Don’t look now, but Saint Xavier football is on a winning streak. The Cougars followed a historic 77-21 performance against Trinity International last week with another conference victory over Olivet Nazarene University on Friday, October 28. They have won three of their last four games.
Led by another strong offensive output, the Cougars managed a 45-28 road win to increase their record to 5-5 on the year, and 3-1 in conference. The victory puts Saint Xavier alone in second place in the Midwest League with a showdown looming against first place Robert Morris to end the season.
Freshman quarterback Alex Martinez got the start again for Saint Xavier and felt comfortable feeding senior wide receiver Dan Ladd throughout the contest. Ladd had a game high nine receptions for 148 yards and two touchdowns.
Martinez carved up the Olivet defense through the air for 391 yards, four touchdowns, and two picks on 28-38 passing. On the ground, the Cougars totaled 93 yards and two touchdowns by Jamarri Watson and Mike Ivlow.
Saint Xavier started fast on both sides of the ball in the first quarter. Martinez found Stephen Simms for a 12-yard score and junior Abdul Mahdi converted on a 23-yard field goal to put the Cougars up 10-0 early.
Later in the quarter, Jamarri Watson finished an impressive offensive possession with a one-yard touchdown run to extend his team’s lead to 17-0. The dominant trend continued into the second period, as Martinez hit Dan Ladd for a 54-yard score.
After 24 unanswered points put on the board by the Cougars, Olivet decided to wake up on offense. Saint Xavier survived a string of three Tigers touchdowns to end the first half and the two teams began the third quarter with the score 24-21.
Poise shown by the freshman signal caller allowed the Cougars to move down field on offense quickly in the opening frame of the second half. The result of their first third quarter possession was a 10-yard touchdown pass by Martinez to Ladd to put Saint Xavier ahead 31-21.
On the following Olivet drive, sophomore defensive back Tim Walsh had an athletic interception to give the ball back to the scorching Cougars offense. With a short field, Martinez brought Saint Xavier a yard away from the goal line in two plays. Junior Mike Ivlow put an exclamation point on his night by finishing the drive with a touchdown run.
With a commanding 38-21 lead, Saint Xavier put the finishing touches on another valiant performance with a 12-yard touchdown throw and catch from Martinez to freshman Harold Davis. The win earned the Cougars multiple MSFA player of the week awards for the second straight week.
Dan Ladd was awarded Offensive Player of the Week and Abdul Mahdi received the Special Teams Player of the Week honor. Saint Xavier will finish their 2016 season at home this Saturday, November 5 against Robert Morris University at 1:00 PM.
Mike Rankin
Senior Sports Editor