Week 5 Review

After experiencing quite a scare being down 28-7 early in the 2nd quarter, Mentor went on a 55-7 tear and defeated a talented Brush Arcs team.  The final score (62-43) resembled a lot of high school basketball games.  QB Conner Krizancic put together another strong performance in the win with 423 combined passing/rushing yards.

Slow Start

The first two possessions of the game went perfectly for Mentor.  The defense stuffed Brush on three consecutive running plays and forced a punt.  The Cardinals offense picked up where they left off against Twinsburg and drove down the field for a touchdown.  The next 12 minutes or so of football went nothing like anybody would have expected.  Brush's offense exploded for touchdown drives on four straight possessions.  Mentor's offense struggled to find any rhythm for the rest of the 1st quarter.  Before you knew it, Mentor found themselves down by three touchdowns.  It felt reminiscent of the slow start against Erie McDowell in Week 1 when Mentor found themselves down 16-0 early in the game.

Electric Offense

After a mostly ineffective opening quarter, the offense erupted with five touchdowns in the 2nd quarter to help give Mentor a 42-35 halftime lead.  Krizancic was effective with his arm and his legs.  RB/WR Eddie Daugherty (188 total yards and 4 TD's) continues to give opposing defenses problems whether he is carrying the ball out of the back field or running a route across the middle of the field.  Daugherty led the team with 10 catches.  The Krizancic to Corey Plavcan (5 receptions for 96 yards and 2 TD's) connection was very smooth.  It is good to see Krizancic and the offense continue to grow each week.

Computer Points

According to Joe Eitel (a trustworthy source on computer points), Mentor is currently No. 11 in Region 1.  Remember that in the expanded playoffs, Region 1 now consists of 35 teams where 16 will make the playoffs.  It shouldn't be a question of if Mentor can make the playoffs, but positioning for a home playoff game and one of the top seeds is the goal.  The four teams Mentor has beaten so far have a combined record of 6-14.  The next four teams (Shaker, Brunswick, Solon, and Hudson) are 15-5.  There are lots of computer point opportunities to be had.  If Mentor can take care of business and finish no worse than 8-2, they should have no problem hosting in Week 11.

What's ahead?

Shaker Heights (4-1) is back on Mentor's schedule for the first time since the two played in the LEL.  This is the most important Mentor-Shaker matchup since the playoffs and league were on the line in a 2004 game at Mentor.  That was the only time since 2000 that Mentor came up short against the Raiders.  Shaker is coming off their first loss (14-6) of the season to an undefeated Stow team.