MENTOR, Ohio — In four possessions in the first half, Mentor scored touchdowns on each of them and built a two-touchdown lead Friday night on Strongsville before pulling away with a 44-17 victory for the Greater Cleveland Conference championship.
With a game left in the regular season, Mentor (9-0, 5-0) — ranked No. 2 in the cleveland.com high school football Top 25 — will be at Euclid (2-6) on Friday next week. No. 24 Strongsville (5-4, 4-1) plays host to Brunswick (3-6) after falling a game back in the standings.
Both are in Division I, Region 1 and could meet again in the OHSAA playoffs, but this one belonged to the Cardinals, who won their first GCC title since 2019.
See how it unfolded with the videos above and below. Hear from coach Matt Gray, senior quarterback Scotty Fox, linebacker Spencer Barninger and junior tackle Landry Brede.
Mentor gained 537 yards, including Fox’s 295 yards on 15-of-23 passing with three TDs. He also rushed for a score and picked up 44 yards on 10 attempts. Austin VanHuss scored twice on his scoring strikes and finished with 96 yards on four receptions. Junior Justen Hodge added 77 yards on five receptions, while Marcus Sierputowski had 72 yards on three receptions, including a long TD pass in the fourth quarter to clinch it.
Jackson Farley paced the run game with 175 yards and two TDs on 18 carries.
Sophomore Kendrick Boddie paced the Mustangs with 147 yards and two TDs on 19 carries. Senior Sam Dimacchia rushed for 83 yards on 13 attempts and quarterback Nolan Beard threw for 142 yards on 9-of-21 passing. Junior Alex Espay caught four passes from him for 98 yards, and the Mustangs gained 398 yards.
Contact sports reporter Matt Goul on X (@mgoul), Threads (@mgoul) or email ([email protected]).
