The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
OPEN SEASON!
Mentor takes the field for its season opener Aug. 20 against Canton McKinley at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. Mentor took care of Canton Mckinley 49-7.
CANTON >> A shortened fall camp and two abbreviated scrimmages left Mentor football coach Matt Gray a little unsure what he had in his 2021 football team heading into the season opener Aug. 20.
By 9 p.m. — perhaps before — Gray had a much better idea.
Mentor piled up 516 yards of offense, including four touchdown passes from Jacob Snow, and blistered host Canton McKinley, 49-7, in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.
“There were a lot of unknowns,” Gray said. “When guys are playing Friday night, underneath the varsity lights for the very first time, you don’t always know how they’re going to react, how they are going to respond in these types
of situations.”
He got his answer.
The Cardinals responded very well.
Behind a huge rushing night from both Brenden Panhorst (16 carries, 116 yards), Mentor ran for 335 yards and an eye-popping 7.0 yards per carry.
Snow, making his second career varsity start — the first being in last year’s Division I state semifinal — threw for 181 yards and four touchdowns.
A game that was billed as being a good, close one — wasn’t.
“It’s obviously nice having a good performance,” Snow said.
“That’s all thanks to the O-line today. That was an insane performance by them. I was literally just chilling in the pocket. I had all the time in the world, and when Panhorst and Mitchell Waite (52 yards) run the ball the way they do, it opens up the passing game.
“The running game and the O-line set us up for the whole game.”
Mentor established the run game from the getgo behind tackles Ethan Bostelman and Brandon Ryan, guards Michael McClure and Danny Call and center Blake Rice. Panhorst scored on the opening drive for an early 7-0 lead.
It was just the first of many big runs for Panhorst, who had his second career 100-yard game to go with the one had last year against Shaker Heights.
“It’s such a surreal feeling,” Panhorst said. “You’re the first person who told me I had 100 yards. We came out here and put our hearts in this game. You couldn’t have asked for a better night from our line. They blocked amazing all game long.”
Next, Snow hit Mikey Norwood for a touchdown pass — one of two times the two hooked up for scores in the game.
The onslaught came in the second, when Snow hit Norwood on a flea-flicker pass, then connected with Evan Harper for a touchdown pass and then capped the half on a Panhorst touchdown run on the last play of the second quarter.
McKinley got a touchdown catch from Sincere McNeil in the second, but the 35-7 halftime lead pretty much took the host Bulldogs out of the game.
“(Running the ball early) was huge. That’s something we didn’t have last week,” Gray said of a scrimmage with Chardon. “We want to run to set up the pass.”
Mentor had 336 yards at the half, but didn’t slow down at all. Snow found Harper again for a 42-7 lead. From there, it was a running-clock situation. Brandon Orsog added a late score to round out the scoring.
While Mentor piled up the yardage and points, the defense did its job, too. McKinley was held to 155 yards. Khris Williams had 67 yards rushing, while Amarion Williams threw for 38.
Particularly big for Mentor’s defense was linebacker Kadyn Burkholder, who had double-digit tackles.
“I feel great for Kadyn,” said Gray, noting that Burkholder has primarily been a special-teams player until this year. “He really flew to the ball.”
After the game, Gray prodded his team to not be satisfied with one win. The Cardinals host St. Ignatius next week, then St. Edward in Week 3.
So while Gray got a glimpse of what his team is on Aug. 20, he said there’s a lot yet to be determined as far as what the Cardinals could be.
“I’m proud of how we performed tonight,” Gray said. “But we’ve got to get a lot better. We’ve got a huge challenge next Friday night in St. Ignatius. We’ve got to have a great week of practice because if we just rest and relax and think we’re pretty good, we’re gonna be in trouble next Friday night.”