High school football roundup: St. Xavier continues to dominate
With the halfway point of the 2021 season in the rearview mirror, Week 6 saw several match-ups featuring Blitz5 Top 25 teams, including a pair of GCL South games.
NO. 1 ST. XAVIER 52, NO. 6 ELDER 14
The top-ranked St. Xavier Bombers continue to dominate its 2021 season, knocking off GCL South foe No. 6 Elder Panthers 52-14 at RDI Stadium.
The Bombers’ Charles Kellom got the scoring started early in the first quarter taking a direct snap into the end zone from one yard out.
However, Elder played St. Xavier close throughout the first half. The Panthers responded with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Ben Hambleton to Zane Klusman to tie the game at 7-7.
The second quarter saw another exchange of scores when St. Xavier quarterback Brogan McCaughey found Terrell McFarlin for a 30-yard scoring pass. The Panthers then tied it up again with a Hambleton to Mike Kirch 21-yard connection.
The Bombers began to pull away just before the half. Kellom found the end zone again from one yard out and Mason Rohmiller added a 27-yard field goal to give St. Xavier a 10-point halftime lead.
The floodgates opened on the opening kickoff when Alex Kemper returned it 99 yards for a Bombers touchdown. On the next Bomber drive, McCaughey found McFarlin again for a 36-yard touchdown pass. McCaughey to McFarlin added another score to start the fifth consecutive running clock for the Bombers.
Chase Eary scored on a 33-yard touchdown run to cap off the 52-14 St. Xavier victory.
The Bombers (6-0) stay at home next week to take on Louisville Trinity while Elder will return to The Pit to take on Moeller.
NO. 5 MOELLER 28, NO. 3 LA SALLE 14
The No. 5 Moeller Crusaders were looking to get their first GCL South win on Friday night, succeeding in doing so by upsetting the No. 3 La Salle Lancers 28-14 at Shea Stadium in Norwood.
The Lancers got on the scoreboard first when quarterback Mason Mattingly found Jaden Troehler from 29 yards out to go up 7-0.
Moeller nearly tied the game when quarterback Noah Geselbracht connected with Kurt Thompson on a 10-yard pass for a score, but a missed extra point left the Crusaders still down by one.
The Crusaders eventually found the lead on another Geselbracht to Thompson connection with a successful two-point conversion to take a 14-7 lead.
Geselbracht found Ryan Mechley to give Moeller a two-touchdown lead before the Lancers responded with a one-yard touchdown run to cut the lead back to one touchdown.
Alec Weeder extended the Crusaders' lead back out to two touchdowns on scoring scamper from 12 yards out.
The win marked the 500th football win in Moeller Crusader school history. The Crusaders (5-1) will travel to The Pit next week to take on Elder, while La Salle (4-2) will return home to face Indy Cathedral Prep.
NO. 10 WINTON WOODS 40, NO. 25 MILFORD 13
The Eastern Cincinnati Conference had a heavyweight matchup featuring two teams in the Blitz5 Top 25 with the No. 10 Winton Woods Warriors knocking off the No. 25 Milford Eagles 40-13.
Special teams played a major role for the Warriors, scoring half of their points on special teams plays, including a Dan Umba Domobele 32-yard field goal to get the Warriors on the board in the first quarter. Domobele also had a 22-yard field goal and went 4-for-5 on extra points.
The Warriors also scored two touchdowns on the special teams side of the ball. Jermaine Matthews Jr. returned a punt 70 yards for a score in the third quarter to put Winton Woods up by 19. Matthews also had a 64-yard punt return in the fourth quarter that capped the scoring and the victory for the Warriors.
The Winton Woods defense will be tested again next week when the Warriors (4-2) travel to take on the Anderson Raptors. Milford (4-2) will head back home to take on Little Miami.
Here are some other scores from other Cincinnati teams ranked inside our Blitz 5 Top 25:
- No. 2 Lakota West 28, No. 14 Mason 7
- No. 4 Princeton 55, Oak Hills 13
- No. 7 Colerain 28, Middletown 13
- No. 8 Kings 35, Lebanon 0
- No. 18 Turpin 34, Walnut Hills 13
- No. 19 Badin 62, Carroll 0
- No. 20 Wyoming 48, Deer Park 21
- No. 21 Ross 26, Northwest 14
- No. 22 McNicholas 20, Alter 7
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