Ignatius Defeats Gonzaga in WV
Ignatius Defeats Gonzaga in WV
St. Ignatius of Cleveland tightened their grip on the #1 GRR ranking with an emphatic 64-5 victory over rivals Gonzaga.
This was a Gonzaga team that had graduated a slew of very strong and experienced players, while Ignatias has returned many who played in the 2024 single-school national final. So Ignatius was favored in this neutral-site clash in West Virginia. However, the Wildcats came into the match with some questions, especially about their defense, which has had a tendency to leak tries early.
St. Ignatius started the game working their system and developing a heavy overlap on the left side. But they didn't move the ball to exploit it and Gonzaga got out of trouble. Gonzaga worked their way back toward a threatening position, but a good poach in the breakdown led to a penalty, and from a lineout the ball was sent wide to wing Tommy Passerallo, And he was over for his 15th try of the season, one short of the team record.
Gonzaga responded well and helped by a clearance mistake by Ignatius and a penalty were on the Ignatius doorstep. They got another penalty, this one kickable, but the attempt at posts was blown wide by the brisk crossfield wind.
Iglantius was able to get out of that threat, and with a couple of penalties were pressuring the Eagles. Eventually they got a scrum near the Gonzaga line, scrumhalf Mark French sniped to the line, and somehow hooker Mason Hartley wriggled his way out of the scrum to go pick up and score. Chris Haney converted for a 12-0 lead.
Ignatius came close to scoring again, but a knock-on at the line and a held-up lef tthem without reward. Finally, however, the pressure showed and French was over on a quick tap.
Tries started to flow a bit quick. Ignatius pushed it wide, and Passerallo gathered a loose pass and blazed through a fractured Gonzaga defense. for his second try.
Haney converted to make it 26-0 at halftime.
Haney would leave the field early in the second half with a leg injury but his replacement at fullback, Hank McGowan, was able to make an immediate impact.
It was his counter-attacking kick and chase that set up a chance for the forwards, which they took.
Ignatius then tested Gonzaga on the right wing and then snapped the ball back to the left where No. 8 Connor Bender burst through from 30.
Gonzaga answered with their best sequence, patiently working through the phases and then burning Ignatius with a chip to the corner for their lone try, but Passerallo sped past everyone from about 80 to score his third of the day and set the team season try record.
Gonzaga came back with another chance but were held up. Ignatius sort of re-focused after that and a brilliant take on a kick from Passerallo allowed him to offload to center Colin Spellacy for perhaps the best try of the day.
A brilliant pass from McGowan set up Gavin Vollmer for a long run, and Bender notched his second after a long series of phases.
McGowan converted four of those tries to make it 64-5.
It was, overall, an impressive team display, especially on attack. However Head Coach Dan Arbeznik said he was certainly happier about the defense.
"We do need to be a step or two quicker off the line but I am definitely happier with our defensive performance," he said. Offensively they did squander a couple of chances, but on the wide field at Myland Park in Morgantown, WV, their ability to stretch defenses and punish gaps was undeniable.
Marcello Woodberry was a cool head on defense for the Wildcats. Gonzaga weren't helped by a completely avoidable red card (resulting from two yellow-card offenses on just about the same play) but they also will take many lessons from this matchup.
