by Patrick McGuire ’14
After soundly defeating Canton McKinley 38-14 this weekend, the Saint Ignatius Wildcats will take on the third-seeded Hudson Explorers this Saturday at Brunswick High School. The Wildcats face a Hudson Explorers team that had a very good regular season, hovering around the top seed for the entire season. Hudson finished the regular season with a 9-1 record, their only loss came at the hands of Conner Krizancic and the Mentor Cardinals.
Quarterback Mitch Guadagni and the Explorers entered the first round taking on the Toledo Whitmer Panthers who were the 2013 state runner-up. Hudson held the state runner-up to a mere 7 points Saturday night, while putting up 31 points of their own.
Hudson started off slowly in the first half, tacking on a touchdown in the first quarter and a field goal in the second. But the second half was a different story, as both teams woke up offensively. Guadagni and the Explorer offense scored 21 second half points, and along with shutdown defense from their secondary, they easily marched to victory. Guadagni had a total of 4 touchdowns, 2 through the air and 2 on the ground.
The Wildcats and Explorers present a very interesting matchup for Saturday. On paper, the Explorers have the advantage. But just like the Wildcats have shown all season long, sometimes the records need to be thrown out. As Senior Jack Hyland reiterated, “the second that our team reached the playoffs, we recognized that we are in a brand new situation. We are now 1-0, and it’s win or go home.”
The Explorers enter Saturday’s game with considerable momentum, having defeated the very same team who sent them home in last year’s playoffs. The Wildcats, on the other hand, enter with a chip on their shoulder-namely, the 11th seed.
On the offensive side of the ball, the key for Saint Ignatius comes in the arm of Senior Quarterback John Thomas. Thomas, who led the Wildcats to victories over St. Edward and Mentor, needs to find his incredibly talented senior wide receivers Mike Siragusa, Nick Fabian, and Jack Hyland. If Thomas can find his deep threat in Siragusa and Hyland as well as Nick Fabian on underneath routes, he has the chance to duplicate the victories he engineered against the Eagles and Cardinals.
Defensively, the Wildcats need to contain the dual-threat attack from Mitch Guadagni. Much like Mitch Trubisky of last year’s Mentor team, he can use his great arm or speed to march down the field. This onus falls on the Wildcat secondary. Senior corners Scott Arthrell and Jack Lavelle as well as safety Matt McVey will need to cover the quick Explorer receivers even longer simply because of Gaudagni’s ability to avoid pressure.
The Wildcats’ quest for a 12th State Championship will continue this Saturday as they take on Mitch Guadagni and the 10-1 Hudson Explorers.
