The St. Xavier High School football team held a halftime lead on the road against a traditional Ohio power, but couldn’t hold on for the win.
Visiting its namesake St. Xavier High School in Ohio for the annual game between the two football powerhouses, the Tigers struggled offensively and couldn’t hold up against the Bombers superior size and quickness, falling 28-3 Friday evening at Ballaban Field in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Although the Tigers (7-3) held a 3-0 halftime lead, they were shut out in the second half as the Bombers went to work.
The Bombers won the field position battle, constantly pinning the Tigers deep in their own end and after forcing the visitors to punt, the hosts had a short field to work with.
In the second half alone, the Bombers gained 153 yards, 149 yards of that through the air, converted 5-of-6 on third down, had nine first downs, and scored four touchdowns. On the other side, the Tigers gained only 94 yards offensively, including -2 yards on the ground, and they were 1-of-5 on third down.
Senior quarterback Desmond Ridder finished the game 9-of-14 for 103 yards with an interception. Ridder also had seven yards gained on nine attempts. Senior tailback Sam Taylor led the Tigers in rushing with 32 yards on 13 carries as the Bombers defense swallowed up the Tigers’ ground game. Senior fullback Mack Blincoe led all Tigers receivers with 63 yards on three receptions.
Ballard 31, Doss 20: After a slow first half that ended in a 6-6 scoreline, the Bruins’ (7-3) offense and defense woke up as it scored 18 straight second half points on the way to a victory over the Dragons (5-5).
“Honestly we came out flat,” Ballard coach Mike Copley said. “We didn’t get better in the first half. We challenged (the team) at halftime to come out and play with a better tempo. Doss came after us tonight and I felt in the second half we came out and turned the game around. We were able to get a little bit of rhythm.”
Copley praised the play of juniors Marshon Ford and Terrence May offensively and seniors Jon Board and Walter Chambers on the defensive side for turning the tide of the game in the Bruins favor.
“What really got it flipped was our defense led by Jon Board and Walter Chambers,” Copley said. “Some of those guys really got after it, got us good field position and the ball back, and got us some momentum.”
Male 41, Western 6: The host Bulldogs (8-2) shook off a sluggish start and rolled past the Warriors (4-6) behind Brian Smith’s big night. Smith hauled in five receptions for 86 yards and two touchdowns and added a punt return to put the game out of reach in the third quarter. Male takes on Daviess Co. next Friday in the first round of the playoffs.
DeSales 41, Southern 0: The Colts (8-2) shut-out the visiting Trojans (4-6). Desales’s Gilly Simpson had 12 rushes for 97 yards and four touchdowns.
CAL 44, Franklin Co. 7: Milton Wright had 148 rushing yards with two touchdowns for the visiting Centurions (9-10) as they toppled the Flyers (4-6). Quarterback Austin Carr was 10 for 12 passing for 228 yards. The Flyers lone touchdown was a 49-yard run by Dalton Landrum.
Fairdale 28, Holy Cross 21: The Bulldogs (3-7) defeated the Cougars (6-4) before heading to the playoffs next week against Covington Catholic. The Bulldogs and Cougars both gained exactly 135 yards on the ground, but the Bulldogs had the edge in the air with 116 yards to the Cougars’ 111 yards passing.
Collins 41, Anderson County 21: Payton Hawk and JR Lucas connected for three touchdowns to lead Collins (6-4) to victory. Visiting Anderson County (4-6) was led by Bryndon and Zach Labhart, who accounted for 215 of the team’s 261 total yards.