On Saturday, September 26, the #9 ranked Saint Xavier Cougars football team did battle on the gridiron against conference foe Siena Heights University. In the Cougars’ “Homecoming” game they would not disappoint, coming away with a huge win at home.
The opening kickoff put the Cougars in a great position to take an early lead, as wide receiver Randall Wells returned the opening kickoff 63 yards to put the Cougars at the SHU 27 yard line.
However, the Cougar offense would not be able to score on the drive after the Cougars failed a fourth down conversion.
Just when it seemed like the Cougars had lost a prime opportunity to take the first lead of the game, the Cougars’ defense would come up big as free safety Doug Ruggles would intercept a SHU pass to set the Cougars’ offense up at the SHU 30 yard line.
This time around, the Cougars would not blow their second chance to score, as quarterback John Rhode threw a 23 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Stephen Simms to give the Cougars a 7-0 lead with 12:26 left in the first quarter.
On the next SHU drive, the Cougars’ defense would get another turnover, as Ruggles forced a fumble which was recovered by inside linebacker M. Mettille. Unfortunately, the Cougars’ offense would not be able to capitalize on the turnover and punt the ball back to their opposition.
This missed opportunity would prove to be costly for the Cougars, as Siena Heights would score on a 62 yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7 with 8:54 left in the first quarter, seemingly shifting the momentum of the game to them.
This momentum for SHU would be short lived however as Simms would return the ensuing kickoff 85 yards to the SHU 3. After a personal foul put the Cougars at the one yard line, running back Nick Borgra would punch it into the endzone to give the Cougars a 14-7 lead with 7:51 left in the quarter.
This lead would not last long though as Siena Heights would score again to tie the game at 14-14 with 5:49 left in the first quarter.
The Cougars would try to answer back on their next drive, taking the ball all the way down to the SHU 17. However, kick Abdul Mahdi would miss the 32 yard field goal attempt to keep the score tied at 14.
For the third consecutive drive, the Cougars’ defense would give up a touchdown. This time, it would give Siena Heights their first lead of the game at 21-14.
The Cougars would once again drive down the field after a score, this time getting all the way down to the SHU nine yard line. However, Rhode would throw an interception on 3rd and goal from the 10 to waste another prime opportunity to score.
On the ensuing SHU drive, the Cougars defense would finally return to form as cornerback Matt Johnson would intercept a SHU pass to end the first quarter. At the end of a disappointing first quarter for the home team, the Cougars would find themselves down 21-14
The subpar play from the Cougars’ offense would continue in the beginning of the second quarter as they would drive all the way down to the SHU three yard line, but fumble the ball away to their opponents.
After the defense stopped the Saints on their drive after the fumble, the Cougars’ offense would once again frustrate the Saint Xavier fans and coaches as Rhode would throw another interception.
Once again though, the defense would stop the SHU offense on a drive after a turnover and give the Cougars offense the ball back.
On this drive however, the Cougars offense would finally break out of its funk, driving down to the SHU seven yard line and kicking a 24 yard field goal to cut their deficit to 21-17 with 6:17 left in the half.
After the Cougars’ defense forced another three and out, the Cougars’ offense, going off the momentum of scoring on their prior drive, would once again drive down into enemy territory and getting all the way to the one yard line before Borgra would once again score a one yard touchdown to give the Cougars a 24-21 lead. They would take said lead into halftime.
The third quarter played out much differently than the first two quarters as both teams did not allow either team to get even close to scoring. As a result of this defensive performance in the third quarter from both teams, the score would remain 24-21 heading into the final quarter.
SHU started the quarter in the middle of a drive that saw them get into Cougar territory. However, they would only settle for a field goal after the Cougars’ defense stopped them from moving the ball when they got inside the 20 yard line. With 13:04 left on the clock, the game was tied 24-24.
The Cougars would respond quickly to the Saints score, driving down the field in less then a minute and scoring a 20 yard touchdown to retake the lead at 31-24.
The touchdown was scored on a touchdown pass from Rhode to running back Austin Feeney. On the very next drive, once again Siena Heights would drive into Cougars territory and once again, they would be stopped by the Cougars’ defense.
After a couple of stops for both teams, the Cougars’ offense would put this game out of reach thanks to the feet of Rhode who scampered for a 51 yard touchdown run to put the Cougars up 38-24 with 5:22 left in the game.
SHU would not go away however, driving all the way down the field and scoring a touchdown to cut their deficit to 38-31 with 2:22 left in the Cougars’ “Homecoming” game.
On the very next drive, the Cougars questionably called two straight passing plays, which were both incomplete, instead of running the ball and wasting the clock. The Cougars would then punt the ball to Siena Heights with 1:48 left in the game.
With the all important “Homecoming” game on the line, the Cougars’ defense would be tasked with coming up big in the clutch once again. Once again, they would come up big as a sack by defensive tackle Nick Cemeno and an interception by outside linebacker Dan Fitzgerald would seal a 38-31 win for the Cougars.
With the win, the Cougars record now sits at 4-1 with a 1-0 conference record. The Cougars will look to continue their winning ways when they go on the road to play Concordia University on Saturday, October 10.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor