'Cats can't be called 'dogs
John Kampf,
[email protected]
11/30/2006
Mentor doesn't believe Davidson's 'unimpressive' claim
Coach Brian White seems to be doing the best he can to be the underdog in the Division I state championship football game at Canton Fawcett Stadium.
White's pilgrimage for athletic poverty is falling on deaf ears in the Mentor locker room, though. Any chance of his Hilliard Davidson program flying under radar on Saturday night was chucked out the window when the Wildcats beat nationally ranked Cincinnati Colerain in a state semifinal and were almost instantaneously voted into the nation's top 20.
But, by golly, White's still trying.
"If you look at our roster and watch us come out on the field," White said, "you will be extremely unimpressed."
White's selling it, but Mentor coach Trivisonno isn't buying it.
"That team's ranked in the country," Trivisonno said with a laugh. "He's got nothing to cry about."
In their best season in school history, the Cardinals (13-1) have run the gantlet with their schedule.
Glenville twice. Solon twice, Massillon, Canton McKinley, Warren Harding ...
None has as good of a defense as Hilliard Davidson (14-0) has. And none can run the ball like Hilliard Davidson has.
The Wildcats have put four shutouts on the board this year. Only five times in 14 games has the opposition scored more than 10 points.
Therefore, Trivisonno's game plan is simple.
"Score," he said. "Score often. That makes things easier on our defense."
Making things tougher on Hilliard's offense at the same time.
Trivisonno hypothesizes that if the Cardinals' high-octane offense can put a lot of points on the board, Hilliard Davidson will be forced to do something they really don't want to do.
Throw the ball.
The Wildcats, who have rushed for 3,846 yards this year, are built to run. Running back Bo DeLande (2,016 yards rushing) and quarterback Connor Dietz (833) can chew up rushing yards like no one Mentor has seen this year.
The Wildcats aren't built to come back, though.
"I'd prefer more points than 10-6," said Trivisonno, reciting the final score of Davidson's win over Colerain. "They run a combination of I-(formation) and the veer option, and they run it well."
While Dietz has run for nearly 1,000 yards, he has thrown for only 439. In 14 games, he has completed 28 of 46 passes. Leading receivers Joey Ciamacco and J.B. Strahler are tied for the team lead with eight catches apiece.
It's the second week in a row Mentor will face a run-dominated team. But at least Canton McKinley threw the ball 17 times last week.
"Canton McKinley looks like the Dallas Cowboys compared to them," Trivisonno said. "They throw a lot more than Hilliard Davidson. We saw three game films where they didn't throw the ball once."
White's not apologizing for his one-dimensional offense, though.
"One of the things we try to do is keep our offense on the field and run the ball," he said. "Some people don't like it and think it is boring football, but I don't care about that. I only care about winning football games. That is our No. 1 goal."
While Hilliard Davidson will be going with the slow-down, ball-control offense, Mentor will again try to pick up the pace. Quarterback Bart Tanski will again look to spread the ball around among a talented receiving quartet (Brandon James, Steve Orkis, Mike Popelas and Tyler Schutz). Getting senior running back Bill Deitmen untracked would help, too. Deitmen was held to 10 yards rushing against Canton McKinley.
Hilliard Davidson's defense seems geared to stop anything. It gives up only 108 yards per game rushing and 85 per game passing.
"We have to continue what we're doing," Trivisonno said. "But I have to be honest, the way teams are playing us, loading up the box, we're not going to rush for a ton of yards. If they do that, we'll throw 45 times again."
White couldn't stress enough the importance of his offense keeping that of Mentor off the field.
"If we can win the time of possession, then we have a chance of slowing them down," he said "I don't think you can completely shut down a team like Mentor."
Then again, few teams expected Hilliard Davidson to shut down Colerain, either. But that's what the Wildcats did against the 12th-ranked team in the nation.
"I'm not sure across the board we had as much athleticism as Colerain did and they might beat us nine out of 10 times," White said, "but we won the game that counted. Now we have to face an equally great Mentor team."
White continued pouring the praise on the Cardinals.
"The size is a concern because they are extremely big and a lot bigger than us," he said. "We are not blessed with a lot of Division I college athletes at Hilliard Davidson, where they have a few that have already committed and a couple more that should be D-I. When I look at Mentor, I really don't see any weaknesses."
Kind words, indeed, but Trivisonno's not buying it.
"That school's gone 27-1 over the last two years," Trivisonno said. "Their only loss was to St. Xavier, 27-10, last year. That's pretty good."
?The News-Herald 2006
