The driving rain that lashed Jerome T. Osborne Stadium when Mentor played host to Erie McDowell on Sept. 6 never let up, even for one minute. Neither did the Cardinals in the first half. Mentor scored six touchdowns on just 26 offensive plays and forced four turnovers in taking a 43-7 halftime lead, and went on to rout the Trojans, 50-14. The Cardinals improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2019, while McDowell fell to 1-2. Junior Dominic Burns got Mentor going by returning the opening kickoff to the McDowell 23. Junior Jackson Farley ran for 11 yards on the first play, and then 12 yards the second play, to get the Cardinals in the end zone. Senior wide receiver Austin Van Huss, a holder on extra points, took the snap on the point-after try, stood up and ran untouched into the end zone for the conversion and an 8-0 Mentor lead. After the defense forced a punt, Mentor took three plays to score this time. Senior QB Scotty Fox (West Virginia commit) found Van Huss open down the middle of the field, and the senior outraced the defense 55 yards for a Mentor touchdown that made it 15-0. @MentorRedline senior Austin Van Huss (3 catches, 119 yards, two TDs, one 2pt conversion, all in the first half) breaks down Mentor’s 50-14 win over Erie McDowell pic.twitter.com/gRc2U6NMjD — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) September 7, 2024 “It’s amazing,” Van Huss said of Mentor’s offensive efficiency. “If we could do this every game, that’s the idea.” McDowell, operating with a fast pace on offense, moved the ball from its 20 to the Mentor 34, but a fumble recovery by senior linebacker Joey Wiegel gave the ball back to the Cardinals. Starting from the 30, Farley carried for eight yards, and on the next play burst through a huge hole and broke a pair of tackles on his way to a 62-yard touchdown run that made it 22-0. That’s three touchdowns in seven offensive plays, and the fun was just beginning. A fumble recovery by senior linebacker Caden Clair led to another four-play scoring drive capped when Farley took a screen pass from Fox 58 yards to the house. @MentorRedline senior LB Caden Clair, whose fumble recovery was one of five takeaways by the Mentor defense, discusses the Cardinals’ 50-14 win over Erie McDowell pic.twitter.com/o6Y0xyuC2G — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) September 7, 2024 “One of our D-linemen knocked it out, I saw the ball and I picked it up and tried running, but I couldn’t get anywhere,” Clair said. “We started stacking linebackers behind the D-ends in the second quarter (to adjust to the pace).” Fox completed four passes on a 79-yard drive in the second quarter that culminated in his 13-yard scoring pass to Grant Cerny. McDowell got on the board later in the frame when senior QB Blayze Myers ran in from the 2 to cap a drive aided by a roughing the passer penalty on Mentor. But Mentor answered with another four-play drive, traversing 65 yards, last play being another long touchdown connection between Fox and Van Huss, this time for 53 yards. Junior Xzayvion Dunn picked off a pass, and junior Ben Schenk added another fumble recovery in the second quarter. Second- and third-stringers played the second half with a running clock, as the rain continued to pour down. Each team scored once more, and senior Sal Masiello recovered another fumble to give Mentor five takeaways on the night. Mentor outgained McDowell in the first half, 343-150. Fox passed for 205 yards and four touchdowns. Farley ran for 135 yards and two scores on eight carries, and caught a touchdown pass. Van Huss caught three passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns. None of them played after halftime. Senior kicker Dylan Tackett was 5-for-5 on extra points and sent every kickoff into the end zone for a touchback, forcing McDowell to start on its own 20 each time. “That was a complete football game, and I was really proud of the way our guys responded,” Mentor coach Matt Gray said. “It was the first rainy game we’ve had here in a year and a half. I was really pleased with the way our guys were physical and aggressive right from the start.” @MentorRedline Coach Matt Gray goes over Mentor’s 50-14 win over Erie McDowell (Part 1) pic.twitter.com/W609oBmM1f — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) September 7, 2024 Gray was also pleased with the way running and passing games complemented each other, especially in the rainy conditions, and the job Mentor’s defense did against Myers and McDowell’s other offensive weapons. @MentorRedline Coach Matt Gray reviews the Cardinals’ dominant, 50-14 win in the rain over Erie McDowell (Part 2) pic.twitter.com/v4z7cGiXzb — Jay Kron (@TownCenter2) September 7, 2024 “No matter what the elements are, we want to be able to take control and attack the defense,” Gray said. “We really challenged our defense to be aggressive. We made it a point of emphasis to get some turnovers this week, and with five turnovers, they really stepped up.” Mentor will start Greater Cleveland Conference play with a road trip to Medina on Sept. 13. “We have to keep getting better,” Gray said. “We’re a long way from a finished product. We’ve had some great games the last five or six years with (Medina), and we have a tremendous amount of respect for that coaching staff and that program.” THE SCORE Mentor 50, Erie McDowell 14