Mentor vs. St. Ignatius Friday 8/26

 
Mentor has an advantage having played a meaningful game against McKinley. Ignatius has zero reps for a lot of first time varsity players.

No idea what kind of team Ignatius has this season.

Couple that with Mentor's offense having a lot of success against recent Ignatius defenses, and it's hard not to see the Cardinals winning
 
Since 2002, Mentor's offense has been its calling card. Almost all high school aficionados would consider Mentor being one of the elite high school offenses in Ohio over the past 20 seasons. But this year aint the past. I have watched Mentor football as closely as anyone. I think that the sophomore QB Scotty Fox will be very good...eventually. He still has a ways to go to be a consistent and confident QB. The offensive line has struggled, and that is an understatement. The running backs are difficult to assess due to the offensive line, but they are a far cry from the excellent backs (Trobel, Mathews, Korecz, etc.) of the past. The wide receivers are going to steadily run their routes, but they lack the athleticism and speed of the majority of Mentor's receivers of the past.

What might sound like "sandbagging" is just simple observation. On paper as we head into Week 2, I would say this is one of the least talented offenses Mentor has put out there since the series with Ignatius began.

While still not great, this Mentor defense is better than their average one over the past 20 years. That will help. St Ignatius is the best team on Mentor's schedule. Before the season, I predicted 9-1 with a loss to the Cats. I maintain that, even though I realize that it is an advantage that the Springfield game got cancelled. That should be a small advantage in Mentor's favor. But if St Ignatius' defensive front is close to Chardon, they should be able to stuff Mentor's running game and make the sophomore QB face tons of pressure.
 
Hopefully Mentor will also have the ability, that translates to advantage, of reviewing film from an actual game, versus a scrimmage, and make the adjustments needed. There was a lot that could be learned from offensive film that could get the offense working much better than it did against McKinley.

I think some of the mistakes made on defense were the result of a player trying to make the big play versus just making "the" play. If the defense settles in and focuses on the run up the middle we will be better off against Ignatius than we have been in the past. Also, if Mentor can identify the weakness in the left flat that allowed so many completions against McKinley we will be OK.
 
I think Ignatius will be fine this Friday despite not seeing live action last night. Mentor didn't look as good in the pits as in years past, and some debatable flags in the McKinley game went their way.
Ignatius did give up some bombs against McKinley in a scrimmage, but other than the deep ball they really shut down the Pups. So, if you trust the common opponent test, Cats roll.
 
MahoningFan said:
I think Ignatius will be fine this Friday despite not seeing live action last night. Mentor didn't look as good in the pits as in years past, and some debatable flags in the McKinley game went their way.
Ignatius did give up some bombs against McKinley in a scrimmage, but other than the deep ball they really shut down the Pups. So, if you trust the common opponent test, Cats roll.
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You cannot use the common opponent prediction strategy when St. Ignatius and Mentor play.
 
MahoningFan said:
I think Ignatius will be fine this Friday despite not seeing live action last night. Mentor didn't look as good in the pits as in years past, and some debatable flags in the McKinley game went their way.
Ignatius did give up some bombs against McKinley in a scrimmage, but other than the deep ball they really shut down the Pups. So, if you trust the common opponent test, Cats roll.
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Having watched this series I would never predict anyone is going to roll. My gut says a closer lower scoring game. If it is higher scoring, mentor wins. If cats win, it would be defense leading the way. But again, we don't have a clear picture as cats were playing a bunch of guys in the scrimmage
 
MahoningFan said:
I think Ignatius will be fine this Friday despite not seeing live action last night. Mentor didn't look as good in the pits as in years past, and some debatable flags in the McKinley game went their way.
Ignatius did give up some bombs against McKinley in a scrimmage, but other than the deep ball they really shut down the Pups. So, if you trust the common opponent test, Cats roll.
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The questionable flags stuff is only coming from a few homer McKinley fans. Most of them even acknowledge that the right call was made ...but you'll get that from a fanbase whenever they lose .

Mentor was up 28-7 in the third. Last quarter, Mentor definitely went conservative. Either to not put up more points or to not show as much with the game in their control.

I doubt either team rolls this week
 
Here is my time capsule of the regular season series that started in 2005. The relationship and friendly rivalry among Triv/Kyle is second to none in terms of how Mentor was able to raise the bar over the past 20 years. St Ignatius was the kind of program that Triv aimed for. I expect Triv to be at First Energy Stadium on Friday to watch this big game, give a final farewell to Kyle, and to support Gray and all of the coaching staff that Triv knows so well.

Time Capsule: Mentor vs Coach Kyle

Since the 2005 season, Mentor and St Ignatius scheduled an annual regular season matchup. The only exception to these two playing every seas...
mentorfootball.blogspot.com mentorfootball.blogspot.com
 
Ignatius 28 Mentor 14. I don’t see Mentor moving the ball well against Iggy defense. Special teams advantage also goes to Iggy and should help them win the field position battle and give them some short fields.

I don’t think Fox will be overwhelmed by the game though as he did play against a tough St. Eds defense last year among others. I just don’t think Mentor has the firepower this year to handle a good Iggy defense.
 
Like almost every football game, whoever wins the trenches, wins the game. Period! I will also add that I wish this game was at Byers. I do enjoy watching games at Byers. For me the First Energy thing has worn out it's welcome. But for the kids it is awesome. Either way, it will be played there and I am hoping for a close, exciting, decent crowd size, injury free game.
 
fbrox said:
Ignatius 28 Mentor 14. I don’t see Mentor moving the ball well against Iggy defense. Special teams advantage also goes to Iggy and should help them win the field position battle and give them some short fields.

I don’t think Fox will be overwhelmed by the game though as he did play against a tough St. Eds defense last year among others. I just don’t think Mentor has the firepower this year to handle a good Iggy defense.
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I hope you come back after the game with some after thoughts.
 
The national weather service ( which is always wrong, even on game day itself) says it will be partly cloudy with a low of 65. Bring your rain gear.
 
In 2019, the game at Mentor (Triv's last game against Chico) had a lot of former Browns players as part of a pre-game celebration for Trivisonno. The two coaches were advocates for partnerships involving youth football and the Cleveland Browns. It makes some sense that if St Ignatius was going to have one game at the home of the Browns, the opponent being Mentor makes sense. The Holy War has been there over the years, but it seems fitting to let that one be at a true HS stadium for Kyle's last one. I imagine there will be some sort of pre-game acknowledgement for Kyle at this game from the Browns.
 
fbrox said:
Ignatius 28 Mentor 14. I don’t see Mentor moving the ball well against Iggy defense. Special teams advantage also goes to Iggy and should help them win the field position battle and give them some short fields.

I don’t think Fox will be overwhelmed by the game though as he did play against a tough St. Eds defense last year among others. I just don’t think Mentor has the firepower this year to handle a good Iggy defense.
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No one has any idea about the quality of the Ignatius defense. The McKinley game saw the defensive backs occasionally playing in different time zones. This is a young, inexperienced team with many new coaches. It's going to take time to get to get the coordination down. The cancellation makes Mentor a prohibitive favorite.
 
tom 48 said:
No one has any idea about the quality of the Ignatius defense. The McKinley game saw the defensive backs occasionally playing in different time zones. This is a young, inexperienced team with many new coaches. It's going to take time to get to get the coordination down. The cancellation makes Mentor a prohibitive favorite.
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Didn’t the Mentor Safety also get hurt on Friday night? What is his status?
 
General admission tickets are $15 plus fees. No tickets will be available at the gate. There are no passes accepted or senior citizen discounts. All tickets must be purchased online.

Tickets

www.ignatiuswildcats.com www.ignatiuswildcats.com
 
FightingCardinal said:
General admission tickets are $15 plus fees. No tickets will be available at the gate. There are no passes accepted or senior citizen discounts. All tickets must be purchased online.

Tickets

www.ignatiuswildcats.com www.ignatiuswildcats.com
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Insane price for one high school game. Plus you have to pay to park downtown.

Might skip it. I have NFL season tickets so it isn't like I cant afford it, but that is ridiculous for high school regular season game at 16.79
 
Decided to pay the double price, in addition to last weeks for seeing a storm....I guess Browns need to pay for the new grass I assume will be going in on Sunday for the season......plus $10 parking most likely (or more)
 
I suspect Iggies will be able to handle a down Mentor team. Mentor schedule is much softer than in years past. Time will tell. Iggies schedule is brutal and not playing last week should help Mentor stay in the game early until Iggies gets settled in. Not the type of hype as years past.
 
mailman112 said:
I suspect Iggies will be able to handle a down Mentor team. Mentor schedule is much softer than in years past. Time will tell. Iggies schedule is brutal and not playing last week should help Mentor stay in the game early until Iggies gets settled in. Not the type of hype as years past.
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The same "down" Mentor team that put 34 on McKinley?
 
mailman112 said:
I suspect Iggies will be able to handle a down Mentor team. Mentor schedule is much softer than in years past. Time will tell. Iggies schedule is brutal and not playing last week should help Mentor stay in the game early until Iggies gets settled in. Not the type of hype as years past.
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Shouldn't you be out recruiting middle school kids or something ?

Mentor is a closed enrollment publics school. There will be ups and downs. Can't recruit in 7 counties where there will always be talent like St Eds.
 
MentorGrad2002 said:
Shouldn't you be out recruiting middle school kids or something ?

Mentor is a closed enrollment publics school. There will be ups and downs. Can't recruit in 7 counties where there will always be talent like St Eds.
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You really should seek help. You bring up Ed's for what reason? This is a post regarding the upcoming game. Ed's is living in your head. Grow up. This is a forum.
 
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