The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘Good scrimmage’ for Cards
Mentor tops Pennsylvania state champ in final tuneup before the season
Mentor football coach Steve Trivisonno is not one for switching into cruise control, even in regard to scheduling scrimmages.
In his mind the football season is a crescendo, one that
starts in the preseason and ends — if he has his way — on Week 15 in the state championship game.
With that in mind, the Cardinals butted heads with Pennsylvania juggernaut Erie Cathedral Prep on Aug. 19 in their final tune-up prior to a season opener Aug. 25 at Massillon Washington.
Tadas Tatarunas threw touchdown passes to Steven Baird and Derek Kleinhenz, and Chris Edmund continued his impressive preseason with a two-yard run, leading Mentor to a 21-14 advantage over the Ramblers in a half of game-situation scrimmaging at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium.
Cathedral Prep was a state champion last year and state runner-up a year earlier.
“There’s nothing worse than playing a bad third scrimmage,” Trivisonno said. “This is the one you’ve really got to play a good team. I’m glad they came over and played us.”
Cathedral Prep boasts seven Division I college recruits, Trivisonno said, including linebacker Matthew Bauer (6-3, 215), a Notre Dame commit, and Fredrick Scruggs (6-4, 275), a Penn State commit.
The teams traded touchdowns early, with Edmund capping a drive on a fourthdown plunge. But Prep answered right back with a 32yard touchdown pass.
Mentor scored on a 29yard pass from Tatarunas to Kleinhenz, with Kleinhenz breaking a handful of tackles just short of the end
zone, and then capped their scoring on a nine-yard pass from Tatarunas to Baird.
Prep scored on a diving touchdown catch on the final play of the scrimmage.
Prep nearly evened the score at 14-all in the second quarter. But junior defensive end Noah Potter forced a turnover with a fumble recovery, which allowed Mentor
to go on its final scoring drive.
“That was big, Trivisonno said. “We gave up an (interception) and a facemask. Then we recovered real well. I was pleased with that.”
Aside from the interception, Tatarunas had a strong day. While he did not test the Cathedral Prep defense
with long passes, he hit a multitude of receivers on intermediate routes.
“We don’t want to show everything,” Tatarunas said. “If they’re not going to guard us short, obviously we’ll take what they give us.
“I thought it went really well today. Man, our OLine is looking really tough. They put in work every day.”
With the preseason in the books, the Cardinals turned their attention to Massillon knowing their final preseason test was what they wanted and needed.
“This was a good scrimmage for us,” Trivisonno said. “What I liked was the physicalness of it. It gets you ready.”