The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
PATRIOTIC CARDS
Mentor players take the field with the American flag Sept. 13 against Canadian team Clarkson. The Cardinals won the weather-shortened contest, 28-15. High school football coverage starts on Page C1.
After an hour-plus lightning delay at the start of the third quarter at Mentor’s Jerome T. Osborne Stadium on Sept.13, a competitive and entertaining contest between the Cardinals and visiting Clarkson Football North from Ontario, Canada was finally called, and declared a 28-15 victory for Mentor.
Considering logistical difficulties for the Canadian team, who had a four-hour bus ride ahead to get back to Mississauga and were required to make it to the Canadian border no later than 2 a.m., Football North coach Larry Jusdanis and his staff made the decision to call it a night after waiting as long as they could.
As the visiting team, it was Football North’s call, and it was understandable that it was hoped the weather would let up enough to complete the game.
Football North, which plays a who’s who of Ohio powers including St. Edward, St. Ignatius, Cincinnati St. Xavier, and Cincinnati Elder, proved to fans in attendance at the JTO that it is more than capable of navigating such a daunting schedule despite being only in its fourth season as a program.
Mentor proved to be equal to the challenge provided by Football North, which features seven Division I college recruits. Football North took the opening drive of the game 70 yards in four plays for a touchdown and an early 8-0 lead, but the Cardinals responded with a touchdown drive, picked off two passes, returning one for a touchdown, and rode an outstanding effort by junior QB Ian Kipp to claim the victory. Kipp passed for 169 yards and a touchdown, and ran for two more to lead the Cardinals.
“The game is over,” Mentor coach Steve Trivisonno said after the decision was finally made. “It will end with a Mentor win, obviously, but they’re pretty good, aren’t they? It was a good game, and fun to watch, but just awful weather.”
Trivisonno couldn’t help but be impressed with a Football North team that possessed both good size and athleticism, and had the Cardinals on their heels in the early going.
Omarion Martin, who had the stature and running style reminiscent of Mentor’s Brian Trobel, capped a lightning-quick opening drive with a 20-yard touchdown run. Football North QB Quincy Vaughn, who possessed a fine arm and good speed, passed to Chey Charles for a two-point conversion and a 8-0 lead.
In response, the Cardinals drove 80 yards to score in 12 plays, Trobel converting two third-down plays with runs, to score on a 2-yard Kipp keeper that made it 8-7.
Mentor junior LB Evan Boyd picked off a Vaughn pass and took it 45 yards to the house on the next Clarkson possession. Another interception, this time by senior Justin Satterfield, gave Mentor the ball at the Clarkson 14, but the Cardinals had to settle for a fieldgoal attempt that went wide right and thus took a 14-8 lead into the second quarter.
“We knew they were a great team, and like I stated to you before, it was going to be all about the team that made the fewest mistakes,” Jusdanis said. “We made two of them in the first half, and that’s why we were down by 13. Our guys truly believed we could win that game, but unfortunately the weather didn’t let us finish. I think (this game) made our team better, and we’ll just move on to next week.”
Mentor forced a punt to start the second quarter, and on a third and 10 play from the Cardinals’ 39, Kipp found senior Justin Luke open along the far sideline, and the senior made the catch and sprinted down the sideline to the end zone to score his first touchdown of the season and give his team a 21-8 lead.
Undaunted, Football North took nine plays to go 66 yards, picking up a first down on third and 13 at the Mentor 41 with a 22-yard completion from Vaughn to Brayden Misseri, and scored on a 19-yard Vaughn run to cut it to 21-15.
The Cardinals came right back with a 7-play, 80-yard drive, keyed by a 43-yard connection from Kipp to Luke, and punched it in on another 2-yard Kipp run for a 28-15 lead, which turned out to be the final score.
“That back (Martin) is really good, and he’s only a sophomore,” Trivisonno said. “They’re a good football team, and they’re going to cause people a lot of trouble. We settled in and made some plays, and moved the ball a little bit.”
Football North finished the abbreviated contest with 170 total yards. Martin rushed for 66 on nine carries, and Vaughn passed for 73 yards. Football North will travel to Lorain on Sept. 20, before paying a visit to St. Ignatius on Sept. 28.
“Last year it happened at (Cincinnati) Elder, where (a storm) happened prior to a game and it was delayed for two hours,” Jusdanis said. “We have to think of the kids, and ultimately it’s just a football game. We have to think of safety, and ultimately I just didn’t see it happening tonight.”
Mentor, which improved to 3-0 on the season, will embark on its GCC schedule with a road game at Elyria on Sept. 20.
“We have a long way to go,” Trivisonno said. “We have to come out a little better than we did in this game.”