The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
MENTOR MANIA
Kirtland advances to state semis, Perry bows out >> Sports
The Mentor Cardinals needed three things to happen in the fourth quarter on Nov. 17 in the Division I, Region 1 championship game at Bedford, and because they checked all three boxes, they’re still playing football.
Junior kicker Conor McIntosh drilled a 27-yard field goal with 37 seconds remaining to give Mentor a thrilling 23-21 victory over St. Ignatius and send the Cardinals to a state semifinal against Olentangy Lib-
erty on Nov. 24. The site of that game has yet to be determined.
Before McIntosh could be the hero, though, the Mentor offense had to march from the Cardinals 20-yardline with 5 minutes, 52 seconds remaining when the drive started to the Wildcat 9.
Before that could happen, the Cardinals defense had to force a St. Ignatius punt and keep the deficit 2120 so a field goal would win the game.
“It’s great when we play all together as one,” said Mentor quarterback Tadas Tatarunas, who threw for 167 yards and ran for 67. “Defense has our back, offense has their back, we have the kicker’s back, and he has our back. It’s a great feeling knowing everybody has each other’s back.
“We just want to keep on rolling tomorrow, go to practice and get ready for next week.”
Players mobbed each other and Mentor students joined the celebration on the field. Coach Steve Trivisonno was part of it, of course, but Trivisonno is greedy — a good kind of greedy.
“We haven’t won nothin’ yet,” he said in the postgame huddle. “We want the whole thing.”
Then he pumped his fist and walked away to the roar of the crowd.
The Cardinals took the opening kickoff, and 180-pound running back Eli McDougal shredded the St. Ignatius defense on the ground.
McDougal, who ran for 151 yards on 18 carries — burst through the line on fourth-and-1 at the Wildcats’ 36 and didn’t stop running until he crossed the goal line for a 7-0 Mentor lead.
St. Ignatius answered with two touchdowns, one by running back Jahadge Floyd and one on fourth-
and-goal from the 1 by quarterback Daniel Alexander.
The Wildcats l ooked like they were going to run Mentor out of Bedford, but the Cardinals’ defense said, “Not so fast.”
St. Ignatius had a chance to take a 21-7 lead before halftime, but Mentor defensive back Will Laganke intercepted a pass in the end zone with nine seconds left in the second quarter to keep it a one-touchdown game.
The Wildcats got the ball to start the third quarter but came up empty again when the Mentor defense forced a long field goal attempt. Matthew Trickett’s try from 48 yards clanked off the goal post.
“That (interception at the end of the half) was huge,” Trivisonno said. “Even a field goal would have been a problem.”
The Cardinals tied the game 14-14 with 5:42 left in the third quarter on a powerful 18-yard run by McDougal, and then the Wildcats answered on their next possession on a 13-yard run by sophomore Jack Welcsh
for a 21-14 lead.
The Cardinals did not quit. Tatarunas connected with Luke Floriea on 32yard touchdown pass with 7:45 left to cut the Ignatius lead to 21-20. The extra point attempt was no good. Still, the Cardinals wouldn’t fold.
The defense made its stand, forcing the punt. Tatarunas engineered the clock-grinding drive and McIntosh shook off the missed PAT with the biggest kick of his young life.
“It made it a lot easier knowing I trusted my Oline to get me there,” McIntosh said. “The snapper, the holder — I had everybody there comforting me and obviously Coach Triv trusted me enough to put me back on that field.”
Still, it wasn’t over. St. Ignatius kicker Matthew Trickett has a powerful leg. He attempted a 52-yard field goal on the final play. The kick fell short.
F i na l ly, the Cardinals could celebrate. But if Coach Trivisonno gets what he wants, the real celebration won’t happen until early December.