St. Ignatius Topples Mentor in 3 OT Thriller

Photo by Garrick Pitt

What. A. Game!

St. Ignatius reminded us exactly who they are. The Wildcats secured their first win of the season with a 26-20 triple OT victory against Mentor. This game had blocked kicks, interceptions, hard hitting defense, and enough entertainment that couldn’t be contained in regulation.

First Quarter 

The Wildcats struck first when QB Joshua Papesh found RB Sean Martin open for a 19-yard TD with 7:34 in the first quarter. Mentor attempted to get a drive put together on their first drive. However, an interception from DB Ben Taliak put the Wildcats back on offense. It didn’t take long for Ignatius to capitalize on the turnover and turn it into 6 points. Papesh found WR Jonathan Merimee open for 42 yards. Thus extending their lead by 14 to end the first quarter.

Second Quarter 

Mentor began the second quarter looking to put some points on the board. Scotty Fox and the Cardinals offense drove down the field. They were knocking on the door looking for a quick TD to cut the Wildcats lead in half. Fox caught his WR Jordan Stapleton across the middle for a 26-yard pass. The star receiver was heading for the goal line, until St. Ignatius’ DB Cody Haddad came across the middle and ripped the ball out of Stapleton’s hands. In which caused a fumble at the 1-yard line. Ignatius recovered the fumble. However, they were unable to capitalize on the big defensive play.

A few back and forth four-and-outs chewed up most of the clock. Until roughly 3 minutes left in the second quarter. The Cardinals offense seemed to come alive before halftime and started moving the ball well to pin themselves inside Ignatius’ red zone with under 3 minutes to go. Mitchell Waite, coming off a 2-touchdown game performance last week, found the end zone once again for a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the Wildcats lead to 7 and send us into the half with a score of 14-7 St. Ignatius.

Third Quarter 

The third quarter opened with defensive battles from both teams, and neither were able to do much for the first 8 minutes of game time. The momentum began to shift in Mentor’s favor when, already having Ignatius tucked deep into their own territory, DL Andrew Fedor came away with a huge interception to give the Cardinals the ball back at Ignatius’ 4-yard line. Scotty Fox found RB Henry Schenk for the TD pass to tie the game up at 14 apiece to end the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter 

The fourth quarter saw Mentor take its first lead of the night. Fox connected with Stapleton for a 20-yard touchdown with 7:19 to play in the 4^th. The Cardinals would miss the extra point but take a 20-14 lead. Mentor would get another shot to increase their lead with roughly 4 minutes remaining in regulation but what unfolded over the next few minutes set the tone for the rest of the night. QB Fox was intercepted by Wildcats DB/RB Sean Martin to take over possession on Mentor’s 40-yard line with 3:28 on the clock. Less than 40 seconds later, Sean Martin would take it 10 yards for the score to tie it up at 20. St. Ignatius had an opportunity to take the lead on the PAT but the kicked was blocked, locking both teams in at 20 to close out regulation and send the game into overtime.

First OT

Mentor’s first opportunity to take the lead came up short due to Ignatius’s stellar defense. The Wildcats took over and had a chance to send it home with a James Collins 48-yard field goal, but it was blocked by Mentor, ending the first OT.

Second OT

Déjà vu? The Wildcats were unable to put points on the board during their first series, giving Mentor the ball and in prime position to take the win back to Lake County. Facing a 4^th & 2 on the 12-yard line, the Cardinals set up for the field goal. Snap is up, hold is good, and it’s blocked! Off to Triple OT.

Third OT

Mentor began the third overtime looking to send it home for the Cardinals. Ignatius had other plans. The Wildcats defense, who had been making noise all night, came up big once again with an interception on QB Scotty Fox setting up Ignatius with the ball on the 20. My player of the game, Sean Martin, called game and delivered once again in walk off fashion with a rushing TD to seal the game and give Ignatius the hard-fought victory!

 

St. Ignatius (1-0) welcomes Mount St. Joseph (1-0 Baltimore, MD) next Saturday night at home

 

Mentor (1-1) looks to get back in the win column as they travel to Painesville next Friday to take on the Riverside Beavers (2-0)