The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Cardinals bounce back, blank Blue Devils
BRUNSWICK » St. Edward cut Mentor a reality check when the Eagles overcome a doubledigit fourth-quarter deficit to leave victorious in Week 3. How the Cardinals responded would define the game’s significance to their season.
Coach Matt Gray saw the necessary attention to detail and attitude in practice headed into a Sept. 18 matchup at Brunswick. In turn, Mentor improved to 3-1 with a 38-0 victory over the Blue Devils.
Ian Kipp threw two touchdown passes and added another on the ground while Riley Coughlin topped 100 yards rushing and scored twice.
“We definitely focused more on getting the job done,” Kipp said. “Usually, maybe if we miss a rep we’ll be like, ‘Hey, we’re going to get it next time.’ This week it was right to the point, we were not missing any reps, we were going back and back and doing it until we got it right.”
The Cardinals scored on their first possession, when Kipp found Colin DePasquale in the back of the end zone for a seven-yard score to cap a 13-play drive. Mentor’s offense gained traction behind its running game in the second quarter.
Coughlin opened the period with his first score, a oneyard plunge, then pushed Mentor’s lead to 21-0 with a 22-yard carry to the end zone.
The Cardinals took a 28-0 lead into halftime after Kipp dropped back to pass on second down, was flushed from the pocket and scrambled 23 yards for a touchdown.
Mentor received to begin the second half and needed six plays to span 78 yards. A 42-yard completion from Kipp to Hutch Baird down the Mentor sideline moved the Cardinals into the red zone, where Kipp found John Sierputowski in the middle of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown.
Andrew Smith’s 36-yard field goal at the start of the fourth quarter closed the game’s scoring.
Mentor’s defense manhandled the Blue Devils. The Cardinals yielded only 55 yards over 28 first-half snaps and Brunswick’s offense didn’t cross midfield until six minutes remained in the third quarter.
Senior linebacker Evan Boyd — a defensive captain — took the St. Edward loss personally, when the Eagles racked up more than 200 rushing yards and dominated the line of scrimmage. In short, Boyd said the Cardinals were “destroyed the whole game” in Week 3.
Mentor’s defense amplified its energy from its first against Brunswick and played relentlessly until Gray inserted the second string with eight minutes to play.
“That started with last week,” Boyd said. “We were down the whole Ed’s game, coaches saw that. They kept harping on that all game and telling us to get our energy up. Again, that started on Monday. Even at practice, energy up every play. When we got out here, we knew what we had to do and we did that with energy. We keep each other hyped up. That gets us rolling and keeps the other team down, it worked out tonight.”
Brunswick fell to 2-2 after the Blue Devils knocked off Medina a week ago.
The Cardinals host Elyria in Week 5, and Gray expects to see Mentor maintain its attitude and focus headed into the regular-season’s stretch run.
“We had our best week, most complete week,” Gray said. “We came out and had great energy tonight and we performed really well. I’m proud of how we responded and that’s something that I’m very proud of these kids for, responding like we did.”