Week 2: St. Ignatius (1-0) @ Mentor (1-0)

Wildcat97

Wildcat97

Well-known member
Both teams victorious in openers against tough competition. Have a feeling we are looking at a pretty good one Friday.

Cats biggest downside week 1 was kicking game. Just poor.

Thoughts?
 
 
Ignatius is going to have to limit the hits on Hanna. Agreed on the kicking. Blocked XP, couldn't kick into the end zone, etc. Ignatius has been very blessed over the years in that department.
 
Right, for the first time in years Ignatius has a normal HS kicker. It happens.

More concerned with injuries than anything after one week.
 
Another huge R1 game. Eventual seedings ride in this game along with bragging rights. I think it is more important to St. Ignatius because of their schedule and Mentor being a playoff lock this year. Mentor beat my "Saint" pick last week. Can they make it twice in a row?

St. Ignatius. 42 Mentor 35



WHERE CHAMPIONS ARE MADE AND SUCCESS IS TRADITION
 
Both teams got important Week 1 wins over state champions. This week is (possibly) the final matchup between Triv and Kyle...certainly the last regular season game. The two coaches have a lot of mutual respect. When a regular season series was announced 15 years ago, I'm not sure that too many expected the series to continue this long. The regular season series is 8-6 in favor of St Ignatius. Triv leads Kyle head-to-head in the playoffs, 4-1. Lots of entertaining games between the two over the years. This week should be a great final chapter.

I don't think St Ignatius is more talented on defense than St Edward, but they could come out with a more effective game plan. Mentor's offensive line gave Kipp a lot of protection in Week 1. The Cats don't have an elite pass rusher like Pietrowski, but I know they can still be a problem. Historically, St Ignatius' defense is at their best when they are confusing the line and QB with their different blitzes. I expect the blitzes to be a big part of the game plan to disrupt Kipp.

Mentor's defense had trouble with the Formani power running game in Week 1. Both lines are pretty equally big and talented, but I'm not sure Welsch is as big and strong as Formani. I'm expecting Mentor to do a little better in stopping the run this week. St Ignatius had some issues in protecting Hanna. With Mentor's three man front, I don't expect that potential weakness to be a problem for the Cats in Week 2. O'Malley had a few hurries, but never really got touched in the backfield. One clear advantage on offense that St Ignatius has compared to the team Mentor saw in Week 1 is at receiver. With St Eds best guy (Wainwright) out, Mentor will have to contend with a big time playmaker in Cmiel. He is the player I'm most concerned about.

Offensively, I think Mentor is going to be a little sharper than Week 1. Kipp has to throw the ball better and take care of the football much better, and I think he will. Trobel and Kipp combined for 300+ on the ground. I don't think Ignatius will let that happen this week, but I expect the passing game to open up more this week. I expect Ignatius to sell out on the run a little more than usual, putting the game on the arm of Kipp.

I feel good that Mentor takes the game this week.
 
cardzfan1234 said:
Both teams got important Week 1 wins over state champions. This week is (possibly) the final matchup between Triv and Kyle...certainly the last regular season game. The two coaches have a lot of mutual respect. When a regular season series was announced 15 years ago, I'm not sure that too many expected the series to continue this long. The regular season series is 8-6 in favor of St Ignatius. Triv leads Kyle head-to-head in the playoffs, 4-1. Lots of entertaining games between the two over the years. This week should be a great final chapter.

I don't think St Ignatius is more talented on defense than St Edward, but they could come out with a more effective game plan. Mentor's offensive line gave Kipp a lot of protection in Week 1. The Cats don't have an elite pass rusher like Pietrowski, but I know they can still be a problem. Historically, St Ignatius' defense is at their best when they are confusing the line and QB with their different blitzes. I expect the blitzes to be a big part of the game plan to disrupt Kipp.

Mentor's defense had trouble with the Formani power running game in Week 1. Both lines are pretty equally big and talented, but I'm not sure Welsch is as big and strong as Formani. I'm expecting Mentor to do a little better in stopping the run this week. St Ignatius had some issues in protecting Hanna. With Mentor's three man front, I don't expect that potential weakness to be a problem for the Cats in Week 2. O'Malley had a few hurries, but never really got touched in the backfield. One clear advantage on offense that St Ignatius has compared to the team Mentor saw in Week 1 is at receiver. With St Eds best guy (Wainwright) out, Mentor will have to contend with a big time playmaker in Cmiel. He is the player I'm most concerned about.

Offensively, I think Mentor is going to be a little sharper than Week 1. Kipp has to throw the ball better and take care of the football much better, and I think he will. Trobel and Kipp combined for 300+ on the ground. I don't think Ignatius will let that happen this week, but I expect the passing game to open up more this week. I expect Ignatius to sell out on the run a little more than usual, putting the game on the arm of Kipp.

I feel good that Mentor takes the game this week.
Click to expand...
St. Ed's Formani is 5'11", 205#
Ignatius' Welsch is 6'0", 200#
No real difference in size
 
Size-wise, Formani isn't as big as he played on Thursday. He is a strong kid. Welsch didn't do a whole lot last year against Mentor, but this current Cardinal defense is not as good as 2018. I'm hoping Mentor tackles a lot better this week. Formani rarely got brought down the first Cardinal. That says a lot about Mentor's defense as well as Formani.

On top of trying to start 2-0, a lot is on the line for Triv's legacy. As we all know, this is Triv's last (regular season) game against Kyle and St Ignatius. With Triv owning a 10-9 record, a win on Friday guarantees a winning record over St Ignatius. How many teams can say that? With a 6-5 record against St Edward, Triv is 16-14 overall against the Cleveland Saints. A win Friday guarantees a career winning record against Ignatius/Eds. For now, the success over those two are the biggest notches on his coaching belt. A win Friday would be a 5th time since 2012 that Mentor beats the two power programs in consecutive weeks.
 
Mentor is the one public that has stepped up to play both westside Catholics the past few years. And they certainly have had the better of both the Eagles and the Wildcats. Kudos to Triv and the entire Mentor program for a fine job. Well done.
 
Mentor 31 Iggy 30.Kicker shanks a 30 yrd.attempt to win with 9 sec left.Miss comes at the scoreboard end of the field and the Cardinal band watching.
 
Cats will try their best to keep it close. Will be there Friday to hope they can at least keep it under a 20 point deficit
 
Mentor should be the favorite, but Ignatius has done better against the Cardinals at Osborne than at Byers.
 
Since the 2005 game against St Ignatius (the first game in the series), Mentor is 72-9 at home.. St Ignatius accounts for about half of those losses. Mentor is 3-4 at home against St Ignatius during that span and 69-5 against the rest of them.

Mentor is actually 3-4 against Ignatius at Byers during the regular season, the same record as at the JTO. Triv is 4-0 in the playoffs against Kyle when playing at Byers. The lone playoff loss head to head was in 2011 at Lakewood.
 
I think any sandbagging is unnecessary, but I'm not going to hide from my personal belief that Mentor will win on Friday. As for the "hoping we can hold it under 20" - maybe that was inspired by last season's 21-point win by Mentor. And for those that were there, the game didn't even feel that close. For the record, I'm not predicting a three score win. But after the way Mentor's offense looked last week against probably the best defense in Ohio, I am encouraged and confident of how that side of the ball will perform on Friday.

The biggest difference between this year and last year in this matchup is Mentor's defense, which is nowhere near where last year's group was. I think Mentor is just as good on offense as they were in 2018, with a chance to be even better if/when Kipp shines in the passing game. St Ignatius looks to be pretty similar on both sides of the field as they were last year. Very good, but not spectacular, on both ends. They don't have an Eichenberg or McVey out there - but their linebackers are solid. A conservative and steady offense with the occasional ability to go for the home run with Cmiel. Last year's offense I saw at Byers was pretty vanilla. If that hasn't changed, that is a big advantage for Mentor.
 
The difference is that the Ignatius offense is predictable, which is why Mentor has been so successful in the playoffs, the second match. No special looks, no new wrinkles.
 
Exactly. Ignatius hasn't changed anything up in years. Restifo's playcalling is predictable, but there are years he has such talented players it overcomes the calls.
 
IgnatianAMDG said:
Ignatius is going to have to limit the hits on Hanna. Agreed on the kicking. Blocked XP, couldn't kick into the end zone, etc. Ignatius has been very blessed over the years in that department.
Click to expand...
The kicking will be very good this season. As someone who was there on Saturday, the XP was a bad play, but the wind was a big factor. The wind was blowing in on the long field goal.

Mangan can kick 50+ yard field goals, and McConville is a very consistent kicker. Both are very good. The kicking game will be just as this season as in past years.
 
Should be a great atmosphere! The Browns will be at this game as part of the opening weekend 100th anniversary of the NFL. Mentor in their new fits. Iggy, as always, will be there ready to Compete. Should be fun!
 
NEOFBallFan said:
I’m not sure any current Browns will be there. Past players and team reps for sure from what I read. Maybe some current players as well, they just didn’t want to publicize it.
Click to expand...

I understand Johnny Manziel isn't doing much lately, so.............. :)
 
For St Ignatius fans coming to the game, one major thing that has changed since the game at Mentor in 2017 is the parking situation to the south of the school. For years, the huge open grass field near the secondary ticket entrance has been a place where hundreds of cars would park. Today, a lot of that space has been taken up by a Lake Health wellness center. You are not supposed to be parking in their lot for the games, so parking is a little trickier than two years ago. Toward the north, park at the school or at Civic Center. South of the school, you can still park at the Laketran Park N Ride lot.
 
Good Luck to Mentor‼ I noticed the biggest mouth Ignatius poster on Yappi hasn’t posted on this thread. I wonder why?
 
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