Stone walls might be easier to run through than the Mentor defense has been this postseason. The Cardinals have only allowed one score since the start of the postseason, a second quarter score for St. Ignatius. Since then, it’s been 10 scoreless quarters put in by the team. Strongsville and Canton McKinley came into the contest off of 30-point performances but were unable to sniff the end zone. The Cardinals defense has the tall task of finding a way to stop a St. Edward offense that averages 28.3 points and put up 40 against Perrysburg in the other Division I Regional semifinal. The offense was the known commodity coming into the season and the defense had some question marks with only four returning starters. In the beginning, there was some adjusting to be done but as the season progressed but that eventually went by the wayside. The Cardinals defense have held teams to 12.4 points on the season. Senior linebacker Spencer Barninger has seen that side of the ball mature as a unit. “We’ve been playing more together,” Barninger said. “Now, as we get towards the end of the season, we all know each other so well. After a big play happens, we’re right back at it. Everyone is talking, making sure things are good and that we’re back in for the next play. We’re fighting back and flying to the ball as one unit.” Mentor only allowed two teams to score more than 20 points on the season — Cleveland Heights and River Rogue in back to back weeks. That’s been a focus of defensive coordinator Nick DeCesare, as was preparing the varsity newcomers. “Overall, when your replacing the volume of players we are, there’s going to be question marks,” DeCesare said. “Within the staff, we’ve seen these kids develop from freshman year on so we knew what we had coming. It was just a matter of they need that experience to show everyone what we already know in the program.” Last year, Mentor fell to St. Ignatius and Cleveland Heights by a combined three points. This year, the defense was determined that they would turn those results on their head. Senior linebacker Caiden Clair has been the hole filler for Mentor’s defense, racking up a team high 111 tackles as well as tied for the team lead in TFLs at 13. With the defensive prowess and determination this season, Mentor not only avenged two of the blemishes from last year, they got more confident along the way. “We all found our roles and playing as one in the defense,” Clair said. “While we were playing well, when we started to stop the run more was when there was a shot of confidence for us. That was around week nine or 10. That helped us playing at a higher level. It’s also been about learning from those games last year and it’s been crucial for us. Everyone knew that we needed to learn from film and be able to adjust to that.” Barninger also has over 100 tackles on the season (108) with Joey Weigel third on the team with 82. But it’s not just the front seven that’s playing well together. Mentor’s recorded 12 interceptions with Xayvion Dunn and Gavin Briggs the team leaders with three apiece. With all three levels adding different elements to the game, DeCesare knows that they are focused and can handle adjustments mid series rather than waiting until a timeout or a change of possession. “You started to see it really coming together in the last half of the conference schedule,” DeCesare said. “It was us getting dialed in as coaches to figure out what’s best. The kids figuring out how to run the calls the right way. We got to a point where our calls were matching what the skill sets are out there. We’ve played some really good offenses in this run. Ignatius presents a lot of challenges in what they run offensively, Strongsville ran the ball incredibly well against us the first time around with other weapons. That’s what playoff football is. For us, it’s about getting the kids ready all week long mentally in this stretch.” Barninger adds another element to the game with his pass rushing ability, as he leads the team with seven sacks. Much like a running back waiting for the hole to open, Barninger doesen’t just run in guns blazing when going to the quarterback. He takes his time and even if he doesn’t get the sack, he know that just being able to generate pressure can rattle opposing quarterbacks. “Our line starts it with the movement that they get,” Barninger said. “With us blitzing at linebacker, it’s the key to it all. They get them one way, we go the other. Getting to the quarterback is the biggest thing. That allows the DBs less time to cover the guys and forces them behind the sticks. We all know we’re going to miss tackles at times but it’s about all of us flying to the ball. If one guy misses, the next guy is there in a second.”