2022 St. Ignatius Football

CatAlum said:
Cats win first ever national rugby title, defeating Gonzaga (DC), 23-14. Lots of football players on this team. congratulations!
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Lenehan in particular is a phenomenal player. Both the Cats and Eagles have flirted with the number one national ranking at times over the years. Nice to see Ignatius break through. Great sport that can also provide college opportunities for those guys that are great athletes but lack the measurables that other D1 sports obsess over.
 
tom 48 said:
Welsh Academy graduates its first class.

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What's the situation for these kids in terms of HS? Does St. Ignatius offer these kids special treatment in terms of tuition? Seems wrong to dangle the carrot and then make them pay what others pay. Any ideas?
 
clevelandcane said:
What's the situation for these kids in terms of HS? Does St. Ignatius offer these kids special treatment in terms of tuition? Seems wrong to dangle the carrot and then make them pay what others pay. Any ideas?
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The students that chose to matriculate to the high school are eligible for the same aid that other students apply for. I'd venture to say that they are likely to get very generous aid since the Welsh Academy already only admits students from families for modest means.
 
Hearing that the final home game for the 2022 season, and Chico's last regular season game, will be played at Wasmer Field on the campus of St. Ignatius. Temporary stands will be brought in for the game against Clarkson North (Canadian team). If so, what a tribute to a man who has been head coach of the Wildcats for 40 years.
 
Wildcats1886 said:
Tough break for the Cats. Leaves a big hole in the secondary.
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Agree, this is a significant loss - both in the defensive secondary as well as in the wide receiver group.
I had anticipated that Spellacy would have been a 2-way starter
Coming into this season as a junior, he already had offers from Iowa State, Toledo and a couple of other D1 programs
 
Going to take some creative thinking for the starters on both sides of the ball this season.

Playing just the seniors is a rough path IMO.
 
When you have nothing to do this summer, watch highlights from the Ignatius-Boardman game of 1992.

 
arizonawildcat said:
Was that Mutryn in his sophomore year?
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It was his jr year, I believe. He graduated in 1994, so the 1993 season would have been his senior yr. I always enjoyed going to Boardman. I was taken by the size of their linemen; usually much larger than ours.

As for the Ignatius team, I remember going to see a game when these guys were freshmen. The late, great Dale Gabor sat next to me and he said, during warm-ups, that I was looking at the future state champions. He was right.
 
Loved going to Boardman. The 94 game was played without Ramadii Parker. Boardman broke a couple of long runs.

2002 Hoyer missed a bunch of passes, as he did all season. His career ended up great, but he was frustrating to watch at Ignatius (at least to me).

I remember more than one Ignatius alum telling me Hoyer would be the best Ignatius QB ever after seeing him as a freshman.
 
July....seems like we should be getting near the time where the schedule is finalized and published officially including gametimes. Seems like usually that is around middle of July normally if I recall correctly
 
PDC said:
Loved going to Boardman. The 94 game was played without Ramadii Parker. Boardman broke a couple of long runs.

2002 Hoyer missed a bunch of passes, as he did all season. His career ended up great, but he was frustrating to watch at Ignatius (at least to me).

I remember more than one Ignatius alum telling me Hoyer would be the best Ignatius QB ever after seeing him as a freshman.
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My (step)son and I drove from western PA to watch the Cats-Massillon game at the Rubber Bowl. He was amazed at the size of the crowd. He was a Div. 3 all-American and later coached college ball for two years. As the teams were warming I pointed out that Szep would be the starting QB for the Cats, but he was focused on the back-up Hoyer. He then predicted that Hoyer would be an NFL QB. He really knew his football.
 
Wildcats1886 said:
Brandon Webster picks up an offer from Yale. Should have one of the better CB duos in recent memory this year.
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Should have a very good running back duo as well with Martin and Favazzo. The loss of Spellacy cannot be understated, but there is still good talent coming up the ranks. Hard to predict a record with the brutal schedule, but they will be a very tough out come playoff time.
 
EaglePride01 said:
Should have a very good running back duo as well with Martin and Favazzo. The loss of Spellacy cannot be understated, but there is still good talent coming up the ranks. Hard to predict a record with the brutal schedule, but they will be a very tough out come playoff time.
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I agree about Spellacy. By the end of the year, he was looking like a man amongst boys...as a sophomore. Very big loss.
 
The LB position, other than Palinski, seems like an area in question.

I'd like to see the Ardire kid play. Was impressed with him on the JV level.
 
PDC said:
The LB position, other than Palinski, seems like an area in question.

I'd like to see the Ardire kid play. Was impressed with him on the JV level.
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Speaking of the sons of past Wildcats, does anyone know if the current soccer star Spicer is the son of either the former 80s qb or 90s lb/db?
 
Throwing out some guesses at starting lineup / key rotation, although it's still early.

QB: Papesh (Woidke should get a chance to compete)
RB: Martin / Favazzo / Washington
WR: Kennedy / Merrimee / Haddad / Raffin
TE: Moriarty / Robinson
T: Raynor
G: Ference
C: Lavelle
G: Camargo
T: Hyland

DE: Robinson
NT: ?
DE: Gibbons
OLB: Palinski
MLB: Ardire?
OLB: Soeder
CB: Webster
CB: Martin
SS (x2): ? Possibly Favazzo
FS: No idea now that Spellacy has left

There are plenty of RB / WR types that could end up filling some secondary slots. Overall there is some good young skill talent, but a lot of question marks on defense and not much depth. The team will need to be more flexible about playing kids both ways in spot situations and throwing some young guys into the fire earlier than normal to be competitive.
 
tom 48 said:
Per the News-Herald, the Ignatius-Mentor game will be Friday night at First Energy Stadium.

www.news-herald.com

High school football: Mentor, Riverside will play in nonconference showdown on Sept. 2

It’s been 12 years since Mentor played another team from Lake County in football. That streak ends this fall. Come Friday, Sept. 2, Mentor will host Riverside in a non-conference battle betwe…
www.news-herald.com www.news-herald.com
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Would love to know the reasoning behind this. Makes zero sense to me. And one would think this could mean 2 games there this year. Crowds definitely don't dictate it, was hoping this would be a normal Byers game. Sigh, oh well
 
I might be in the minority here, but I am very glad the Ignatius-Ed's game is at Byers. One of the great traditions of the game is playing it in front of a full house of passionate fans, who create a very special atmosphere, as memorable to the players as a trip to First Energy. Unfortunately, mostly because of scheduling difficulties, there are very few games that draw big crowds. The old day rivalries with Boardman, McKinley, Warren Harding, and Massillon are gone and have been replaced by River Rouge, teams from DC and Maryland, and Canada. One last time for Chico: a big sellout crowd of noisy fans at the only game that could produce it. As for the Mentor game at First Energy - the team will be given an opportunity to play at First Energy. Who knows if that relationship will continue? Mentor has been the only public school team to stick with scheduling Ignatius over the years and has provided the most thrills of any other rival. I'm sure the Mentor players and fans are excited about playing on the same field that houses the Browns. It's a good thing, and the field is nicer than all but a couple players will ever play on. I like the decision.
 
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I'd prefer it at Lakewood. No real homefield advantage for Ed's when it comes to playing the Cats there. Capacity setting with people lined up three deep around the fences. Everyone pours out to the abundant watering holes to re-hash the game (or any prior game going back decades for that matter). Can't be beat.
 
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