By Greg Gulas

sports@vindy.com

Boardman

The Boardman Spartans had depth issues a season ago when their roster dipped below the 40-player mark.

They struggled to a 1-9 record in head coach Joe Ignazio’s maiden campaign, but the upside for the new coach was a willingness to sell his program during the offseason to students and parents alike with the hope they would consider being a part of it.

The end result produced 65 players dotting his roster for their season opener against Mentor Cardinals, which went 13-2 last season and finished as state runner-up to Cincinnati Moeller in Division I.

After Friday’s 48-14 win over the Spartans, the Cardinals seem primed for yet another deep playoff run.

Jake Floriea threw for 228 yards and three touchdowns, Eddie Daugherty threw for a score and added a punt return for a touchdown and the Cardinals racked up 442 yards offense.

Floriea, who replaced triple-threat quarterback Conner Krizancic under center, said his team accomplished what it set out to do in Week 1.

“It’s great to start the season with a win, but we have some things that we need to work on before our game next week with St. Ignatius,” Floriea said. “It’s a solid start, but we need to build on this if we expect to get better. Personally, I need to make quicker reads. We have quite a few playmakers and guys like Eddie help me out immensely when I make a mistake, simply because they are so talented.”

Despite the loss, Ignazio found positives in the Spartans’ performance.

“Our effort was there and we were able to move the ball,” he said. “They’re a good ball club — big up front with plenty of speed.

“We’ll take a hard look at the film tonight and evaluate our personnel and special teams. We found a couple of spots tonight and that, too, is a promising sign.”

It took the Cardinals (1-0) just four minutes and 31 seconds to get on the board, taking a 7-0 advantage on their first series when Jason Blizzard caught a 29-yard touchdown from Daugherty.

It was one of two scores and five overall receptions for Blizzard on the night.

A Floriea 3-yard run at 2:36 of the opening frame then made it 14-0 after the first period.

When Benji Roberts scored on a 3-yard run at 9:23 of the second stanza, Boardman cut the Mentor lead in half at 14-7.

The Cardinals scored four times in a span of 7:12 span before halftime to break the game open as Daugherty caught a 27-yard scoring strike from Floriea and returned a punt 40 yards for another score, Jarell Jackson added an 8-yard reception for a score and Blizzard caught the second of his two scores with 45 seconds remaining before intermission for a 41-7 halftime lead.

“We wanted to make a statement tonight and did just that. Our offensive line was outstanding, opening holes for our backs while providing plenty of protection for Jake [Floriea] while he was in the pocket,” Daugherty said. “Our defensive line has a lot of speed and was equally impressive. They didn’t allow any big runs and kept their offense in check most of the night.”

An Alex Mathews 55-yard run just 31 seconds after intermission increased Mentor’s lead to 48-7 while quarterback Sean Birchfield came off the bench to rally the Spartans, scoring on a 17-yard run at 10:57 of the final frame for the final tally of the game.