@SIHSSports sihsathletics sihssports 2020 GAME NOTES PLAYOFFS ROUND ONE: SOLON IGNATIUSWILDCATS.COM 1 THE MATCHUP Team Information Saint Ignatius High School: 1-3 OHSAA Division I, Region 1 Head Coach: Chuck Kyle ’69 at Record at School: 359-98-1 Overall Record: 359-98-1 Solon Comets: 0-3 Saint Ignatius OHSAA Division I, Region 1 Solon Head Coach: Jim McQuaide COMETS WILDCATS Record at School: 141-56 Overall Record: 217-118 October 9, 2020 Media Information George Finnie Stadium For information and credential Kickoff: 7 pm requests, contact: Joe Ginley ‘12 Saint Ignatius Schedule Communications Coordinator for Athletics Date Opponent Time/Score (P): 216-651-0222 x242 9/12 vs. Bishop Sycamore W, 33-6 email: [email protected] 9/19 vs. St. Edward L, 0-17 For full coverage of the Wildcats, 9/25 @ Massillon Washington L, 14-21 visit ignatiuswildcats.com. 10/3 @ St. Xavier L, 37-62 10/9 vs. Solon 7:00 pm Broadcast Information MEDIA POLICIES Saint Ignatius Broadcasting Network • The press box and loges are for media, school Play-by-Play: Owen Gerba ’21 administrators, and coaches only. Color Analyst: Bobby Gerome ’21 Spectators will not be allowed to enter or use the Analyst/Show Host: Danny Gibel ’22 press box or loges. Moderator: Joe Ginley ’12 / Jeff McCormick ’83 • No sideline passes will be administered. The sidelines (P): 216-651-0222 will be for athletes, coaches, and trainers only. email: [email protected] • Media from credentialed outlets will be allowed to [email protected] cover the game, standing in the end zones in a physically distanced manner. Media is not allowed on the sidelines. • Media wishing to conduct postgame interviews must consult a member of the school’s Athletic Department or Communications Department before doing so. S BN 2 2020 SAINT IGNATIUS FOOTBALL GAME NOTES THE MATCHUP ABOUT THE WILDCATS ... Previous Matchups Wildcats Storylines ... vs. Solon (4-2) LUCKY #30: The Wildcats are making playoff appearance #30 in the pro- gram’s lengthy and prolific history. Chuck Kyle ’69 has coached the Wild- 11/11/16 W 31-17 JTO Stadium cats in all 30 postseason apperances. Kyle has a 72-18 all-time record in 11/5/05 L 14-24 Stewart Field the playoffs, winning 11 state championships and 4 national championships 11/13/04 W 34-7 Lakewood Stadium during his previous 37 seasons. 11/10/01 W 42-14 Byers Field 11/18/00 L 13-31 Byers Field 11/20/99 W 29-24 Byers Field NEXT MAN UP: Every team deals with injury at postseason time, and the Wildcats are no different. Injuries have popped up this year at running back, wide receiver, and safety, opening the door for young players to Series History make an impact for the Wildcats. New players on the depth chart this week include senior Colin Wiehn at wideout and sophomore Brandon Webster at Meetings .............................................6 First Meeting ........................11/20/1999 cornerback. Most Recent Meeting...........11/11/2016 PFAFF SHOW: The coaching staff used the regular season to decide who the starting quarterback for the postseason will be. After a dynamite effort Saint Ignatius Wins............................4 against St. Xavier, Joe Pfaff will be the starter for the Wildcats. Pfaff en- Last Saint Ignatius Win......11/11/2016 Solon Wins................................................2 ters the playoffs with 226 yards and 1 touchdown, completing 59.3% of his Last Solon Win......................11/5/2005 passes, adding 30 rushing yards as a dual threat signalcaller. Ties..............................................................0 MARTY’S MACK PACK: Marty Lenehan leads the rushing attack for the Wildcats. The junior has toted the rock 49 times for 275 yards and 2 touch- Longest Winning Streaks In Series Saint Ignatius.......2; 11/10/01-11/13/04 downs. Lenehan averages 5.6 yards per carry and 68.8 yards per game Solon...............................................1; twice after a 146-yard effort last week. Fellow junior Ryan Waldron will also figure Current Streak............Saint Ignatius, 1 into the mix with some touches. With two seniors and three juniors forming the Largest Margin of Victory THE BIG MEN UP FRONT: Saint Ignatius.........28 points; 11/10/01 starting five on the offensive line, the Wildcats are beginning to gel at of- Solon.........................18 points; 11/18/00 fensive line. The “big uglies” have allowed just six sacks and 21 tackles for loss in four games. Fun Facts: • All six meeting between the FINDING A GROOVE: The wideouts will be an important piece of the of- Wildcats and the Comets have fense on Friday. Jack Dunstan leads the team in receiving with a team-best occurred in the playoffs. 15 catches for 177 yards. John Becker, Steven Bodamer, and Colin Wiehn will form the rest of the rotation at wideout. Nick Lamirand will figure in • The Wildcats have a 30-10-1 heavily, as he’s caught 6 passes for 41 yards on the season. record at George Finnie Stadium at Baldwin Wallace University. ATTACKING THE EDGE: The Saint Ignatius defense has done a good job at limiting opposing ground games this season, thanks in part to excellent •The Wildcats last played at BW on linebacking play. Aidan Hubbard has been a big part of the reason why, September 11, 1999, a 38-14 win over with 22 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, as well as an interception and fumble Dunbar (Washington, DC). recovery. Aidan Conway has been stout in the middle with 20 tackles. De- fensive linemen Bennett Adler, Tommy Wasinski, Peter Chalhoub, and Luca • The last time the Wildcats played LaSpina have been rock-solid, as well. a postseason game at Finnie Sta- dium was in 1997, a 9-0 victory over LOOKING FOR A FLIGHT DELAY: The Saint Ignatius secondary experi- Shaker Heights on an icy November enced some trouble last week at St. Xavier, due in part to injuries. Starters day. Chris Snyder and Braeden Lair missed last week, but will be back vs. Solon. Griffin Taliak will slide over to free safety this week, with Andrew Chime set to start at free safety. Look for Brandon Webster to mix into the rotation at cornerback, as well. CAPTAINS: The captains for the 2020 season are #37 Nick Velotta, #48 Aidan Conway, #66 Gus Salopek, and #86 Nick Lamirand. IGNATIUSWILDCATS.COM 3 ABOUT SOLON ... Learning about the Comets ... 2020 Solon SIMILAR SITUATION: The Wildcats and Comets are in a near identical situation entering the playoffs. Both programs lost Schedule practice time due to COVID-19, placing them behind the eight- 9/17 @ St. Vincent-St. L, 7-28 ball compared to other teams. The missing practice has shown Mary for both teams, as each squad has three losses. The Comets nearly upended Medina last week, but fell, 24-20, dropping to 0-3 entering the playoffs. The Comets have 24 playoff appear- ances all-time. 9/25 vs. Kirtland L, 7-27 MCQUAIDE MEN: The Comets are led by two McQuaides – Jim and Pat. Jim McQuaide is in the midst of his 18th season as the head coach at Solon, making playoff appearances in 15 of those years. Pat is a senior star for the Comets, a do-it-all player. The fifth of six McQuaide children, Pat starts at quarterback, defen- 10/2 @ Medina L, 20-24 sive back, punter, and even serves as the long snapper. Mc- Quaide has 313 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, along with 2 solo tackles and 4 assists, and two interceptions. EICHELBERGER ATTACK: The Solon offense depends on bal- 10/9 @ Saint Ignatius 7 pm ance, and Khalil Eichelberger brings that for the Comets. The 5’10, 205-pound running back has 64 carries for 387 yards on the year, along with 3 TDs. Eichelberger averages an impressive 6.0 yards per carry and 129 yards per game. The Wildcats have only allowed one player to surpass the century mark in a game this season (St. Xavier’s Charles Kellom, 138 yards). PASS CATCHERS TO WATCH: Joel Kpassou leads the Comets this season with 13 catches for 71 yards and both of Solon’s DIVISION I AP POLL passing TDs. Eichelberger has been quite involved, as well, with 10 catches for 135 yards. Beyond those two, no Comet has over 1. Pickerington Central (16) 6-0 193 three catches, with seven players tallying three or fewer recep- 2. Lakota West (1) 6-0 152 tions on the season. 3. Dublin Coffman (1) 6-0 145 4. St. Edward (2) 5-1 139 HANDS IN THE DIRT: Solon employs a defensive scheme with 5. Clayton Northmont (1) 6-0 110 three down linemen with hands in the dirt. The Comets will t6. Mentor 5-1 109 likely employ a 3-4 defense against the Wildcats, with an out- t6. Perrysburg 6-0 109 side linebacker standing up on the line of scrimmage. 8. Springfield 5-1 54 9. Cincinnati Princeton 5-1 50 DEFENDERS TO WATCH: Najee Story leads the Solon front sev- 10. Cincinnati St. Xavier 4-2 30 en as a star defensive end. After facing off on Friday, Story and Hubbard will become teammates next season at Northwestern. Others receiving 12 or more points: None. Story has 7 solo tackles and 10 assists, along with 2 tackles for loss. Meanwhile, defensive back Joel Kpassou leads the Comets in solo tackles with 12. Defensive lineman Reese Foster tops the team with 14 assists on the season. Looking at turnovers, Pat McQuaide has two interceptions. As a team, the Comets have 5 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS tackles for loss. A special thank you to several people for their help throughout the 2020 season: STRONG SPECIAL TEAMS: The Comets have a stout special Bill Ginley ’77: For his extensive research teams unit.