Ranking the 2019 Schedule

After spending the last few weeks researching Mentor's ten opponents, I did my best to rank the games in terms of their difficulty.

The Big Ones...

1. St Edward (Week 1): The team that knocked off Mentor in 2018 returns on the schedule for a Thursday night showdown in Lakewood. Mentor graduated three All-Ohio linemen that are all playing in the Big Ten this season. The Cards will be tested up front on both sides of the ball against the talented Eagles. DE's Jeff Pietroksi (Michigan State commit) and Alex Colangelo return to give Mentor's mostly new starting offensive line a challenge right out of the gate. Junior LB CJ Hankins should be one of the best at his position in the area. Their secondary will be top notch, led by twins Lawson and Logan Nash. Defensively, there may not be a stronger team in Ohio. St Eds graduated their dynamic offensive trio of QB Garrett Dzuro, WR Quintel Kent, and RB Jordan Castleberry. It is hard to imagine the Eagles will be as good at any of those positions in Week 1 as they were when Mentor last played them in the regional final. But the Eagles reload at the skill positions well, featuring RB Joey Formani and WR Mackenzie Wainwright this season. New QB Conor O'Malley will be protected by a big and talented offensive line, led by 6'4, 275-pound tackle Brian Kilbane (Bowling Green commit). The Eagles have had the most success in Division I this decade, which includes four state titles since 2010. These two football juggernauts have split six playoff matchups since 2010. On top of everything else, this is Week 1 on the road. This game will be the most challenging task on Mentor's schedule. 

2. St Ignatius (Week 2): Year in and year out, St Ignatius has been the most consistent obstacle on Mentor's schedule since the two started playing in 2005.  Coach Kyle and Trivisonno will meet for a 15th and final time in the regular season. Kyle has an 8-6 edge in the regular season, but Triv's 4-1 record in the playoffs against Ignatius gives Mentor a 10-9 edge overall. The game will be at home, which helps. I don't expect the Cats to be quite as good as St Edward right out of the gate, but they will be close. RB Jack Welsch and WR Connor Cmiel are due for big senior seasons after making key contributions to the offense a season ago. Both players should see time on defense as well. Offensively, St Ignatius will build around a strong running game while acclimating a new QB. The offensive line returns three starters: 6'3, 285-pound Nick Schwitzgebel (2nd team All-District), 6'3, 295-pound Tony Georges (Akron commit), and 6'3, 270-pound Owen Keane. The Cats are not shy about using the tight end to block the edge or run a route for a big play across the middle. They have a good one in Sam Daugstrup (6'5, 285). Offensive line will be a major strength for the Cats. A lot of their success will fall on the arm of first-year starting QB Griffin Hanna. Defensively, they return two talented starting LB's, but they will sorely miss LB Tommy Eichenberg (Ohio State). If Mentor comes into this game 0-1, the pressure to win will be extra surmountable. 

Tier 2...

3. Solon (Week 6): Solon is very capable of beating Mentor (again) and winning the league. Solon's offense has some talent, starting with a strong running attack featuring junior Khalil Eichelberger. He should be a 1,000+ yard rusher in 2019. QB Pat McQuaide is a junior with a ton of varsity experience. He is due to take a big step forward this season. The Comets graduated their biggest playmaker at receiver, but some experience does return. Solon has a dominant defensive end in junior Najee Story, who has offers from Alabama and Ohio State. He will be a big factor in determining Solon's success on defense this year. LB RJ Howard and DB Grant McCurry give the defense some talented senior leaders on defense. Solon has been a mainstay on the schedule for 20 years and they remain one of Mentor's main rivals. After losing three out of the last four to the Comets, this is a game Mentor can never take lightly. Along with the game against Euclid, this will help determine the winner of the GCC. 

4. Euclid (Week 9): On paper, Euclid had possibly their most talented team in program history last season. Even against a Mentor team dealing with key injuries to QB Ian Kipp and RB Brian Trobel, Euclid came out on the short end. Don't be mistaken though, the Panthers are still one of the top teams in NEO. Coach Jeff Rotsky has led a bit of a football renaissance since arriving in 2015. He will make sure they are up to the task. QB Dion Valentine returns with some big game experience. He threw for roughly 1,600 yards and 22 TD's in 2018. His top target (WR Dre'von Lindsay) did graduate, but don't be surprised if Euclid has some game-breaking talent at the receiver position. Senior Jaabir Mujihad (600 rushing yards) had a strong season in a limited role behind starter Brandon Wright (now at Michigan State) a season ago. Junior Atiba Fitz is a playmaker at any/every position on the field. A couple big and talented starting lineman do return. Defensively, the Panthers graduated nearly every starter. Mentor's offense will be their strength, so that matchup could be a decided advantage for the Cardinals. Since 2000, Mentor is 9-0 at home against Euclid.

Minor Challenge...

5. Clarkson Football North (Week 3): It is hard to say what to expect from this Canadian prep team. They might be the 3rd or 4th best team on Mentor's schedule in terms of individual talent, but they don't possess the depth and continuity that the Ohio schools on the schedule have. Football North has some big lineman that will be playing DI college football, including Justin Stevens (6'6, 285) and Tyrell Lawrence (6'7, 370). There is some talent at QB as they have an FCS-level commit in Quincy Vaughn (Old Dominion). A few other guys on the team have offers at the FCS or FBS level. They might be Canada's best team, but football north of the border is still a far cry from the top teams in Ohio. Football North was somewhat competitive against the big boys of Ohio last year, losing by an average of 13 points per game to Cincinnati powers Moeller, Elder, and St Xavier. Last year they beat a winning Ohio team in Lorain (6-4 in 2018) as well as a state champion from Pennsylvania. But Football North got beaten pretty good by St Ignatius (45-13) and their defense gave up 38+ points in six straight games at one point last season.

6. Strongsville (Week 10): The Mustangs graduated a lot of seniors last year from their first playoff team in 10 years. There is still some hope for optimism, led by some strong returning lineman on both sides of the ball. Mentor has 10 straight wins over Strongsville, but some of those games were competitive for a stretch. These two meet up in the final game of the regular season. Mentor's defense, which has a lack of varsity experience right now, should be well established by that point. The flow of this game will ride a lot on the improvement of Strongsville QB Tyler Wolters, who could be making his 15th varsity start by Week 10. The Mustangs have some strength up front, led by left tackle Blake Miller (6'6, 300). 

7. Medina (Week 5): Last year the Bees narrowly missed out on the playoffs due to a grueling schedule. This season, they aim to win some more of those difficult games to try and make it to Week 11. Mentor is still probably the biggest challenge on their schedule. The Bees have to replace a record-setting QB from 2018. There is some talent on an offense that features junior receiver Luke Hensley. The five-wide offense coach Larry Laird used from a season ago could pose a challenge to Mentor's defense. The Cards haven't lost to Medina in six games since they began playing in the same league earlier this decade. 

Running Clock...

8. Shaker Heights (Week 8) 
9. Elyria (Week 4)
10. Brunswick (Week 7)

Mentor is 19-1 against these three teams since 2005. The lone loss was against Elyria (27-24) in 2015. Most of the games haven't been very close, and there is no reason why any of these games should be close this season. Mentor outscored these three 128-6 in 2018. None have the talent, depth, or experience to match up with the top teams of the GCC. All of these coaches are still in the process of building the program. Elyria and Shaker have new coaches, some talent, and growing excitement. Elyria was winless a season ago while Shaker (5-5) surprised quite a few. Brunswick (1-9) took a step back in 2018 after a 5-5 first season with Pinzone.

Next Blog: Triv's Top Playoff Wins (2000-2009)