Mentor Football 2024
- Thread starter cardzfan1234
- Start date
cardzfan1234
Well-known member
Davis is elite. But the freshman backup has done a pretty solid job himself. I still wonder if there is more going on with Heights this year besides missing Davis. If they inserted a struggling backup, I could see his absence being magnified. But that isn't the case at all.
When Mentor played Heights last year, they did it without their QB. There was a much, much wider gap between Fox and last year's backup compared to the gap between Davis and the freshman.
MentorGrad2002
Well-known member
Mentor 2025 Schedule
1
2@ Erie McDowell (PA)
3(H) Cleveland St. Ignatius
4@ Brunswick
5(H) Medina
6@ Cleveland Heights
7(H) Strongsville
8(H) Shaker Heights
9@ Lorain
10(H) Euclid
St Ignatius moved to week 3 so we could schedule both years with Erie McDowell
Jackson wouldn't renew with us in week 1 so that is posted and open
Lorain starts in the GCC and we get them at their stadium in week 9
Glad Medina and Cleveland Hts are earlier in the conference schedule
Pairings in week 10 make sense
1
2@ Erie McDowell (PA)
3(H) Cleveland St. Ignatius
4@ Brunswick
5(H) Medina
6@ Cleveland Heights
7(H) Strongsville
8(H) Shaker Heights
9@ Lorain
10(H) Euclid
St Ignatius moved to week 3 so we could schedule both years with Erie McDowell
Jackson wouldn't renew with us in week 1 so that is posted and open
Lorain starts in the GCC and we get them at their stadium in week 9
Glad Medina and Cleveland Hts are earlier in the conference schedule
Pairings in week 10 make sense
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bkmk1
Well-known member
I agree. If the backup RB is pretty solid, something is off for sure. I know at the beginning of the season, I had this game penciled in as the must see for this week. Now it's not even on the radar based on how Heights has really struggled. It's bizarre.
Cardgrad90
Active member
Well, so much for keeping some information for a game time discovery....
UnDone
Active member
Info on those two shouldn’t matter according to you right ?
“without Farley running like a beast and Hodge being able to pull in anything that comes close to him this team is lackluster at best.” - Cardgrad90
Cardgrad90
Active member
Seems like you're comparing apples to oranges, but hey, whatever makes you feel better.
An analysis versus unnecessary volunteering of internal information.
UnDone
Active member
This is a forum where Mentor fans update each other on the status of the team. I heard the center thing from a guy who lives on my street.. so not sure this was internal information.
It’s not going to matter , the rest of this team is better than you gave them credit for so they will be fine.
Rumors have it that Marquis Davis is healthy enough to play running back if he had to, but he only punts now because he has signed a NIL with the university of Kentucky, he still
Practices with the team every day and he’s fully dressed at every game on the sidelines, but only comes in the punt Elijah Harris freshman is doing just about everything that Marquis was doing. He plays defensive back and running back sometimes even a linebacker also Brandon Caesar, the star defensive in for Heights, who had an offer from Tennessee Has injured his shoulder he was on the wrestling team and he is out for the season Tennessee hat with a drawn their offer finding out about the injury, but West Virginia has picked up his offer for next year. He is also on the sidelines.
UnDone
Active member
Big win there , looks like the Davis rumors were just that , kid is a beast when healthy. Hell of a game from that kid on both sides of the ball.
Heights line is really good. I can’t believe that was the same team that almost lost to Brunswick.
That was a great football game to watch. Very physical. Proud of Mentor , offense looked good , to be able to run the ball against that team was impressive.
Defense struggled but Davis is different for sure.
Heights line is really good. I can’t believe that was the same team that almost lost to Brunswick.
That was a great football game to watch. Very physical. Proud of Mentor , offense looked good , to be able to run the ball against that team was impressive.
Defense struggled but Davis is different for sure.
cardzfan1234
Well-known member
It has been stated on here that Davis is getting NIL money already. Is that allowed in Ohio? I didn’t think so.
Anyways…I was one who wondered how much of a difference Davis was going to make since the backup Harris was doing so well. Tonight was so clear that as good as Harris will be (and even is), Davis is a significant enough of an upgrade to be the difference tonight. He kept the game very close with many big runs.
IMO tonights’s offense was the best it has looked since 2019 with the balance of Kipp, Floriea, and Trobel. This was also was I believe was Fox’s best overall game. Not perfect, but his throws and decision making was the best in his four years with the team when you factor in the opponent.
The defense was shaky but they made just enough stops. Davis is an excellent back, so to a degree you understand. But tonight’s defensive performance wasn’t good enough for a team with aspirations of winning a state title. All in all, a good win though.
Anyways…I was one who wondered how much of a difference Davis was going to make since the backup Harris was doing so well. Tonight was so clear that as good as Harris will be (and even is), Davis is a significant enough of an upgrade to be the difference tonight. He kept the game very close with many big runs.
IMO tonights’s offense was the best it has looked since 2019 with the balance of Kipp, Floriea, and Trobel. This was also was I believe was Fox’s best overall game. Not perfect, but his throws and decision making was the best in his four years with the team when you factor in the opponent.
The defense was shaky but they made just enough stops. Davis is an excellent back, so to a degree you understand. But tonight’s defensive performance wasn’t good enough for a team with aspirations of winning a state title. All in all, a good win though.
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Good win for Mentor! One of the best kept secrets in NEO was Davis would be back for this game. Those NIL rumors are horse maneuver hes not built like that. Hes a really good kid who would never quit on his teammates..Great battle!! Hopefully we get a round 2 and the winner can give Ed's hell
Cardgrad90
Active member
That's the danger in pandering rumors and hearsay for sure. The guy down the street saying things probably doesn't know what he's talking about.
That was a great game and Davis is a heck of a player. He gained the respect and admiration of the Mentor players for sure.
Mentor vs Heights is a sneaky good/underrated public school rivalry full of mutual respect. Usually in hoops but tonight we got treated to a great football game
MentorGrad2002
Well-known member
Personally glad they are holding up their end in both sports. Same with Medina.
Rest of the GCC needs to step it up in football. It's been a very fun boys basketball league though
GCC basketball is great. Football is bad. I have no idea how Bruncswick and Strongsville have fallen so far and I still think Euclid should never be this bad even with Ginn and Rotsky in the backyard
MentorGrad2002
Well-known member
My exact thoughts on those 3. Shaker had high expectations but they lost to Euclid and barely beat crappy Brush. They aren't off the hook either.
We want good competition so I hope all improve and so does Lorain
It's a very good all sports league so it isn't about just football. Need that to improve though
SVillegrad
Well-known member
Strongsville fell off because the city went from 20k to 45k in population in the 80s and 90s. When a place grows that fast in a short period of time (and runs out of land to keep building), there is going to be a decline period once all those homes that were built for families with school age kids to recycle from empty nesters back to younger families.
Strongsville is finally back in the growth cycle because thousands of properties have been sold off by people at retirement age and since the city is sought after, younger families are replacing them.
Both Brunswick and Medina are really starting to get hit with what Strongsville went through from 2005-2018 where student population plummeted just because houses were still occupied but occupied by empty nesters (and not a lot of new construction is going on in either). I'm pretty sure Strongsville will surpass both Brunswick and Medina in total district enrollment within the next couple years... 10 years ago (peak of Strongsville's decline and height of Brunswick and Medina growth), both Brunswick and Medina had 2k to 3k more students in the district.
Anyway, that's a long way of saying that things are looking up for Strongsville, which may be the only district in Cuyahoga County seeing consistent enrollment growth (1-2 percent per year for the past 6-7 years ... outside the remote learning COVID year where every district in the state saw a dip).
cardzfan1234
Well-known member
I would also say that I thought this was Fox’s best overall game. He has had bigger passing games in terms of yardage, but I thought the eyeball test made this #1. He looked really good. If the offense can play this well in big playoff games, that will be fun to watch.
MentorGrad2002
Well-known member
Newsless Herald called Davis, Marquis Brown lol. Man they have gone downhill .
Anyways Davis was a beast. But our poor tackling and scheme helped
Anyways Davis was a beast. But our poor tackling and scheme helped
UnDone
Active member
Yes , I noticed that , I mean how does that go to print?
Most teams tackle poorly against him I think but agree with the scheme.
One thing that was really bothering me was when they were in 22 look (2 receivers split on each side ) they also had 2 backs in the backfield , so this means one of the slot receivers was on the line , he was covered up by the outside receiver making him ineligible, but we kept bouncing a LB out to him to cover ?!?
This was being done on purpose to take bodies out of the box and it was working. How do we not pick that up at some point in the game ?
cardzfan1234
Well-known member
Did Cleveland Heights throw any pass beyond the line of scrimmage? I can’t remember seeing one. Mentor’s defense could’ve adjusted a lot more than they did to that. If there is a Week 12 or 13 rematch, there need to be some major defensive adjustments by coaches and players.
Cleveland Heights is probably not losing to anyone else in Region 1 besides Mentor and St Eds as long as Davis is healthy.
Cleveland Heights is probably not losing to anyone else in Region 1 besides Mentor and St Eds as long as Davis is healthy.
UnDone
Active member
They threw one pass to Davis on that swing pass that went for a TD.
Beyond that not one other pass. We were bringing the house a lot , and I Was worried they were going to hit something behind the LB’s but it never came.
cardzfan1234
Well-known member
Mentor, undefeated halfway through the season, is going to remain the #1 team in the AP poll. 10-0 is inevitable. This is not because Mentor is a juggernaut, but the remaining teams on their schedule are having very subpar seasons. Mentor will indeed win out, likely all with running clock, and will win the AP "title" for Division I. They earned that recognition in 2019 as well, which was Triv's last season.
What can be truly gained and learned in these final five weeks? On paper, Mentor is so much better than every opponent. It is hard to learn a lot when that is the case. But the team can continue to try and improve what is working and sharpen up the parts that are a bit inconsistent. I would love to see them expand the passing game to Cerny and Sierputowski. When push comes to shove, a really good defense is going to try and limit your top stars and force the offense to hit the #3 and #4 guys. Going to Cerny/Sierp more in these final games can help boost their confidence too.
What can be truly gained and learned in these final five weeks? On paper, Mentor is so much better than every opponent. It is hard to learn a lot when that is the case. But the team can continue to try and improve what is working and sharpen up the parts that are a bit inconsistent. I would love to see them expand the passing game to Cerny and Sierputowski. When push comes to shove, a really good defense is going to try and limit your top stars and force the offense to hit the #3 and #4 guys. Going to Cerny/Sierp more in these final games can help boost their confidence too.
Cardgrad90
Active member
Health is always a consideration going into the post season. The likelihood of a less than challenging schedule may provide the opportunity to work kinks out and add schemes on offense and defense, all while keeping critical personnel healthy; almost like a scrimmage scenario. Then enter post season in good health, proper fitness, and tuned up as much as possible.
UnDone
Active member
This River Rouge team is going to be a tough opponent. I did a little research and they have several DI guys on the defense. Big physical running back as well (nothing to the caliber of Davis) but they are a DIII school who plays top Michigan schools so their record of 2-2 is deceiving.
They could be a handful.
They could be a handful.
MentorGrad2002
Well-known member
They had to go to OT to beat 0-5 Toledo St Johns after scoring 6 in regulation. I doubt they will be a tough opponent