Two fourth quarter touchdowns give Mentor a 33-27 win over Solon

MENTOR, Ohio – In a game defined by solid quarterback play and costly turnovers, Mentor defeated Greater Cleveland Conference rival Solon 33-27 Friday night.

“It wasn’t looking great at various times,” Mentor coach Matt Gray said. “Once again, a little sloppy… but this group kept battling. They just kept showing up and they just found a way at the end of the game to be able to win.”

The Cardinals found themselves down 27-19 in the fourth quarter, with Solon inside the Mentor 10-yard-line following a long fumble recovery return by the Comets. But Solon put the ball on the turf and Mentor senior defensive back Caleb Pohto fell on it for his second takeaway of the game.

Sophomore quarterback Scotty Fox took the ball on his own 9-yard-line, leading an offense that had not scored since the end of the second half.

But Fox led his team to two straight touchdowns in under six minutes, tying the game with a methodical drive and two-point conversion, then putting in the winning score with a 24-yard dart on third-and-long.

“The play, the sequence of that game is when we fumbled down here and our defense came back and got the ball back,” Fox said. “What then happened was a great drive, (but) that defense saved the day in that situation.”

The Cardinals leaned on Fox heavily and he came up big, completing 25 of his 43 passes for 349 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions.

He spread the ball well among his receivers, but the scoring passes went to seniors Jacob Snow and Jordan Stapleton. Each receiver had eight catches and a pair of scores. Snow led the Cardinals with 117 yards receiving and Stapleton had 102 yards.

Solon senior quarterback Charlie Bubonics put up remarkably similar numbers on significantly fewer attempts, as he went 17-of-27 for 313 yards, four touchdowns and an interception.

Bubonics had a clear favorite target in senior Joel Kpassou, who was targeted 10 times for 188 yards and a touchdown.

“We knew (Kpassou) was a dynamic athlete,” Gray said. “You can’t give him too much room because he gets the ball in his hands, he is gonna be able to make a defense pay for it. He’s a great football player and I’m glad we don’t have to see him again.”

The real difference maker between the two offenses was the ground game of Mentor, as the lone rushing touchdown was scored by Cardinals senior Mitchell Waite. He carried the ball 15 times for 101 yards.

Solon’s leading rusher was senior EJ Taylor who had 68 yards on 18 rushing attempts and caught the ball four times for 38 yards and a touchdown.

Cold and windy conditions paired with hard-hitting defense meant both teams struggled holding onto the ball at times.

Mentor fumbled twice while driving on offense, and a third fumble on the eventual game-trying drive was recovered by Fox. Cardinal receivers also had six drops and Fox was intercepted by junior Max Thompson.

Mentor had two takeaways, both registered by Pohto, who also picked off Bubonics in the second half along with his crucial fumble recovery.

Taking advantage of turnovers was a key part of the game. While the Cardinals were able to score off that late fumble recovery, the Comets managed no points as a result of three turnovers.

“It seems like every time we play them there’s highs and lows and you know, when you get the opportunity you’ve gotta capitalize, and we didn't do enough of that in the second half,” Solon coach Brian Wisniewski said.

Mentor improves to 4-3 overall and 2-1 in Greater Cleveland Conference play. The Cardinals are tied with Solon for second place in the conference behind Medina and will host Strongsville next week.

“There’s enough talent on this football team to do some great things this year, and it just comes down to execution and doing our job,” Gray said.

Solon (5-2, 2-1) will look to bounce back against 1-7 Euclid before closing the game out against Medina, the current leader in the GCC.

“You face some adversity and how do you handle it?” Wisniewski said. “You know, do you show up tomorrow like the season’s over, or do you show up tomorrow with a little bit of motivation to work harder to finish out the season right and make a run?”