Mentor Football Team Knocks Off Solon in Wild Playoff Contest

The rematch is over. St. Ignatius is up ahead.

And can put Saturday’s near disaster against Solon behind them.

The top-seeded Cardinals almost squandered a four-touchdown lead but held on late to knock off the fifth-seeded , 42-40, in a wild Division I, Region 1 semifinal matchup at Byers Field in Parma.

Mentor improved to 11-1 on the season and will play next Saturday in the regional final. The game’s site will be announced Sunday. The Cardinals defeated the Wildcats at home, 38-24, on Sept. 9. Solon’s season ends at 10-2.

Despite committing five interceptions and losing two fumbles, the Cardinals defense held the Comets late to seal the win. Mentor kicker Tomislav Derezic's 55-yard field goal attempt missed at 2:01 giving the Comets one last possession.

But the Comets couldn’t advance past their own 45 for a winning field goal as a 4th-and-6 pass to Cory Stuart bounced off his fingers near the Cardinals’ sideline with 1:45 remaining.

Cardinals quarterback Mitch Trubisky had 279 yards on 16-of-33 passing and balanced his five interceptions with four touchdown passes. The junior signal caller had two rushing touchdowns of 62 and 25 yards and finished with 189 rushing yards on 27 attempts.

Solon turned five of those seven turnovers into scores as Trubisky threw a Pick 6 and had a fumble returned for a touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage. The third quarter was particularly brutal for Trubisky as he went 0-for-9 with three interceptions.

But early in the fourth quarter, Trubisky began to find his range as he completed five consecutive passes as part of a six-play drive that finished with a 16-yarder to Cameron Kavan for a 42-28 lead at 10:39.

“I couldn’t tell you what was going on in the third quarter. I was off my game. The offensive line did a great job, but I was moving around in the pocket when I didn’t need to, and I just couldn’t make some throws that got caught in the wind,” Trubisky said. “When we needed to put a drive together, we did and went down and scored. That’s what helped us win.”

Kavan had two other touchdown catches for Mentor and finished with six catches for 80 yards, while teammate Warren Ashton had four receptions for 113 yards.

Mentor head football coach Steve Trivisonno was glad the whole affair was over.

“We survived,” Trivisonno said. “We didn’t play very well in the second half; they played great. It wasn’t good. … We just kind of panicked. We didn’t play our game in the second half as well in the first half.”

Solon quarterback Patrick Kramer went 15-for-32 for 205 yards and three touchdowns. Junior running back Khoury Crenshaw had 113 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. Senior receiver Tres Barksdale had 104 yards on seven receptions for two touchdowns.

For Solon, it was their second  straight disappointment against Mentor this season , on Oct. 6.

“Let’s get serious, they’re a good team. There’s no doubt about it. We just kept fighting. That’s all you can do. You come to play 48 minutes, not a half or a quarter. And we did that. We just came up a bit short,” Solon head football coach Jim McQuaide said.

At the beginning of the game, Solon’s Ryan Pastor got the Comets off to a fast start as he picked up a Trubisky fumble and ran it in for a score, but Mentor scored five unanswered touchdowns as Trubisky found Kavan twice and Jeff Foreman for scores. Trubisky also ran in two of his own.

Mentor led, 35-7, and appeared on its way to an easy win, but Mentor fumbled a punt and gave the Comets the ball at the Cardinals’ 4. Kramer rolled out and found Barksdale for a strike with 23 seconds left in the half.

In the third quarter, Justin Kresevic, who had three picks on the evening, stepped in front of a Trubisky pass and returned it to the Solon 30. On the next play, Kramer found Barksdale for a high-arching 70-yard touchdown pass to draw the Comets to 35-21 at 3:27 of the third quarter.

After the teams exchanged unsuccessful possessions, Kresevic grabbed another Trubisky pass, but this time he weaved through traffic and ran it back 55 yards for a touchdown and pulled the Comets within a touchdown, 35-28, with 15 seconds left in the third.

After Trubisky’s TD pass to Kavan finished the first drive of the fourth quarter, the Comets scored on their first play of their next possession as Crenshaw busted up the middle for an 80-yard touchdown run pulling the Comets within a score again. But Mentor linebacker Kurt Laseak blocked Alex Knight’s extra-point attempt and held Solon to 42-34 with 10:26 remaining.

Two plays into Mentor’s next drive, Darian Hicks picked off Trubisky for the final time at Mentor’s 43 at 10:01. Kramer eventually converted the mistake into points as he found Stuart in the corner of the end zone from 11 yards out to draw to 42-40. But an open Nick Davidson dropped a conversion pass from a pressured Kramer and the margin stayed at two points.

Solon      7    7   14  12 40

Mentor  14   21   0    7  42

First Quarter

Solon - Pastor 33 fumble recovery (Knight kick)

Mentor - Kavan 3 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)

Mentor - Foreman 14 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)

Second Quarter

Mentor - Trubisky 62 run (Derezic kick)

Mentor - Trubisky 25 run (Derezic kick)

Mentor - Kavan 29 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)

Solon - Barksdale 4 pass from Kramer (Knight kick)

Third Quarter

Solon - Barksdale 70 pass from Kramer (Knight kick)

Solon - Kresevic 55 INT return (Knight kick)

Fourth Quarter

Mentor - Kavan 16 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)

Solon - Crenshaw 80 run (kick failed)

Solon - Stuart 11 pass from Kramer (pass failed)

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