Top-ranked school team St. Ignatius played their first home game of the season at their ground in Cleveland, Ohio, and put #24 Moeller to the sword in emphatic fashion Saturday.

Paced by flyhalf Bobby Voth's 23 points and his kicking from the hand, which netted two 50-22s, both of which resulted in tries, and with the forwards ensuring continuity, Ignatius beat a good Archbishop Moeller 88-0.

Ignatius scored early with Voth gaining ground on a kick and the forwards pounding it in. Moments later, a 50-22 gave Ignatius the lineout in an attacking position. They spun it wide, were stopped just short of the line, and the forwards pounded it in again.

A nice break form outside center Joey Georges, who had a solid game for the Wildcats, set up another chance for the forwards to get it over. These tries indicated how hard Moeller worked to get back on defense and force Ignatius to do more than just let someone cruise over on a breakaway. But with a light breeze at their backs, Ignatius could kick for territory and pin Moeller in their 22. That's how lock Sean Ward was able to score, and also how the forwards garnered another turnover that led to quick hands out to Georges, who stepped his way through for a try. 

Another 50-22 set up a maul for Ignatius that trundled right over,  with No. 8 Ed Soeder touching down, and by halftime it was 48-0.

It didn't help Moeller that they had a few not-straights in the lineout and made a few other errors when they had the ball. The game began to open up in the second half with the Ignatius backline burning Moeller for several tries—Marty Lenehan, who played center but also jumped in the lineout, scored on a kick and chase, and wings Jack Dulik and Dom Rosson found some room. With 25 minutes to go it was 74-0, but the Ignatius bench, which has been strong this season and last, didn't keep the fire burning, scoring just two tries.

Moeller had some chances to score late but the Ignatius defense held.

In the end it was a sobering experience for Moeller, who struggled to link phases together and just couldn't get out of their end. Moeller fell behind a week ago against St. Xavier but was able to halt the bleeding and claw back. The wound was too deep this time.

Ignatius, meanwhile, was clinical at times and even when they weren't did well to embrace opportunities. 

For Ignatius, the win was almost too emphatic to find standouts, although Ward and Soeder got a lot done, as did hooker Nate Polinko, who was accurate in the lineout and had no trouble tackling much bigger ballcarriers.

Ward said they had worked hard on their short yardage forward plays and that certainly finished off several chances. That certainly did the job. Meanwhile, in the backs, "we knew they were going to push the 13 sprinting up so we set more plays to the 13 channel and out to the 15," said Georges."

Overall, added Georges, it was the team's loss in their final game on their tour of France that sent the message they weren't untouchable.

"We came out, we were like 'we've got to show our dominance here," he said.

But, added Ward, there's still work to do.

"We could definitely do a better job spreading out on defense," said the second row forward. "A couple of times they had us on the edge there."