This great matchup, known as The Holy War will be the 57th time the two teams have met. These rivals have met at big venues, such as old Municipal Stadium now FirstEnergy Stadium, home of the Cleveland Browns. They have played on college fields, such as Baldwin Wallace’s Finnie Stadium. In last year’s match up, the game came down to a touchdown. This year, the St. Edward Eagles rank #6 in the state of Ohio while the St. Ignatius Wildcats rank #7, and those rankings bring with them athletes who are signed to huge DI programs like Michigan State and Cincinnati. Look for the Wildcats to defend their victory from last year while the Eagles hope to redeem the close loss.

MVP

Daniel Scelza

St. Ignatius

SCHOLAR ATHLETES

Aidan Wells

St. Ignatius

Aidan is a three-year varsity letterman in both football and track and field. He was the recipient of the James Skerl Number 34 Award and has obtained both first and secondary academic honors throughout his six semesters of high school. Aidan is also a four-year member of Student Senate, and is involved in the Saint Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Society and the Greek Student Union. He will be attending Harvard University and plans to pursue Pre-Med and Business.

Seamus O'Malley

St. Edward

Seamus is a two-year letter winner on the football team and a three-year letter winner in wrestling. As a junior, Seamus placed 4th in the state at 220 lbs in the OHSAA wrestling tournament. Seamus is a member of the National Honor Society and Student Ministry. Seamus serves as a student ambassador and serves Mass as an altar server for school Masses and at his parish. He also works at a Senior Living Home in the summer. Seamus has committed to wrestle at Stanford University next year and plans on studying civil engineering.

HALL OF FAME

Bryan Hoffart

St. Ignatius

Bryan played in the St. Ignatius-St. Edward varsity rivalry both his junior and senior years. Heading into the 1979 match-up, the Wildcats, had not defeated the Eagles since 1957. At his coach’s request, Bryan led his defense in an outstanding performance. The Wildcats went on to win the game, 17-6. Today, Bryan just finished his 19th season in the front office of the Cleveland Indians and he continues to actively coach in youth sports. He has coached fast-pitch and slow-pitch softball teams, as well as several years of boys and girls CYO basketball teams at the grade school and high school levels.

Bob Lenart

St. Edward

Bob played in the rivalry between St Edward and St Ignatius his Sophomore, Junior and Senior years. Playing in 3 rivalry series between the two teams and as a captain in the third year, the Eagles won twice and lost once. As a defense lineman, Bob contributed to the team through multiple tackles, sacks behind the line of scrimmage and an interception of a shuffle pass as a lineman. After earning varsity letters for 3 years at St Edward in football and playing alongside teammates that progressed to collegiate athletics, Bob went on to play for the University of Dayton Flyers for 4 years, where he earned 3 years of varsity letters, All-American status and a NCAA Division III National Title for the Flyers. Since then, Bob has contributed to football by coaching several grade school teams and remaining active at St Ed’s by being the Athletic Boosters President.

GAME SUMMARY

Maybe it was playing in FirstEnergy Stadium, the home of the Cleveland Browns, but this one had a big game feel from moment one. The St. Edward Eagles came out strong, scoring early for a 7-0 lead, but St. Ignatius came right back with a score of their own to tie it at 7-7. The teams remained tied going into the half. From that moment on, the St. Ignatius Wildcat defense stepped up, especially safety Daniel Scelza, who would go on to be named Great American Rivalry Series MVP. He pounced on every mistake made by the Eagle offense. Eventually, the Wildcat offense would get going and take advantage of those Eagle mistakes, leading to a final score of 21-7 St. Ignatius victory.