quarterback Mitch Trubisky had a little business to attend to before facing Solon for the second time this season and closed the deal against Cleveland John F. Kennedy in short order.
Trubisky threw for five first-half touchdowns and ran in another and led the top-seeded Cardinals to a 48-16 victory over eighth-seeded JFK in the Division I, Region 1 quarterfinals on Saturday evening.
Mentor will meet Solon next Saturday. The Cardinals beat the Comets on the road, 40-22, on Oct. 6. Both teams are 10-1 and members of the Northeast Ohio Conference.
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The regional semifinal site is yet to be determined.
Mentor head football coach Steve Trivisonno says Trubisky is right on track heading into the rematch with Solon.
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“He’s thrown 36 touchdowns and thrown for about 3,300 yards. You can’t ask for much more out of the kid to do all that he’s been doing and doing it well,” Trivisonno said. “We’re pleased with where we’re at, and we’ve got a big one coming up this week.”
In the first quarter, Trubisky found Warren Ashton for a 7-yard strike and then Cameron Kavan for a 35- yarder. The junior quarterback finished the quarter with a 3-yard TD run to put Mentor up, 21-0.
Trubisky collected three more TD passes in the second quarter as Connor Krizancic had two for 15 and 18 yards, and Kavan snared his second of the night from 13 yards away to put the Cardinals up, 42-0.
Trubisky and several other starters were pulled before the start of the second half.
Nick Kovach’s 5-yard TD run closed the Cardinals’ scoring in the third quarter before Antonio Howard found Marcus Martin for a pair of TD passes of 54 and 15 yards in the fourth quarter.
As for facing Solon, Trivisonno feels the team simply needs to execute its game plan.
“We’ve got to come out and do what we do. We don’t have a lot of adjustments. We know we’re going to throw the ball and catch the ball, protect the quarterback and not turn it over. If we can do that, I think we’ll be OK. If not, it’ll be a long night.”
Cleveland John F. Kennedy 0 0 0 16 16
Mentor 21 21 6 0 48
First Quarter
Mentor - Ashton 7 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)
Mentor - Kavan 35 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)
Mentor - Trubisky 3 run (Derezic kick)
Second Quarter
Mentor - Krizancic 15 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)
Mentor - Krizancic 18 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)
Mentor - Kavan 13 pass from Trubisky (Derezic kick)
Third Quarter
Mentor - Kovach 5 run (kick failed)
Fourth Quarter
JFK - Martin 54 pass from Howard (Martin from Howard)
JFK - Martin 15 pass from Howard (Martin from Howard)