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Story by Tyler Stotsky
EUCLID, Ohio – In a game that featured 120 combined points last season, the Mentor Cardinals and the Euclid Panthers matched up in a defensive battle on Friday (Oct. 19) night at Euclid Community Stadium.
Mentor kept their Greater Cleveland Conference title hopes alive with a 29-7 win over Euclid on a cold, rainy and windy evening.
“It was a great win for us tonight as we didn’t have our starting quarterback or running back,” said Cardinals head coach Steve Trivisonno. “It was a heckuva effort by our kids, we played great on defense and we did what we needed to do on offense. I’m so proud of these kids.”
Mentor gained a lead in the first quarter off of a Euclid miscue. After Noah Garrett downed the Panthers’ within their own three-yard line, Dion Valentine tripped with the snap and fell in the end zone for a safety. Mentor led 2-0 with 5:36 left in the 1st quarter.
The Cardinals added a touchdown on the following drive after the safety punt. Jake Floriea opened the drive with a 23 yard run and then followed it up with a 40 yard touchdown run. Floriea’s touchdown gave the visitors a 9-0 lead with 4:29 left.
Euclid responded quickly with a nine play, 65-yard drive that spanned two minutes. Brandon Wright dominated the drive as he scored on a 2-yard run with 2:04 remaining in the first quarter. Euclid cut the lead to two, 9-7 at the end of the first frame.
Both defenses controlled the majority of the second quarter. Mentor expanded the lead to 16-7 with less than a minute left in the first half. After two near turnovers, Mentor capitalized with a seven-yard touchdown run by Varney Spansel. Mentor had a nine point lead at the break.
After a scoreless third quarter, Mentor took advantage of another Euclid miscue on Mentor’s opening drive of the fourth. After Garrett punted the ball away on fourth down, a Euclid blocker made contact with the ball. Mentor pounced on the loose ball and took over in their red zone.
Three plays later, Floriea found Justin Luke for an eight-yard touchdown pass. Mentor’s lead grew to 16 as they led 23-7 with 7:13 remaining.
Spansel added a three-yard touchdown run late in the game, completing the scoring and sealing Mentor’s 29-7 victory over the Panthers.
Euclid outgained Mentor 235-219 in the game despite the loss. The Panthers got 147 passing yards and 88 rushing yards. Mentor had 159 rushing and 60 passing yards.
For Euclid, Valentine was 13-for-23 and 147 passing yards with two interceptions. Wright was the leading rusher for Euclid as he compiled 90 rushing yards on 20 carries with a touchdown. Dre’Von Lindsay was the leading receiver for Euclid with six catches for 87 yards.
On Mentor’s side, Floriea was seven-for-21 with 60 passing yards and one passing touchdown in his second varsity start at quarterback. He added 75 yards on the ground and one touchdown rushing, Spansel added 70 yards rushing on 16 attempts with two touchdowns. Marco Toth had two key interceptions on defense for Mentor.
Mentor improved to 8-1 overall and jumped into a three-way tie for the conference lead at 5-1. Euclid had their five game winning streak snapped as they dropped to 7-2 overall and 5-1. Solon completes the three-way tie for the lead going to week ten.
Mentor will close the regular season with a home game against Elyria on Friday while Euclid will travel to Shaker Heights next Saturday.
Player of the Game: Marco Toth, Mentor defensive back, two interceptions
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