Opponent Preview: St Ignatius (Week 2)

This is the second of my previews of Mentor's opponents for the 2014 season.  See the Week 1 preview here.

Week 2

Who: St Ignatius

What:  Non-league game

Where: Byers Field

When: September 6th at 7:00pm

Opposing Coach: Chuck Kyle (32nd season, 11 state titles)

History: St Ignatius leads the regular season series (6-3) dating back to 2005.  These Region 1 juggernauts have played in the playoffs four times since 2003 (Mentor leads playoff meetings 3-1).  

Looking Back...
St Ignatius was 8-5 (including playoffs) in 2013. One of the highlights of their roller coaster regular season was a pretty easy 26-6 win at Mentor in Week 2.  In an expanded Region 1 field, the Wildcats were able to make the playoffs as the 11 seed.  Ignatius picked up a couple of impressive playoff wins to set up another showdown with the Cardinals.  For the third straight season, Mentor and St Ignatius had a Week 13 rematch.  For the third straight season, the loser of the regular season game flipped the script in the playoff meeting.  In a cold, windy, and snowy November evening at Byers Field - Mentor had an impressive 26-3 win.  

Schedule...
The 2014 schedule includes in-state matchups with rival St Edward and Moeller, the two-time defending state champions.  Those two juggernauts along with Mentor and cross-state Jesuit rival St Xavier make up four of the top teams in Ohio according to nationalhsfootball.com.  Those are the only Ohio teams on the schedule.  Two games with Canadian teams, Erie McDowell, Lawrence Central (IN), St Joseph Prep (PA), and Paramus Catholic (NJ) make up the rest of the schedule.  On paper, Paramus (defeated Ignatius 44-10 in 2013) is easily the best of the non-Ohio teams.  The Wildcats have a few certain wins on the schedule - but the majority of the games will be very challenging.  A 7-3 or 8-2 season would be very impressive.

2014 St Ignatius Outlook...
The Wildcats are not strangers to reloading.  Coach Kyle is known to be very loyal to seniors, which explains why the majority of starters on a year to year basis are seniors.  St Ignatius will have to replace an excellent group of receivers (highlighted by Michael Siragusa), several linemen (including Notre Dame freshman Jimmy Byrne), and playmakers on defense like Dameon Willis.  As usual, St Ignatius will be working in a first-year starting varsity QB after the graduation of John Thomas.  The most talented returnee for the Cats is Dre'Mont Jones (6'4, 250) - a standout defensive end that has committed to Ohio State.  Geoff Dimassa is a talented returning outside linebacker.  Jones and Dimassa will be key to the Ignatius' 3-3 stack defense.  Junior OT Liam Eichenberg (6'5, 280) has offers from most of the major college programs - including Ohio State and Notre Dame.  Eichenberg is one of the top lineman in the country.  In the mix for starting QB is junior Dennis Grosel.  Promising junior RB James Norris and senior RB Chavez Perez could will play important roles in the offense.  Norris got some varsity experience as a sophomore - a very rare thing in Kyle's system.  Some of the receivers to look out for are David Shibley (team captain) and Cal Grbac (son of Elvis Grbac, former NFL QB).  Expect St Ignatius to have a disciplined defense and an efficient offense.  Their record may not end up reflecting it, but the Wildcats should be one of the top teams in Region 1.

Next Preview:  Euclid (Week 3)