Lake County Sentinel
Mentor rolls over Medina 49-0 to stay undefeated
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(MENTOR, OH) - Mentor put on an impressive display of dominance, both offensively and defensively, scoring seven touchdowns in the first half and defeating Medina 49-0 in Greater Cleveland Conference (GCC) play and the Cardinals’ Homecoming game.
“We executed in all three phases of the game tonight,” said Mentor Head Coach Matt Gray.
Mentor (5-0, 2-0 in the GCC), who came into the game ranked No. 3 statewide in Division I according to the Associated Press, solidified its No. 2 ranking in Division I, Region 1. The Cardinals have won 20 consecutive regular season games.
While Mentor scored at will in the first half, Medina could do little right, committing penalties, being pressured on offense and giving the Cardinals ideal field position because of poor punts. Meanwhile, the Medina defense could not stop the Cardinals’ high-flying offense, which came into the game averaging nearly 40 points a game.
Gray said he has challenged his team during the past several weeks to get off to faster starts. At least on this Friday night, the Cardinals did the job.
After holding Medina (2-3) to a three-and-out following the opening kickoff, the Cardinals took possession at the Bees’ 37 yard line following a short punt of only 17 yards. Three plays later, senior running back Jackson Farley, who committed to Kent State earlier this month, went in from 25 yards.
Early on, Medina concentrated on the pass but with little success. Junior quarterback River Blomquist was running all over the field trying to get away from the Mentor pass rush, plus two holding penalties hindered the Bees.
Gray said the game plan on defense was stopping Blomquist.
“We expected Medina to come out throwing,” he said. “We had different personnel packages. We forced three and outs and got the ball back for our offense. We wanted to challenge every single pass, whether it was from the defensive line or in the defensive backfield, either getting an interception or breaking up the pass.”
On a third-down play, defensive back Drew Morgan intercepted Blomquist and returned it to the Medina 32. With a mix of runs and passes, including a tackle-eligible completion to senior Landry Brede, Mentor got the ball to the four yard line where Farley scored his second touchdown of the night.
After a Medina punt put the ball in Mentor territory for the first time, Farley went 59 yards for his third touchdown of the quarter.
After another possession without a first down, a short punt set the Cardinals up inside the Medina 40 yard line. This time, junior quarterback Brogan Jones hit senior wide receiver Justen Hodge with a 35-yard touchdown pass to put the Cardinals up 28-0 with about three minutes left in the first quarter.
Medina did get its first first down of the game with about a minute to go in the first quarter. But when the teams switched sides for the second quarter, a Bloomquist pass was deflected and intercepted by senior linebacker Carson Wok who returned it 38 yards for a touchdown.
“Our offense scored really quickly in the first half,” Gray said.
On its next possession, Medina, feeling it had nothing to lose, went for it on fourth down and 15 from its own 45 yard and picked up its second first down of the game. But the Bees weren’t so lucky when they went for it again on a fourth-down play later in the drive as Blomquist was sacked.
With the big lead, Gray was able to rest Farley for the rest of the game. Sophomore Braylon Callahan did the bulk of the running on the Cardinals next possession and went in from 25 yards for another touchdown. After Medina turned the ball over on downs, senior Dominic Burns went in from 20 yards to give Mentor a 49-0 lead.
“Our other tailbacks had some good opportunities tonight,” Gray said.
Later in the second quarter, sophomore Chase Menough replaced Jones at quarterback.
Mentor scored on its first six possessions of the first half, plus the interception return for a touchdown. The only possession where the Cardinals did not score was when they took a knee to finish out the second quarter.
The second half was played with a running clock. Medina threatened on its last possession, getting as far as the Mentor 23 before the Cardinal defense held. In the end, Mentor was able to keep Medina out of the endzone for its first shutout of the season.
“Medina has a challenging offense, attacking horizontally and vertically,” Gray said. “Our guys did a tremendous job keeping them off the scoreboard.”
Mentor continues GCC play next week when it travels to Cleveland Heights to play the Tigers. Cleveland Heights was the last team to defeat the Cardinals in the regular season two years ago, something that Gray was sure to remind his team during his postgame talk.
“Cleveland Heights is a very talented team with very talented individuals,” he said. “We have to be locked in and play well.”
POSTED 09/19/2025 23:54
Related Stories
Mentor's Braylon Callahan rushes for a touchdown in the Cardinals 49-0 win over Medina. .
Photo by Ken Krizner
