OSUBasketballJunkie
Never Forget 31-0
ST. IGNATIUS
"Wildcats"
Cleveland
10/19/05
Kirbus was 10 of 22 passing for 141 yards and a touchdown in a 10-7 loss this past weekend.
Last edited:
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<H1 class=red>Wildcats drop finale, jeopardizing playoff streak
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Sunday, October 23, 2005 Eddie Dwyer
Plain Dealer Reporter
St. Ignatius' chances of an 18th consecutive Division I playoff appearance are out of the Wildcats' hands.
The state's top-ranked St. Xavier Bombers saw to that Saturday afternoon.
St. Xavier, behind another solid performance by its defense and the running of sophomore tailback Darius Ashley, defeated the Wildcats, 22-0, in a nonleague football game at Parma's Byers Field. It was the Cincinnati team's fifth consecutive regular-season victory over St. Ignatius and marked the first time since 1991 that the Wildcats were shut out in a regular-season game.
Villa Angela-St. Joseph defeated the Wildcats, 8-0, in 1991 and Mentor blanked St. Ignatius, 31-0, in the 2003 regional-semifinal playoffs.
With the loss, St. Ignatius drops to 5-4 and will now need help from other teams to keep its postseason streak alive. The Wildcats, who do not have a 10th regular-season game, will await the outcomes of three Friday games - Glenville at John F. Kennedy, Mentor at Euclid and Brunswick at Strongsville. Victories by Glenville, Mentor and Brunswick should give the Wildcats either the sixth, seventh or eighth qualifying spots in Region 1.
"We'll practice [this week] with a positive attitude," said St. Ignatius' coach Chuck Kyle. "And as I will tell those kids in the locker room in a few minutes, the next time we play, the records will be 0-0.
"But if we get in, we get in. And whoever we get, we'll come out and give it all we've got. That's all we can do."
What St. Xavier (9-0) gave Saturday was more than enough as the Bombers got touchdown runs of 27 and 39 yards from Ashley and held a 13-0 lead at halftime. Ashley finished with 136 yards rushing on 19 carries, including 111 yards on 10 first-half carries.
"Backs don't make great runs, great lines do," Ashley said. "Anybody watching the game could see that the holes were huge."
St. Xavier's defense, which has allowed just 45 points this season, limited the Wildcats to 21 yards of offense in the first half, including 1 yard passing. St. Ignatius senior quarterback Rudy Kirbus finished 10-of-22 for 92 yards. He was sacked four times and intercepted three times, with senior cornerback Brad Brookbank coming up with two of the picks.
"We've played two amazing defenses right in a row," said Kyle, referring to St. Edward and St. Xavier. The Wildcats also suffered their third major injury of the season when junior defensive back/wideout Ben Jurevicius injured his shoulder while making a diving, 37-yard reception on the first play of the second half.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4677.
(7) Cle. St. Ignatius (5-4) at (2) Solon (10-0)
<H1 class=red>Comets capitalize against Wildcats
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Sunday, November 06, 2005 Bob Fortuna
Plain Dealer Reporter
Solon football coach Jim McQuaide felt he needed a close-to-perfect effort from his team to beat tradition-rich St. Ignatius.
He got his wish Saturday night in front of a sold-out Stewart Field crowd.
The Comets, behind senior quarterback/safety Steve Valentino, senior tailback Brandon Shimits and a stingy defense, defeated the visiting Wildcats, 24-14, in a Division I, Region 1 quarterfinal game.
The victory advanced Solon (11-0) to Saturday's regional semifinal showdown against Glenville (11-0), The Plain Dealer's No. 1-ranked team, at Cleveland Browns Stadium.
"We just turned the ball over too much," Wildcats coach Chuck Kyle said. "We were trying to rev-up the running game; we're trying to get field position. It's a tie game, and we turn the ball over."
Solon senior two-way lineman Zach Stolarsky recovered a Wildcats fumble at the 50-yard line with 4:53 left in the third quarter and the score tied, 14-14.
It was one of five turnovers committed by St. Ignatius, and the Comets responded, going the distance in 10 plays and eating up close to 4½ minutes with Valentino finding Shimits for a 2-yard scoring toss. Pat Jacob's extra-point kick put Solon ahead, 21-14.
It was Solon's second touchdown off a St. Ignatius turnover. The Comets' first scoring drive came on a Valentino interception, which led to a 49-yard touchdown by Shimits that tied the game, 7-7, early in the first half.
The No. 3-ranked Comets added some breathing room with 2:30 left to play when Jacob kicked a 30-yard field goal to cap a 15-play, eight-minute march that started on Solon's 20-yard line.
"That last drive was huge to get the three points," McQuaide said. "But the key was when we got the fumble at midfield, drove it down the field and scored to take the lead for good."
The final march was kept alive by a pair of Charles Matthews receptions, one for 12 yards on third-and-5 and the other going for 26 yards.
Matthews, who grabbed a 34-yard pass from Valentino to key Solon's second touchdown that knotted the game at 14-14 at intermission, finished with three receptions for 72 yards.
"Before the game, our coach told us we really haven't established our passing game," Matthews said. "We saw some holes in the [St. Ignatius] defense, and we just executed."
Valentino completed 7 of 12 passes for 114 yards, while Shimits headed Solon's running attack with 140 yards. Senior Nick Secue was the Wildcats' top rusher with 137 yards. He was, however, held to only 23 yards in the second half.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 216-999-4479
<H1 class=red>Big plays, Merletti key Wildcats' win
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Saturday, September 30, 2006 Tim Rogers
Plain Dealer Reporter
Massillon- Two key defensive stands.
Two big turnovers.
And a whole lot of Matthew Merletti.
Add it up and it totals out to St. Ignatius 30, Massillon 16, in front of 12,458 fans in Paul Brown Tiger Stadium on Friday.
Is it time to print the playoff tickets?
Making a strong bid to join the long list of talented St. Ignatius tailbacks, Merletti led the Wildcats to their sixth straight victory - and their ninth win in 10 tries against the Tigers - with a sparkling performance on offense, defense and special teams.
In a game where the Wildcats needed him to shine, the 5-11, 190-pound senior rushed for 221 yards on 31 carries and scored three touchdowns. He caught one pass for a 43-yard gain. He returned two kickoffs for 55 yards. He also found time to intercept a pass - one of three Massillon turnovers - and return it 79 yards for the fourth-quarter touchdown that put the game out of reach.
"He is just a tremendous player," St. Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle said of Merletti, who raised his season total to 909 rushing yards on 130 carries. "He is just one of those kids who comes up with big plays. His vision is very good. If there is a little seam, all of a sudden he is 10 to 15 yards downfield."
While Merletti was easily the offensive player of the game, the St. Ignatius' defense did more than its part, stopping the Ti gers short of the end zone four times inside the 27 and making them settle for field goals or nothing.
The special teams contributed as well. Early in the fourth quarter, with the Wildcats leading, 21-9, senior Brendan Divis recovered a fumbled punt caused when Massillon's Bryan Sheegog and Kevin Massey collided as both tried to catch the ball. That set up a 27-yard field goal by Nicholas Yako.
The turnover that might have hurt the Tigers (3-3) the most came in the third quarter when senior Bryan Gamble, who otherwise was superb with 114 yards rushing, 41 yards receiving and multiple tackles, fumbled at the Ignatius 32. The ball was recovered by junior Emmett Lydon and halted an eight-play drive that had consumed 48 yards.
Although Massey got the ball back by intercepting a Jared Roberts pass three plays later and returning it 26 yards to the St. Ignatius 10, Massillon failed to capitalize. It reached the Wildcats' 7, but junior Chase Steyns and Lydon came up with big stops and the drive died when a fourth-down pass fell incomplete.
"I have to give my guys on the other side of the ball credit," said Kyle, whose team leads its region's computer poll and is ranked sixth in the state and second in The Plain Dealer Top 25. "I am proud of our defense."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
[email protected], 800-683-7348
Top-ranked St. Ignatius in top form
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Mike Peticca
Plain Dealer Reporter
Expectations aren't relevant, and two-a-day practices are ancient history once the football season begins.
Yet, St. Ignatius lived up to the hype and made its preseason preparations seem worthwhile Saturday night, when it rolled to a 37-7 victory over Boardman.
"The game started off about as well as we could ask," St. Ignatius coach Chuck Kyle said. "All of the nervousness was then gone.
Continued...