Lake County Sentinel
Mentor Overcomes Mistakes To Open with a 38-17 Win Over Olmsted Falls
BY KEN KRIZNER
STAFF
(MENTOR, OH) - It was a picture-perfect opening night at Jerome T. Osborne Stadium. At times, however, the play on the field wasn’t pretty. But as Mentor Head Coach Matt Gray said, the Cardinals did enough to win the first game of the season.
The Cardinals overcame a four turnover night – three interceptions and a fumble – by senior quarterback Brogan Jones with a second half stifling defense to defeat Olmsted Falls, 38-17.
“We talked about it all week long, whatever we have to get to 1-0,” Perry says. “Our kids did that.”
While a 21-point margin would make one think it was an easy night for Mentor, it was not. Perry, in his seventh year as Mentor’s head coach, says he cannot recall a game where his team committed four turnovers.
The Bulldogs pulled even with the Cardinals at 17 about midway through the third quarter. But the Cardinals defense went to work during the last 18 minutes of the game, harassing Olmsted Falls senior quarterback Cameron Pesch and shutting down the running attack.
“I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Jones said. “Olmsted Falls is well-prepared and physical. We needed to play our best and honestly, we did not – far from it. We had way too many self-inflicted mistakes.”
It was a game of extremes for both teams. There were big plays made, but also plenty of three and outs and turnovers.
Olmsted Falls made the first big play of the game, sacking Jones on the third play from scrimmage on the night and forcing a fumble, which was recovered at the 40 yard line by Bulldogs’ junior lineman Aden Johnson. After the Bulldogs converted one fourth-down play, the Cardinals stuffed the run on a second, fourth-down play forcing a turnover on downs.
Three plays later, Jones hit wide receiver Logan Berwald who found a seam in the middle of the Olmsted Falls zone and went in untouched for a 58-yard touchdown pass.
It was the beginning of a big night for the senior Berwald. He totaled more than 200 yards of offense between receiving, running and punt returning.
Olmsted Falls switched its offense in the offseason, going from a triple option, wing formation to a spread offense. The growing pains were apparent early on for Pesch, who ran the old offense last season.
He had trouble finding receivers on the first offensive possession. Mentor’s pass rush added to the frustration, forcing Pesch to throw before he was ready or scramble to escape a sack. On the Bulldogs second possession, Pesch was intercepted by senior defensive back Marcus Cvetichan who returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.
But things fell into place for Pesch on Olmsted Falls’ next drive. Getting rid of the ball just before the Mentor pass rush put him on the ground, Pesch hit junior Keagan Smith for a 58-yard touchdown to tie the score at 7. Smith had gotten behind the Mentor defensive backfield and was wide open.
After successive completions from Jones to Berwald, the Cardinals had a first-down run negated by a holding penalty. Facing a third and 22, Jones next pass was intercepted Olmsted Falls’ Adam Smith. But the Bulldogs were unable to take advantage of the turnover.
Early in the second quarter, an illegal hit on a fair catch on an Olmsted Falls’ punt set Mentor up at its 45 yard line. Staying mainly on the ground, the Cardinals drove to the Bulldogs’ 7 yard line where the drive stalled. Sophomore Daniel Kristo’s 23-yard field goal gave Mentor a 17-7 lead.
After a three-and-out on Olmsted Falls next possession, Mentor took over at its 35 yard line. But Jones threw his second interception of the half, again by Smith. And Smith made sure he made his interception pay by scoring his second receiving touchdown, taking a pass from Pesch and breaking several tackles on his way to the endzone.
For Mentor, Jones had a difficult first half with two interceptions and a lost fumble, though he did throw a touchdown pass. On the other side, Pesch overcame early struggles himself, including an interception returned for a touchdown, to keep the Bulldogs in the game with two touchdown passes.
After one first down, Olmsted Falls went backward on its first possession of second half kickoff. The key defensive play for Mentor was a quarterback sack on second half by junior Kaylen McFarlane. But Mentor could not take advantage and was forced to punt.
Backed by 58 yards on the ground, the Bulldogs got down to the Mentor 4 yard line before a quarterback sack on third down put the ball on the 7 yard line. The Bulldogs were going to attempt a field goal, but an offsides penalty on the Cardinals put the ball back on the three and brought the offense back out onto the field. However, after a timeout, Olmsted Falls Head Coach Tom DeLuca, in his 16th year, changed his mind and went for the field goal. Junior Dillon Young nailed the 21-yard field goal to tie the game at 17.
It did not stay tied for long. Jones hit a wide open Berwald in stride for a 64-yard touchdown pass and a 24-17 lead.
The Bulldogs appeared to be stopped on third down on the ensuing drive but a roughing the passer penalty gave them new life. But a bad snap on first down put the Bulldogs in a hole in it could not get out of. And a second bad snap, this time on the punt, forced Olmsted Falls to cover the ball at the 18 yard line, giving Mentor field position deep in Bulldog territory.
But junior defensive back Keagan Smith stepped in front of a Mentor receiver at the goal line and intercepted a Jones pass, returning it to the 15 yard line.
Mentor’s defense stiffened, however, forcing Olmsted Falls to punt from its own endzone. Berwald returned the punt 20 yards into Bulldog territory at the 48.
Jones kept the ball himself and thanks to some great blocking had a wide open road to the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown and giving Mentor a 31-17 lead. Jones hit Berwald with a 15 yard pass on the drive but ran the ball three times for 33 yards, including for the touchdown.
Pesch kept an Olmsted Falls drive alive with about 8 minutes left in the fourth quarter, completing 36-yard pass to Smith on third down. A personal foul penalty on Mentor put the ball on the Cardinals’ 28 yard line.
Two Pesch runs gained 15 yards to the Mentor 13 yard line. But a third-down throw was at Smith’s feet and incomplete. A fourth down pass to the endzone fell incomplete.
On Olmsted Falls next drive, Pesch threw his second interception of the night, and the second of the night for Mentor’s Cvetichan.
Senior running back Braylen Littlejohn, on his first carry of the night, put the game away with a 5 yard run and the margin of 38-17.
Perry had high praise for Jones and Berwald, as well as the defense.
He said Jones kept his head down and continued to battle and make plays even after the turnovers. “He fought through the adversity,” Perry said.
Jones’ favorite receiver on the night, Berwald, “had an unbelievable night,” Perry said. “He was as dynamic as he could be for us.”
Defensively, Perry said his team knew it was in for a challenge trying to contain Pesch. The defense rose to the occasion, especially in the second half.
“Our guys were disciplined within the run game,” Perry said. “He (Pesch) was great at reading the defense. But we did a great job. The defense won us that game tonight.”
Mentor is at home next Friday to face Erie (Pa.) McDowell. There are issues to clear up for the Cardinals prior to Week Two.
“Every facet of the game has to improve,” he said. “We have to do a better job of taking care of the football. But all of our mistakes are very correctable.”
POSTED 08/22/2026 03:58
Related Stories
With Mentor RB Bryalon Callahan protecting,Cardinals QB Brogan Jones rolls out during Mentor's 38-17 victory over Omsted Falls. Photo by Ken Krizner
