The memory of walking off the field via a 10-7 playoff loss to St. Ignatius last October was a bitter one. But before the Mentor football team emerged from the locker room for a rematch of that Division I, Region 1 opener on Nov. 1, senior quarterback Scotty Fox told his teammates to remember that feeling. The Cardinals not only remembered it. They did something to wash it from their minds. Fox threw two touchdown passes and ran for another, and the Cardinals’ defense got four fourth-down stops in the second half to lead Mentor to a 31-7 win over visiting St. Ignatius. The win moves Mentor to 11-0 and puts the Cardinals in a regional quarterfinal Nov. 8 against the winner of Cleveland Heights and Strongsville. “We came in every single day with a chip on our shoulders,” Fox said of the sting of losing twice to St. Ignatius last year, “this week especially against this team because they kicked us off last year. … I told the guys before the game, ‘This is the team that ended our season. Remember that feeling. Go out, give it your all and have no regrets.” A University of West Virginia commit, Fox had a strong game with his arm and his legs. His 22-yard touchdown pass capped an opening drive that gave Mentor the early 7-0 lead. Then on the first quarter, Fox recorded his longest run of the season on a 59-yard run for the 14-0 lead. “Longest run of the year,” Fox said. “I couldn’t do it without my O-line. We had a great rollout and cutback. McWilly (Ben McWilliams) led up the middle and had a great block, I cut back and scored.” The score grew to midway through the second when Jackson Farley scored on a four-yard run that was set up by his diving one-handed catch inside inside the St. Ignatius 5. A Mentor defender brings down a St. Ignatius ballcarrier Nov. 1. (Tim Phillis – for The News-Herald) The Wildcats, who finished an uncharacteristic 1-10 while playing a ridiculously difficult schedule, got a score late in the first half on a one-yard run by Owen Colwell. They almost got two, but Gavin Briggs picked off a pass on the last play of the first half in the end zone to keep it 21-7. “We came in (at halftime) and knew we had to get off the field and get the momentum back,” senior linebacker Spencer Barninger said. “Just swarm to the ball. We knew they were going to make some plays, but we had to run to the ball as fast as we could and make plays.” They did that. St. Ignatius never got into the end zone again. In fact, Mentor’s defense stopped the Wildcats on fourth down four times in the second half. “Huge. Huge,” Coach Matt Gray said. “Our defense was lights out tonight.” A 43-yard field goal by Dylan Tackett made it 24-7 before Fox and Hodge connected on a late 11-yard scoring strike to wrap things up. In the postgame huddle, Gray encouraged his team to continue to put in the work and improve. After all, champions of Week 11 aren’t often remembered. “We’ve got to play good football (regardless of who it’s against),” Gray said of the second-round opponent. “We can’t just relax and say, ‘Hey, we got redemption for last year’ and are satisfied with Week 12. We’ve got to continue to push the envelope, improve and get better.” THE SCORE Mentor 31, St. Ignatius 7