The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Mentor, Perry teams have shot at redemption
Perry gets another shot at Steubenville; Mentor in a rematch with St. Ignatius
You never get a second chance to make a first impression, so they say.
There is always a second chance to make a lasting impression.
That’s the situation the Mentor and the Perry football teams are in as they head into the regional championship round of Ohio high school football on Nov. 17.
Division I Mentor (11-1) and Division IV Perry (12-0) are two of the three area teams alive in the playoffs, the other being Division VI Kirtland (12-0).
It is the Cardinals and the Pirates who can exorcise the most ghosts.
Mentor will face St. Ignatius (11-1) at Bedford Bearcat Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17 in a rematch of a Week 2 game won by the Wildcats, 4131, at Mentor’s Jerome T. Osborne Stadium.
Perry will face Steubenville (12-0) at Niles McKinley’s Bo Rein Field at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17 in a rematch of last year’s Division IV state semifinal won by the Big Red, 51-27.
Kirtland will face Rootstown (12-0) at Solon’s Stewart Field at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 17 for a regional championship as well.
Immediately after the Pirates’ 50-21 regional semifinal win over Girard, Coach Matt Rosati said the Steubenville matchup was one his team had looked forward to since Nov. 25, 2016.
He and his team aren’t backing down from that mindset one iota.
“Never waste a good failure,” Rosati said, a line he said he picked up from Alabama coach Nick Saban. “We were going to learn from that loss
“Once we saw they were in our region, we knew we were going to play them. It was not if. It was when. Our entire offseason preparation was designed around playing Steubenville again.”
A year ago, the Big Red bludgeoned Perry from the opening kickoff, building a 31-13 halftime lead and never looking back.
Rosati said his program took that to heart. The entire offseason, he said, was tailored around getting bigger, stronger and faster for a second encounter with Coach Reno Saccoccia’s team.
Rosati credited strength coach/defensive coordinator Mike Crissinger to pushing the Pirates in the weight room to get to this point. He said it was “a full-time job” for the Pirates’ players and staff.
“We were very serious about getting to this point,” Rosati said. “We called this our summer of separation. We wanted to separate from everyone else to the elite. The CVC title is nice, 10-0 is great. But it was all about getting to this game. There was no doubt in our mind we would get here.
“We talked about it openly. This was our target date. Yeah we were looking ahead all year, and now we’re here.”
Mentor coach Steve Trivisonno and St. Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle figured there was a chance they’d see each other again later in the season when they parted company on Sept. 2.
That’s how it turned out after Mentor’s win over St. Edward and St. Ignatius’ win over Euclid in the regional semifinal round.
Trivisonno said his team “needed to get better” after losing to St. Ignatius in early September. The Cardinals have won 10 in a row since then.
“We want to see how much better we’ve gotten since then,” Trivisonno said. “They got us at home. Now we get a chance to (avenge) the only game we’ve lost. It’s a good test to see how we’ve grown in 10 weeks.”
In the first matchup, Mentor QB Tadas Tatarunas threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns. But the Cardinals’ rushing game was shackled by the Wildcats, gaining only 71 yards on 19 carries.
The scenario was the opposite in the regional semifinal win over St. Edward. The Cardinals were held to 90 yards passing by the Eagles, but the running of Elijah McDougal (123 yards) and Chris Edmond (59 yards) dominated the game.
“I knew our run game had evolved and gotten to where we needed to get,” Trivisonno said. “This is one of the best we’ve had in a while . ... We’ve run the ball very well. Our offensive line is playing well.”
Trivisonno said Mentor is slightly different than it was in the first St. Ignatius matchup. Receiver Matt Hartmann was just getting into the rotation after an early injury, and McDougal hadn’t emerged in the running game then.
“Those two guys have created some skill options for us,” Trivisonno said.
Playing the regional final at Bedford’s Bearcat Stadium will be a new experience for Trivisonno.
“I don’t think I’ve ever coached a game there,” he said. “Certainly not since they built up the stadium like it is now.”
Hornets stung by injuries
The Kirtland football team will go for its sixth state final four appearance over a seven-year span on Nov. 17 when it faces the undefeated Rootstown Rovers.
If the Hornets are going to advance, they’ll need to do so shorthanded.
While Coach Tiger LaVerde declined to list the players on his team who are injured, he said this is “the most beat-up team physically” he has coached yet at Kirtland.
“Oh, we’re grinding,” LaVerde said. “We’re trying to find a way. These kids amaze me. They’re finding a way.”
Kirtland recovered a fumble with less than a minute left in the game to preserve a 34-28 win over Mogadore. Now the Hornets face a Rootstown team that defeated Mogadore, 24-7, in the regularseason finale.
They’ll do it minus a handful of players.
“We aren’t making excuses because no one — and I mean no one — is going to feel sorry for us,” LaVerde said of his team, which played in five straight state championship games from 2011 to 2015, winning three titles. “There is not one coach who is going to say, ‘Poor Kirtland.’ ”said LaVerde. “No way. And that’s OK. It’s fun coaching in games like this.”
LaVerde said the Hornets are “very fortunate” to be in the regional championship game. A Mogadore receiver, he said, was running in for what would have been the gamewinning score when he dropped the ball and Kirtland recovered.
The Hornets then ran out the clock.
“Oh no, we played awful on defense,” LaVerde said. “We had over 400 yards offense and 34 points and we could have lost. Our defense played a lot better in the second half, but we didn’t play nearly as well as we’re capable of.”
Rootstown is having its best season since starting the 1981 season with a 9-0 record. The Rovers held Norwayne’s star running back Weston Garman to 26 yards on 13 carries, and they run a spread offense that can run the ball effectively with Caleb Kaut, a 2,000-yard rusher this season.
“We could have been done last week,” LaVerde said. “At this point, I’d take a one-point win and move on. That’d be awesome.”
Awards night
The annual News-Herald awards night will be Monday, Nov. 20, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Hooley House in Mentor.
The Tony Fisher Award, which goes to the NewsHerald’s player of the year, will be awarded that night by the former Euclid and Notre Dame standout.
Also that night, the Bob Ritley Award, which goes to the News-Herald’s coach of the year, will be presented by the Ritley family.
Finalists for the Tony Fisher Award and the Bob Ritley Award will be announced on Nov. 15.
For more information, email JKampf@News-Herald.com.
Reach Kampf at JKampf@ News-Herald.com. On Twitter: @NHPreps