and Ig once had) in the modern era of CTE awareness.
 
4GX said:
A reflection of (smart) Moms making their CTE fears known, wouldn't you think? But regardless, when all the best players start getting paid (via NIL) to play where they're playing, don't you fully expect Ig to get MORE than their share of the best players? And I assume that you are wistful for the days of Ig being dominant on the field-- not in sideline numbers... bring in most of the best players, and that dominance will be back, regardless of the total team roster size (akin to the last really good Mooney teams). I don't expect that ANYONE (in Ohio, at least) will be back to those kind of ~125-count rosters (that X and Ig once had) in the modern era of CTE awareness.
Click to expand...

I wonder about the CTE situation also. However, if one still wanted to play football, Ignatius would be an excellent place to go, since Chuck Kyle is employed by the Browns and NFL to conduct workshops for coaches and players about teaching proper methods of tackling to minimize concussions. I also doubt that the playing of players will affect the enrollment of football players as long as the school continues its strict transfer policy. I would expect players would gravitate more toward schools that would let them transfer in during their upperclassman years. The athletic emphasis has gradually gone away from football. The lack of many rivalries has also hindered excitement in the program on a weekly basis. It's hard to get excited by River Rouge, Mi ( no offense to them, but it is a team that is unfamiliar). and we all know the excitement and talk during the week leading up to the rivalry games. During the " heyday" of Ignatius football, local teams were still playing, and great rivalries were established with teams such as Boardman, Warren Harding and Canton McKinley. Thank God for Mentor.
 
Kyle was at my son's football practice showing them proper techniques. He hasn't lost his vigor for it.

I have a friend and his son is a starter on this year's varsity. He told me recently that kids at Ignatius just don't see football as a primary sport.

Soccer, lacrosse, hockey, and now basketball all rank above it.
 
tom 48 said:
I wonder about the CTE situation also. However, if one still wanted to play football, Ignatius would be an excellent place to go, since Chuck Kyle is employed by the Browns and NFL to conduct workshops for coaches and players about teaching proper methods of tackling to minimize concussions. I also doubt that the playing of players will affect the enrollment of football players as long as the school continues its strict transfer policy. I would expect players would gravitate more toward schools that would let them transfer in during their upperclassman years. The athletic emphasis has gradually gone away from football. The lack of many rivalries has also hindered excitement in the program on a weekly basis. It's hard to get excited by River Rouge, Mi ( no offense to them, but it is a team that is unfamiliar). and we all know the excitement and talk during the week leading up to the rivalry games. During the " heyday" of Ignatius football, local teams were still playing, and great rivalries were established with teams such as Boardman, Warren Harding and Canton McKinley. Thank God for Mentor.
Click to expand...
There is nothing Chuck Kyle, or the Cleveland Browns, or the NFL, or all the King’s horses and all the King’s men can do to make football a safe game to play (when it comes to CTE)— it is inherent in tackle football (much of the constant, regular brain damage from the sport is inflicted on linemen, in the initial surge off the snap, on EVERY play)— if you plan to switch to touch football, then you might have the basis for an argument with an informed mom who has studied the relevant scientific research on this subject.

I am pleased, impressed (and proud) that Ig continues to stand by its standards of academic excellence— and insist that, if you want to be an Ig student, you must start as a freshman, and do four years at the school— X also follows this Jesuit educational precept-- and I strongly HOPE that neither school (nor the Jesuits) EVER backs off on this requirement.

But again, it won’t matter when “pay for play” comes into the mix in Ohio HS sports— Ig will have the deepest pockets in the Northern half of the state— and I think I know who will have the deepest pockets in the southern half, as well.
 
4GX said:
A reflection of (smart) Moms making their CTE fears known, wouldn't you think? But regardless, when all the best players start getting paid (via NIL) to play where they're playing, don't you fully expect Ig to get MORE than their share of the best players? And I assume that you are wistful for the days of Ig being dominant on the field-- not in sideline numbers... bring in most of the best players, and that dominance will be back, regardless of the total team roster size (akin to the last really good Mooney teams). I don't expect that ANYONE (in Ohio, at least) will be back to those kind of ~125-count rosters (that X and Ig once had) in the modern era of CTE awareness.
Click to expand...
You’re a b**ch.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top